Gateway Towers – Shams Abu Dhabi

Location Abu Dhabi, UAE

Client Sorouh Real Estate Company

Services Construction Management

Project Value $2.7 billion

Hill provided project management and construction supervision services for Shams Abu Dhabi on Al Reem Island. This development offers residential, office, hotel, retail, entertainment, and parking facilities including more than 22,000 residential units accommodating nearly 100,000 people. The first project built within the mega development involved the Sky and Sun Towers. At 74 stories and 63 stories respectively, the Sky and Sun Towers are among the tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi.

Shams is the new metropolitan center of Abu Dhabi city. The concept master plan identifies 93 separate plots, 5 of which are reserved for utility plants, with another 4 designated for parking structures beneath the central park. The Shams site program is approximately 84% residential, 9% offices, 2.4% entertainment, 1.6% retail, and 3% hotel.

The site is bounded by the sea to the east and the north and a mangrove area in the west. The total built-up area of the site is approximately 7.67 million SM including 2.07 million SM of parking. 

Hill’s management services covered the entire works related to infrastructure development including dredging and reclamation works, marina and seawall works, roads and utilities, 14 bridges, 4 KM of canals and pedestrian bridges, a central park, district cooling works, and the Sky and Sun Towers. In addition to project management support, Hill also provided construction supervision services on various packages including Sky and Sun Towers, roads and utilities, the marina, and the seawall.

Hill prepared a master program for design, procurement, and construction for the overall development of Shams. This plan was fully integrated with the Reem Island development. Shams is a peninsula with restricted access and required a detailed procurement strategy and logistics plan to ensure the construction activities of various contractors and more than 100 developers were carried out in a smooth, planned, and harmonious manner. In addition, Hill carried out value engineering services during design as well as during construction. The value engineering exercises resulted in significant cost and time savings for the client.