Towering effort to build Anantara hotel
MUSCAT: Lotfi Sidirahal, whose firm was behind the construction of the Anantara Jabel Akhdar resort has told Times of Oman about the difficulties faced during its construction, which at 2,400 metres above sea level, is the Middle East’s highest hotel.
“Access to the site was very difficult due to a very steep road,” explained Sidirahal, the Managing Partner of Atelier PoD, the architecture firm that created the design of the resort.
“It takes a minimum of two hours for a truck to go from Birkat Al Mouz, which is the last village at the foot of the mountain, to Saiq Plateau at the top, but only 30 minutes for SUVs.
“The more the truck is loaded, the longer is the time taken to travel up the hill,” he added.“One solution was to use lightweight blocks instead of traditional concrete blocks for masonry works.”
To avoid being further hamstrung by these constraints, the architects decided to mine most of the stone that would be used to construct the resort at source.
“We tried to maximise the use of local materials such as Omani limestone and Jabel Akhdar stone, which is very difficult to cut but provides an amazing aesthetic effect,” explained Sidirahal.
“Even though the site was on solid rock, local regulations recommended to dig at least one metre below ground level for foundation. All excavated rocks were re-used as raw material.”
More than 300,000 cubic metres of Jabel Akhdar stone were used to create the hotel, which occupies a built-up area of 23,817 square metres. In addition, over 30 different materials were used in the design of Anantara Jabel Akhdar.
Some of these include Turkish and Italian marble, Indian granite, walnut wood from the US, Indonesian Sukabumi green stone, and many other materials such as onyx, beech, leather, bamboo, oak and brass.
Atelier were selected by the Ministry of Defence Pension Fund, who are the financial backers of the resort, from a shortlist of 10 architecture firms. While they provided the plans for the luxury hotel, it was S&T Group, who are based out of Oman, which pro- The Resort Cost of the construction Numbers of Rooms Luxury rooms Premier rooms Villas Garden pool villas Presidential villa 115 82 33 22 1 Facilities Restaurants and lounges Recreation centre Fitness centre Tennis court Heated main pool Pool for children vided the labour for the project. “A standard truck can carry 1,000 blocks safely,” said KS Ravikumar, the company’s Executive Director for International Operations. “Keeping the quantum of work and the project delivery deadline in mind, we also had to procure tipper trucks which could transport approximately 400 blocks Total built up area per trip. “To add more rapidity to our work we used autoclaved aerated concrete blocks,which are three times lighter than traditional masonry blocks,” he added.
“Logistics were a challenge. To overcome this, we used sixwheel drive vehicles instead of the standard 4x4s to transport materials. Only specific brands of trucks could manage the extreme pressure, which involved covering 2,300 meters twice a day.”
The construction process alone took 7,398,056 man hours, and at its peak, employed more than 2,000 workers. Additional measures, such as geological surveys to test the integrity of the plateau ahead of construction, push that figure above 10 million man hours.
“We, at S&T, have always been committed to the health and safety of our staff and sub-contractors,” explained Ravikumar.“To deal with high altitude and cold conditions, extra clothing like winter jackets were provided to the workers.