Business & Money | Sunday 29 May, 2016 6:39 am |

Saudi Arabia led the GCC in the number of projects winning recognition at the recently concluded 2016 MEED Quality Awards for Projects, in association with Mashreq.

The kingdom was the standout performer, picking up five awards, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Oman with three trophies apiece. Bahrain and Qatar scooped two awards each, while Kuwait received one trophy at this year’s edition of the annual awards program, the only one to recognize completed projects in the GCC.

John Iossifidis, Executive Vice-President and Head of Corporate & Investment Banking Group, Mashreq, said: “We are proud to support the awards program for the past four years now. The awards have definitely shed the spotlight not just on excellence and quality, but also on the award-winning projects’ valuable contribution to the economic development of the Region; and the long-term viability of the projects sector by sending a clear message to the market, that quality is essential in all parts of the project management process; from design planning to engineering and construction. We wish all participants all the very best.”

The award program’s most coveted trophy – the MEED Quality Project of the Year 2016, in association with Mashreq – went to Saudi Aramco’s King Abdullah Petroleum Studies & Research Centre (Kapsarc) Project (nominated by Drake & Scull), which voted the GCC Sustainable Project of the Year, sponsored by Six Construct.

Kapsarc is a non-profit institution that undertakes global collaborative research on the economic impacts of energy, its technologies, policies and the environment. It is one of the biggest Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) platinum-certified educational research facilities in the world. Its sprawling design spans the education and research facilities as well as a dedicated residential complex featuring community buildings with retail space. Kapsarc also features an innovative interactive visitor display, which offers a real-time reading of the building’s energy consumption and production from renewable sources. The display tracks the total energy consumption since the project’s commencement of construction, energy savings achieved onsite, water consumed, and the total savings realized onsite in Saudi riyals.

The kingdom’s other double winner was the Yanbu Aramco Sinopec Refining Company (Yasref) Refinery Project, which received the GCC Oil & Gas Project of the Year, sponsored by Parsons; and the GCC Mega Project of the Year trophies. Yasref is a joint venture of Saudi Aramco (62.5%) and Sinopec (37.5%).

Yasref operates a world-class full conversion refinery on the banks of the Red Sea. The facility processes 400,000 barrels a day of crude into gasoline, high-quality diesel and liquefied petroleum gases, as well as by-products including sulfur and petroleum coke for export. The refinery has generated 1,200 direct jobs and some 5,000 indirect jobs through industrial development. Given this is a project that brings together two of the largest companies in the world – Saudi Aramco and Sinopec – the complex was able to harness the best global technology in designing a single-train system.

Completing Saudi Arabia’s five-trophy haul was the Rehabilitation, Expansion and Development of the Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport Project in Madinah, which won the GCC Airport Project of the Year category. Nominated by TAV Construction, the project is owned by the General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca), represented by Tibah Airports Development Company.

The Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah serves as the new gateway to the Muslim world’s second holy city. In a milestone step, the facility opened as Saudi Arabia’s first privatized airport, as part of GACA’s plans to privatize all 27 of the kingdom’s airports by 2020.
The MEED Editor’s Special Commendation (Innovation Special Award) was presented to Ma’aden Gold and Base Metals Co.’s Ad’Duwieh Gold Project Electrical Distribution and E House Project (nominated by Schneider Electric).

Now in their sixth year, the MEED Quality Awards for Projects, in association with Mashreq, have established themselves as the leading stamp of quality and achievement for stakeholders in the GCC projects sector.

The awards not only recognize the construction element of project delivery but also consider the value and quality of a project throughout its entire life-cycle, from the design concept through to engineering and construction and its wider contribution to society and the environment.