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| The United Arab Emirates' new 795-room luxury hotel Atlantis The Royal in Dubai, lit up at night. Courtesy of Ssangyong E&C |
By Lee Kyung-min
Ssangyong E&C has completed the construction of Dubai's new high-end express hotel, Atlantis The Royal, according to the firm, Tuesday.
The high-rise hotel has 795 rooms with 44 floors and luxurious facilities including 94 swimming pools.
It took about eight years to build. The firm won the order in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December 2015.
Atlantis The Royal is on the artificial island known as Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. About $1.2 billion (1.5 trillion won) was spent to build the hotel.
It is a top-class hotel with magnificent views overlooking the Gulf Sea. All hotel guests can enjoy great views, according to the firm.
The mega project was ordered in 2015 by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), the principal investment arm of the government of Dubai. The ICD manages a wide portfolio of assets that support Dubai's growth.
The ICD is a sovereign wealth fund and was the largest shareholder of the Korean firm at the time.
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| An aerial view of Atlantis The Royal in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The hotel contains 94 swimming pools. Courtesy of Ssangyong E&C |
From the beginning, the project was a daunting task that required a high level of expertise due to its complicated and sophisticated design.
A total of 54 consultants from 14 countries worked together to achieve the highly exquisite design to build a best-in-the-world hotel, which the Middle Eastern country set out to make to create Dubai's newest landmark.
Few acclaimed design firms have a presence in Dubai, so, most of those who took part came from Canada, the U.K. and France.
The collaborative work was difficult mostly because of the time differences between participating designers. They often had to consider the time lag between sending and receiving questions. This resulted in longer than otherwise necessary time schedules for coordination, the firm said.
It was even more difficult to construct than the Burj Khalifa according to Even officials of BESIX Group, the firm involved in the construction of the Burj Khalifa.
Their opinion carries all the more weight since BESIX, a Belgian-French construction group based in Brussels, is one of the world's leading international contractors and has contributed to the design and construction of many first-class skyscrapers in the Middle East, Europe, Australia and Africa.
Their collective predicament was also exacerbated by the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic, mostly in the form of a longer-than-expected construction period.
The construction took two more years longer than previously expected, and the cost increased by about $415 million.
"The completion of Atlantis The Royal, one of the world's top luxury hotels, will enable Ssangyong E&C to cement a robust standing in the global market as a high-end construction firm," the firm said.
