Local developer Wasl has engaged with contractors for a high-rise tower it plans to build on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road.

The firms involved in talks with the developer are understood to be:

• Alec (local)
• Arabian Construction Company (ACC; Lebanon)
• Arabtec Construction (local)
• Bel Hasa Six Construct (local/Belgium)
• Brookfield Multiplex (Canada)
•  Samsung C+T (South Korea)

Wasl is planning to tender the contract to build the tower in early 2016, with completion set for for 2019 ahead of the Dubai Expo in 2020.

The scheme was approved by UAE Vice-President, Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in February.

The 60-storey tower will be about 300 metres tall and will feature the world’s tallest ceramic facade. It has been designed by sustainability expert Werner Sobek and architect Ben van Berkel.

One of the key features is the exterior self-lighting techniques that will be utilised to reflect various occasions and events held in the city.

The project is one of several landmark tower schemes that are scheduled to enter the construction phase in Dubai over the next year.

The most imminent is the expansion to the Atlantis resort on the Palm Jumeirah.The project client, state-owned Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), received revised offers from firms for the contract to build the estimated $1.4bn expansion earlier in September.

ICD is planning another major building project in Dubai. In early February, it invited selected contractors to submit prequalification documents for the deal to build a major new high-rise tower in the World Trade Centre area of Dubai, known as One Zabeel.

Another tower project is the Gateway Towers project that is being developed by the local Nakheel at the base of Dubai’s Palm Jumeirah. Contractors submitted bids for the contract to build the towers in June. The scope of work involves constructing three high-rise towers, with an expected cost of AED3bn ($817m). The development will be built on top of an existing parking currently serving the Palm monorail on Al-Sufouh road.