Masdar City struggles to find contractors for cutting-edge projects

December 12, 2024, 11:38 AM

Masdar City's Central Park; the project was completed in 2022

Executive says skills are lacking
High sustainability standards
Industry too focused on cost cuts

Masdar City, Abu Dhabi’s flagship sustainable eco-city project, is facing a shortage of contractors skilled enough to meet the demands of its ambitious projects, a senior executive has warned.

Masdar, the UAE’s clean energy company, is the anchor tenant at Masdar City, with the Mubadala Investment Company, one of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth funds, a
shareholder of both.

Lutz Wilgen, head of design at Masdar City, told AGBI the city’s master developer has several tenders out for buildings with “very ambitious targets” for environmental performance, ratings and longevity.

The lack of skilled contractors is “undoubtedly part of what we face in terms of a challenging work environment,” Wilgen said.

“You have a stock of contractors that will never have done something like this before so it does create some commercial anxiety,” he said, adding that local contractors have a lot to learn when it comes to sustainability standards.

The issue is exacerbated by the wider construction industry’s focus on cost cutting, which Wilgen described as a “race to the bottom” and “cutting everything down to the bone”.

Face, Head, Person 'We are continuously looking at what we can do better,' says Lutz Wilgen of Masdar City — ‘We are continuously looking at what we can do better,’ says Lutz Wilgen head of design at Masdar City

Masdar City, a $22 billion project launched in 2006, was initially expected to be completed by 2016 but has faced repeated delays, with the revised timeline extending to 2025.

Environmental and financial challenges, along with critics questioning the sustainability of building a city in the desert, have added to its complexity.

Wilgen said the master plan is constantly evolving to adapt to these realities.

“We are continuously looking at what we can do better and how we adapt. Every city has evolved over time. That means it’s had to morph.”

Despite the criticisms, Wilgen highlighted its achievements, including the NZ1 building, which opened in 2023.

The structure generates all its energy needs on site, while consuming 53 percent less energy than comparable buildings, showcasing the potential of net-zero energy and water efficiency.

New projects, including Masdar City Square (MC²) and The Link, also aim to set new standards in sustainability with net-zero energy designs and innovative materials.

The city’s master plan has also evolved to balance environmental goals with financial feasibility.

Originally designed as a raised city on a podium, the plan was changed to ground-level construction to reduce embedded carbon and costs, Wilgen said.

“To build a whole city up has an immense carbon footprint,” he said.

“We’ve got to be very careful in terms of how we spend that carbon. We also have to look at the associated costs of finance.”

Wilgen pointed out that demand has been strong.

“We have no spare capacity at Masdar City. All our assets are occupied. We have a list of companies waiting for our new products to come online.”