The words “skiing” and “desert” aren’t often used in the same sentence. But that’s changing in Dubai, which appears to be on a mission to have the “biggest” of everything, including extravagant shopping malls, towers, and, now, ski slopes.
Gulf News reports that the oil-rich country is planning a project that will cover 3.67 million sm (39.5 million sf) and include a shopping mall, civic plaza, a 4-kilometer canal, a marina with 100 boat slots, and what’s being touted as the world’s longest indoor ski slope.
The developer, Meydan City Corporation, states that this project should be completed before 2020, the year that Dubai hosts the World Expo 2020. While the developer didn’t disclose what this project might cost, The Guardian reports estimates of up to 25 billion dirhams (about $6.8 billion).
The Dubai newspaper Al-Bayan reports that this project would extend from the Meydan racetrack to Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest tower.
The shopping mall component of this project, called Meydan One Mall, alone will cover 25,000 sm (269,000 sf), and include a retractable roof measuring 150 x 80 meters. The mall will be adjacent to the 1.2-kilometer (4,922-foot) long ski slope. (The Emirate already holds the record for the largest indoor ski slope, at 400 meters long, which runs year-round inside the Mall of the Emirates, according to The Guardian.)
At the base of the ski slope will be 25,000-sm Meydan Arena, which will seat up to 8,000 people, and could be used for a variety of sporting contests and live shows.
This project also includes the construction of The Dubai One, a 711-sm-tall building that would be the tallest residential tower in the world. It will have 885 apartments and a five-star hotel with 350 rooms, as well as a conference center, a 655-meter observation deck, and skytop restaurant.
Residents and visitors will be able to avail themselves of more than 5.3 kilometers of bicycle and hogging trails, a 300-meter-long beach, and a heritage village that could house up to 78,000 people. The project will also feature a 420-meter-long “dancing” fountain, also said to be the world’s largest.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 12, 2010
Owen Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Silver Award. Officials at Michigan State University’s East Lansing Campus were concerned that Owen Hall, a mid-20th-century residence facility, was no longer attracting much interest from its target audience, graduate and international students.
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Sep 16, 2010
Green recreation/wellness center targets physical, environmental health
The 151,000-sf recreation and wellness center at California State University’s Sacramento campus, called the WELL (for “wellness, education, leisure, lifestyle”), has a fitness center, café, indoor track, gymnasium, racquetball courts, educational and counseling space, the largest rock climbing wall in the CSU system.
| Sep 13, 2010
Stadium Scores Big with Cowboys' Fans
Jerry Jones, controversial billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, wanted the team's new stadium in Arlington, Texas, to really amp up the fan experience. The organization spent $1.2 billion building a massive three-million-sf arena that seats 80,000 (with room for another 20,000) and has more than 300 private suites, some at field level-a first for an NFL stadium.
| Aug 11, 2010
JE Dunn, Balfour Beatty among country's biggest institutional building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Institutional Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 International Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA
After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June
Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Hensel Phelps among the nation's 50 largest design-build contractors
A ranking of the Top 50 Design-Build Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
