Alicante construction company exports Benidorm to Middle East

ALICANTE’S Ecisa construction company will be the first Spanish construction company to erect a skyscraper in Qatar. In doing so Ecisa will be extending the tried and tested model of planning and design so effectively used in the construction of Benidorm’s iconic skyline.

Ecisa Alicante was the company chosen by a Qatari developer to build the tower “Bin Samikh”, a 44 storey building that will house a five star hotel luxury in the heart of Doha, capital of Qatar.

Ecisa’s extensive experience in building towers, especially in Benidorm, where over its 42-year history it has built 30 buildings of over twenty floors, has been one of the factors that helped it in the tender process.

The second point in their favour, has been the presence of an existing  branch of the company in Qatar for the last three years, to help with the development and implementation of three other projects: Qatar’s Military Academy, an adjacent sports area and luxury property ‘Bilal Plaza‘ .

Their involvement in these three works, the first two at the request a body reporting directly to the Emir, and the third for Ahmed Hassan Bilal Trading (one the foremost private developers in the country) enabled Ecisa to consolidate their experience and standing within the Emirate.

Now their investment of time and energy has paid off with its success in the tender to build this new prestigious hotel. Called the “Bin Samikh Tower Hotel”. It will have 317 rooms and is funded by the Doha Islamic Bank.

The project, which is located on a plot of 4,893 meters square in the West Bay, the commercial and business district of Doha, is driven by the Saudi promoter Saudi Tanmiyat Real Estate and is funded by the Doha Islamic Bank.

One of the striking features of the proposed hotel will be the design including a front cylindrical part formed entirely of a glass curtain wall. However, the work and performance levels to be adopted by Ecisa are the same as those used in the construction of skyscrapers in Benidorm .

The works, estimated at a costing €40 million will begin this month and are planned to take two years to complete.

Benidorm is known as the second New York.

It is the second city in the world in terms of numbers of skyscrapers behind only the Big Apple itself, with more than 300 buildings over 15 storeys , of which 20 per cent have been constructed by ECIS. The buildings ‘Neguri’ and the ‘Mirador del Mediterráneo’ stand at 130 and 123 metres respectively.

The success of a Spanish construction company within the tough conditions of today’s international market is a testament to the competitive expertise of domestic Spanish companies in such a harsh economic climate.

By Paul Deed