Qatar builds environmentally sustainable buildings

After Qatar discovered oil and gas back in the 1930s, its capital, Doha, morphed from a small fishing village into a sprawling city. Dohaland CEO Issa Al Mohannadi believes, however, that now is the time for the city to go back to its architectural roots.

“We don’t build the building for the sake of just building a building. We just want to make sure that this building is built right, built for a purpose and reflects a good identity.”
-Issa Al Mohannadi

A subsidiary of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, Dohaland was established in 2007, aligned with the Qatar National Vision 2030, to create urban living concepts that build on traditional Arabian architecture and design. Earlier this year, the foundation stone for Dohaland’s first development, the Musheireb project, was laid at a ceremony attended by HH the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Musheireb, which in Arabic means a place where one can draw water from, is a 35-hectare site that will transform the architectural centre of the Qatari capital and set new standards for inner city development in the Gulf. Dohaland CEO Issa Al Mohannadi, who was named Property Development CEO of the Year by the Middle East Excellence Awards Institute, says Doha’s glass-encased buildings don’t always fit with the with the capital’s rich history. He wants to see Musheireb take the city back to its architectural roots and create thriving communities. 

How does Musheireb reflect the aspirations of the Qatar Foundation and of the Qatar National Vision 2030?

Issa Al Mohannadi. Real estate projects in general can easily align with the 2030 Vision if they are well planned and the strategy is developed well. The 2030 Vision has been built in four pillars: social sustainability, economical sustainability, human resource development sustainability and environmental sustainability. If you take any real estate project you still can achieve these four pillars if the project is well defined or designed well.

The Musheireb project is a mixed-use development and one of very few developments in the region that focus on focus on this style. This mixed-use concept – whether you have residential, commercial buildings, retail, hotels, schools or medical facilities – is all developed in the same area. This reduces the amount that people need to travel to a school or medical or maybe even go to work because all of these aspects already been designed and catered for. So if you live in Musheireb, and you happen to have your business headquarters there, you have all the amenities you need to live in a community. So that by itself contributes to the concept of social sustainability. We want to bring back life to the heart of the city, which we believe we can achieve through the master plan.

How will the development transform Qatar’s capital city?

Al Mohannadi. If you look at the location of the project itself, this Musheireb area is one of the oldest parts of the city. Unfortunately during the last 10 to 15 years, this part has suffered from different social issues. The buildings themselves have lost their quality and have not been maintained very well, so the whole area has come close to becoming a run-down area. But this does not reflect the strength of the country and the position and image of Qatar. The regeneration of this city started with us evaluating how we can improve the whole area because some of the buildings are in really bad condition, not even suitable for people to live in. We will regenerate this part of the city, bring it to life and if this trend continues then the whole downtown could be redeveloped which would contribute to transforming Doha in a modern capital that also embraces traditional architecture.

The first phase of the project is due for completion in 2012 while the entire development is slated for completion in 2016. Are you confident that you will meet these targets?

Al Mohannadi. It’s so far so good; the Phase I for 2012 is still on target and the whole completion of 2016 is still so far on target.  Bear in mind that this regeneration project has a different nature than any green project. What I mean by a green project is that if when you build a project outside a city in remote areas you can go there, start planning and start the construction. Musheireb is a place with people still living there so we have to go through the government process of the land acquisition, giving people the right notice period until they find another place to be relocated. All of this, of course, takes time. However, we are so far confident that this will be a target that is achievable.

How will Musheireb help to expand the Qatari economy and build on the successes of its oil, hospitality and knowledge-based industries?

Al Mohannadi. We had lost our identity when it comes to our architectural language and we became lazy as a society. Post the 1960s onwards, there were hardly any developments for this architectural language. So the Musheireb project came with a number of missions, one of which is to bridge this gap and develop a new architectural language rooted in the past and embracing the traditions in our architectural language. We encouraged the architects and everybody involved in the project to think outside the box and start to apply knowledge in how we can come up with this architectural language. We spent more than two years on research and innovation.

We also have the knowledge enrichment centre (KEC) located in the most dense area of Doha where we exchange ideas and thoughts with the public on concepts to do with Musheireb or any other project Dohaland is doing. By exchanging this knowledge and ideas we teach others how to do things differently. We encourage people to look at development of real estate not in the traditional way of how people look at it right now. We want people to realise that whatever is going to be built is going to communicate a certain language to the public and is going to have a reflected identity on the country itself.

We want to stop importing readymade architectural solutions and we want to stop constructing ‘glassy’ buildings that do not fit in this kind of environment. In Qatar we may have modern structures with good-looking facades but many of them are not designed for our environment and do not belong to our history or our architectural language. We want to stop people from being lazy and importing whatever is available for the design of a building. We want them to think again and find a new theme for their development or a new architectural language and work with us in thinking along these lines. I’m not aware that there were many or there are many real estate developers that think this way. So we feel Dohaland is being unique in how we approach the development of real estate. We don’t build the building for the sake of just building a building. We just want to make sure that this building is built right, built for a purpose and reflects a good identity.

How does the design of the project incorporate traditional Arabian heritage and how important was this consideration when designing the project from the start?

Al Mohannadi. This was the key element. The reason why Dohaland waited for two years to launch the company itself was because we were searching, researching and learning and developing this architectural language that’s rooted in the tradition and the country. We learned more about how our ancestors used to build their buildings and how they used to make a master plan for a city without any software or architects. For example, an old part of Doha built 30 years ago is very close to being a green building because it is made of natural and local material that is reusable. Every single stone used at that time was reused again. We have to look at the concept of making sure the buildings are not facing the sun and are opened up for the wind direction and that we are creating courtyard spaces with the homes themselves. These are all things that our ancestors applied too. So tradition is always the focus and a priority when we consider anything in the development.

What efforts then are being made to ensure this project is environmentally sustainable?

Al Mohannadi. We are designing the buildings to reflect or to enrich the environmental sustainability for the country. Phase I of the project has been developed to make sure we are following the guidelines and requirements of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. All the buildings we are designing are going to be green buildings for the Musheireb project. The master plan itself has been designed to cater for the environmental aspects related to this part of the world. So this by itself could contribute easily to the environmental sustainability.

What achievements have particularly made you proud during your tenure as Dohaland CEO?

Al Mohannadi. I’m lucky and honored to lead such a team and such a company. We have come a long way from when he concept of the project was just an idea on paper. We recently awarded the Phase I construction contract so this makes me proud because it wouldn’t have happened without a great team here enabling an idea move from the mind to reality. The greatest achievement will be when Musheireb is delivered to the people because we are building history that will be part of the whole nation’s history. Every Dohaland employee will be proud to have contributed to that. I believe this project will contribute to the whole world on how real estate developers need to think and how people can learn from projects. I am pleased that the employees of Dohaland are working as one team to achieve this objective.

Fast Fact

13,700
Number of underground car park spaces beneath the entire Musheireb project. This will effectively remove vehicles from the streets around the development and reclaim outdoor areas.