BROWNFIELD REVOLUTION NETIX NOVUS BRINGS THE ‘ANDROID’ APPROACH TO BUILDING AUTOMATION, SAYS SANJEEVV BHATIA, SB GROUP INTL CHAIRMAN AND NETIX GLOBAL BV CEO KSA EDITION ITP MEDIA GROUP / BUSINESS SEPTEMBER 2021 • KSA EDITIONCONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2021 KSA EDITION Netix Global BV CEO and SB Group Intl chairman Sanjeevv Bhatia answers our questions about automation and smart buildings. CO V ER S TOR Y 08 KSA DEVELOPERS LIST As Construction Week releases its Top 50 GCC Developers, we highlight the KSA rms featured in the 2021 edition of the GCC ranking 14 EVENT AGENDA WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR Everything you need to know to prepare for our KSA Conference and Awards this month QUOTE OF THE MONTH “A COUNTRY BEING REBORN” KSA $1tn infrastructure projects plan is set to transform the country’s real estate landscape 06 26 PROJECT UPDATE The Chief Projects Delivery Of cer for The Red Sea Development Company, Ian Williamson, shares details on The Red Sea Project’s Coastal Village development 22 KSA EDITION CONSTRUCTION WEEK 3WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW DIRIYAH GATE: JEWEL OF KSA We get the story behind the Diriyah Gate development and how it’s progressing 124 CONSTRUCTION WEEK KSA EDITIONWWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM PUBLISHED BY AND © 2021 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC. PO Box 500024, Dubai, United Arab Emirates TEL +971 4 444 3000 WEB: WWW.ITP.COM Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi MANAGING DIRECTOR Alex Reeve EDITORIAL GROUP EDITOR Carla Sertin CW DIGITAL EDITOR ranju.warrier@itp.com CW MULTIMEDIA REPORTER disha.dadlani@itp.com CW REPORTER mina.vucic@itp.com MEP EDITOR anup.oommen@itp.com PMV EDITOR dennis.daniel@itp.com FM EDITOR rajiv.pillai@itp.com ADVERTISING COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Saraswati Agarwal TEL +971 4 444 3352, EMAIL saraswati.agarwal@itp.com SENIOR SALES MANAGER Moutaz Gadelhak TEL +971 4 444 3177, EMAIL moutaz.gadelhak@itp.com SALES MANAGER Bipin Soneji TEL +971 4 444 3205, EMAIL bipin.soneji@itp.com ITP LIVE GENERAL MANAGER Ahmad Bashour TEL +971 4 444 3549, EMAIL ahmad.bashour@itp.com STUDIO SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS Efraim Evidor, Adel Rashid STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Aasiya Jagadeesh, Ajith Narendra, Fritz John Asuro PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION GROUP PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION DIRECTOR Kyle Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Basel Al Kassem PRODUCTION CO-ORDINATOR Mahendra Pawar SENIOR IMAGE EDITOR Emmalyn Robles CIRCULATION DISTRIBUTION AND CIRCULATION MANAGER Evijin Pathrose DISTRIBUTION COORDINATOR Avinash Pereira CIRCULATION EXECUTIVE Rajesh Pillai MARKETING DIRECTOR OF AWARDS & MARKETING Daniel Fewtrell ITP GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies WEB www.ConstructionWeekOnline.com SUBSCRIBE online at www.itp.com/subscriptions NOTICE The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for errors or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication, which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the readers’ particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review.EDITOR’S LETTER WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMKSA EDITION CONSTRUCTION WEEK 5 The Construction Week team is extremely excited for the Leaders in Construction Conference KSA at the end of this month, which will be followed by our awards ceremony. The day will be a strong mix of knowledge-sharing, celebration, and recognition of talent in Saudi Arabia. We see Saudi Arabia as a major source of potential growth in the region’s construction sector, with megaprojects already in the works and major investments on the horizon. The work that has been done despite the rigors of the pandemic is awe-inspiring, and requires a moment of pause to reflect, celebrate excellence, and look ahead. That’s the basic agenda for our event (Check out p6 for an actual agenda!); we’ll spend the morning looking ahead, discussing major industry trends and movements with leaders in construction, and take that energy into the evening, where we will look back at the major successes of the past year and recognise excellence in the sector. Because we are looking ahead, our cover story (p8) for this special edition focuses on Netix Novus program, which is taking an ‘android’ approach to building management to power what CEO Sanjeevv Bhatia calls the Brownfield Revolution. He answers all of our questions as we look at the future for the region’s built environment. We also check in on the Diriyah Gate with an exclusive inteview with Jonathan Timms, President of Diriyah DevCo, a subsidiary of the Diriyah Gate Development Authority (p12) to find out how the project is progressing, its focus on sustainability, and more. We are also introducing a list of KSA Developers, taken from Construction Week’s Top 50 GCC Developers list, launched in the September 2021 issue of the magazine. These KSA firms are among the top in the region, making major strides in the industry. Finally, we have a word with the chief projects delivery officer for the Red Sea Development Company, Ian Williamson, to catch up on the Coastal Village development and how the company is embracing sustainable construction throughout the project (p22). I believe this issue of Construction Week fairly represents the potential, priorities, strengths and growth for the KSA construction sector, and our event this month will only extend that further to engage key industry leaders and professionals in discussions that will take us ahead into the future for construction in Saudi Arabia. Take the time to flip through the coming pages for a dose of optimism and innovation from some of the leading figures in the Saudi construction sector, and we hope to see you at the Leaders in Construction event! KSA: Poised for growth Growth, innovation and optimism are on the agenda for Saudi Arabia, as we converse with industry leaders ahead of the Leaders in Construction Conference on 28 September. Carla Sertin Group Editor, Energy & Construction6 CONSTRUCTION WEEK KSA EDITIONWWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM EVENTS CALENDAR Leaders in Construction KSA Date: 28 September 2021 CONFERENCES & EVENTS For up-to-the-minute conference and events information, log on to constructionweekonline.com/conferences 09:00 (KSA) WELCOME FROM CONSTRUCTION WEEK EDITOR 09:05 What does the future hold for Saudi Arabia’s construction sector? Eng. Ibrahim Alghamdi - Vice President of Business Strategy & Board Member at Al Bawani 09:15 What are the opportunities for expanding into Saudi Arabia? From 2024, the Saudi government and state-backed institutions will stop signing contracts with foreign companies that base their Middle East headquarters in any other country in the region – what will this mean for the region’s construction industry and is it time for rms to act now? PANELLISTS: Eng. Nasser Al Shawaf – Director and Board Member at Al Bawani Toby Randle - Fenwick Elliott’s lead partner for Saudi Arabia Ali Al Touki - Hammad Al-Mehdar partner Pedram Rad, Managing Director, U+A 10:00 The growth of entertainment projects in KSA Saudi Arabia is quickly becoming an entertainment hub for the Middle East with developments including Formula One tracks, sport stadiums, cinemas and theme parks putting the Kingdom on the map for tourism. We will gain exclusive access from our panellists about how these projects are shaping up and what they will bring to Saudi Arabia’s economy. PANELLISTS Sachin Kerur, Head of the Middle East for Reed Smith Andrew Seymour, VP & Practice Lead - Parsons 10:45 Break for coffees and refreshments 11:00 How is Saudi Arabia creating more affordable housing? As part of the Ministry of Housing’s efforts to ramp up accessibility for community housing, we will explore the opportunities that are being provided for Saudi nationals and how Public- Private Partnerships (PPP) are tackling the affordable housing challenge in the kingdom. PANELLIST Fouad Khoury, Parsons 11:45 How is modular construction shaping up the future Construction in KSA? The nal discussion will touch upon the opportunities and challenges for Modular Construction within Saudi Arabia. PANELLIST Waleed, CEO - Losberger 12.30 CLOSING REMARKS FROM CONSTRUCTION WEEK EDITOR – CW AGENDAKSA EDITION CONSTRUCTION WEEK 7WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Set to take place on 28 September in Riyadh, the awards coincide with the Leaders in Construction KSA Summit which will be hosted on the same day date from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm. Companies and individuals hoping to be recognised for their excellence and hardwork, and looking to nominate their colleagues and projects for the top industry awards have two days to nominate themselves as well as others for the awards.. The awards will celebrate the top contractors, consultants, sub- contractors that are building the multi-billion dollar gigaprojects and landmark developments shaping the construction sector in the Kingdom, alinged with its Vision 2030. Winners from each category will also be shortlisted for the regional Construction Week Awards event, which will take place in December 2021 in Dubai. Get in touch with Saraswati Agarwal at saraswati.agarwal@itp. com or Moutaz Gadelhak at moutaz. gadelhak@itp.com for all your sponsorship related queries. Meanwhile for table bookings, get in touch with Anthony Chandran at anthony.chandran@itp.com. Construction Week KSA Awards Date: 28 September 2021(following conference) THE CATEGORIES: Company Awards Consultancy of the Year Developer of the Year Sub-contractor of the Year Contractor of the Year Project Awards Infrastructure Project of the Year Hospitality Project of the Year Commercial Project of the Year Residential Project of the Year Modular Construction Project of the Year Initiative Awards Sustainability Initiative of the Year Health and Safety Initiative of the Year Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative of the Year Individual Awards Engineer of the Year Project Manager of the Year Construction Executive of the Year Rising Star of the Year8 CONSTRUCTION WEEK KSA EDITIONWWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM COVER STORY NETIX NOVUS MAKES “ANDROID” BUILDINGS A REALITY FOR THE REGION In a rst for the region, top industry leaders have come together as Platinum Partners to lead the Brown eld Revolution as part of the newly launched Netix Novus program that aims to power an android approach to building management. Older buildings must be retro tted to take full advantage of automationKSA EDITION CONSTRUCTION WEEK 9WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM COVER STORY ” “ Sanjeevv Bhatia- Chairman of SB Group International, CEO of Netix Global BV Increased penetration of IoT, AI and cloud-based applications in the real estate sector have had several sig- nificant consequences in the Middle East. According to research, the KSA smart cities market, fuelled by pandemic-induced digitalisation, is expected to grow to $14.75 billion by 2027, at a CAGR of 19.6%. The high growth rate can be attributed to increasing consensus between all real estate stakeholders — developers, OEMs, occupants, owners, FM operators, and vendors — on the ability of technology to increase efficiency, productivity, savings, and sustainability outcomes in buildings. Although increased technology adoption is widely accepted in real estate, stakeholders across the value chain are at different stages of digitalisation. As opposed to new, greenfield developments, which boast state-of-the-art systems, older buildings are riddled with legacy, vendor-locked BMS, which are inflexible and therefore hard to optimise. This widens the gap between new and old buildings, undermining the cumulative value for the entire real estate ecosystem. This discrepancy is what the upcoming Netix Novus Partner Program aims to resolve for the industry. Scheduled to be launched at the Burj Khalifa, on 1 September, Netix Novus is a first-of-its-kind partner program in the Middle East, aimed at achieving digital parity between stakeholders across the real estate value chain, for maximum benefit. A brainchild of Netix Global BV, an SB Group Intl Holding company and a leading building automation solutions provider, the program leverages the company’s open-protocol, plug-and- play model to bring flexibility and optimisation to building operations and management. Sanjeevv Bhatia, the CEO of Netix Global BV, spoke to Construction Week and explained the rationale behind the Netix Novus Partner Program. What is the business case for Netix Novus? How does it align with regional goals? The Middle East’s buildings automation industry is currently the most dynamic. According to EY, automation has the potential to double the economy of the KSA to $1.6 trillion, by adding an additional $293 billion by 2030. In order to realize this potential, we must organize the sector. But the presence of legacy, vendor-locked, OEM-led BMS, hampers the prospect of cost-efficient upgrade and higher digital parity. Every efficiency intervention calls for a costly hardware overhaul. And yet, due to disparities between building systems, such efficiencies – even if they are achieved – will have limited value. Having gained substantial experience in addressing these issues, and recognizing an opportunity to create a broader impact, we conceptualized and designed the Netix Novus program. This program will consolidate the market, bringing the best service providers together, in the value chain. The results will include the creation of an open-protocol ecosystem, high interoperability between systems, optimization of existing systems for better performance, unified view of building operations, proactive maintenance, and greater energy savings; among many other desirable outcomes. Priyesh Bhatia - General Manager of ODS Global Jagdish Rajan, CEO, Garnet Technologies, part of JBK Qatar ...We are at the cusp of a technological revolution in the regional real estate sector. It is ripe for transformation, as it gears up for post- pandemic recovery, new sustainability regulations, and economic diversification. KSA’s Vision 2030 [...] will open opportunities for increased transformation, as it heads into its last decade.Next >