Construction of The Residences at Marina Gate is well under way with works commenced on all three towers within the Dh4-billion ($1.089 billion) development, according to the developer Select Group. This includes the third and final tower Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, a five-star branded residences and hotel apartment community which is to be operated by the Jumeirah Group.

“All three phases within the community are under construction with enabling works having started in February 2016 for Jumeirah Living Marina Gate.” Trevor Hardwick, COO of Select Group, tells Gulf Construction.

The Residences at Marina Gate, situated at the northern entrance of Dubai Marina, will consist of high-end residential and retail facilities. The development has been designed by both international and local consultants including Aedas and GHD and, upon completion, the beautifully crafted residential towers will have over 1,400 homes ranging from studios to three-bedroom apartments, as well as exclusive podium-level duplex villas with waterfront views, and superlative invitation-only half- and full-floor penthouses.

The development, spread over a staggering 3.8 million sq ft, features common podiums with connected walkways for more than 50 retail outlets including a supermarket, gym, salons and sports facilities located on the ground and mezzanine levels overlooking the waterfront. Retail outlets at the promenade level will add a new dimension to the lively restaurant scene which Dubai Marina is famous for.

The iconic podium level will feature villas coupled with tree-lined communal spaces and infinity pools that will immerse residents in soothing nature-inspired surroundings. Residents will also be served by an array of amenities including a spectacular dual-level gymnasium overlooking the marina, championship level squash and paddle tennis courts, over 30 high-speed elevators and direct access loading docks to ensure hassle-free moving in for residents.

According to the developer, the project has been designed with high-end specifications in mind, ensuring the end-user experience was paramount during the planning and conceptualisation of the project.

The living area in the residences.

Design

All residential units have been created to maximise the views, with higher-than-usual ceilings and full-height glass window walls. The apartments have been planned to avoid odd corners and unusable space, with the rooms giving free rein to creative interior design by Aedas Interiors, a world renowned interior design firm.

According to the developer, the concept for The Residences at Marina Gate was studied in many various forms, heights and scales to ensure that the mix of the heavier and solid villas at the lower levels complemented the lightweight transparency of the apartment towers above the podium.

The towers themselves are the most prominent part of the design, being highly visible from the surroundings and changing from a simple, elegant, glazed elevation in daylight to a transparent element, emphasised with perforated metal horizontal and vertical fins that emit a subtle diffused light at night. The scale and positioning of these on the facades convey and emphasise the proportion of the towers, suggesting verticality and dissipating as they reach higher, further away from the solid base.

The buildings use glass where possible to maintain the concept of lightweight. This is maintained at the ground level on the façade of the podium entrance, to break up the solidity of the podium. A textured paint finish will be applied on the concrete around the podium villas, while a bronze expanded mesh will clad the facades of the car-parking areas and form the fins. This (mesh) was specifically chosen for the way the light dissipates and diffuses and it also provides the overall project colour scheme in a suggestive manner through the use of light and reflectance while keeping the majority of the facades neutral for glass colour.

A rendition of The Residences at Marina Gate.

Construction

Select Group has awarded main contracts alone worth over Dh1 billion ($272.26 million) to Al Jaber LEGT Engineering & Contracting (ALEC) for constructing the first two phases of The Residences at Marina Gate.

Phases One and Two comprise two towers with 43 and 58 upper floors, respectively. Each phase will contain two levels of basement parking, podiums and waterfront retail on the ground and mezzanine floors.

“The development is progressing very well with the Residences at Marina Gate One over 11 storeys high. A jumping formwork is helping us to achieve a four-day cycle for casting slabs and we expect to top out by the end of the year,” says Hardwick.

The building sits on a raft foundation supported on piles. The piling work was done by Swissboring, the enabling works contractor.

“We have cast over 200 piles for the Residences at Marina Gate One and over 330 piles for the 65-storey Residences at Marina Gate Two. Some of the piles for the Residences at Marina Gate II reach 48 m in length. To put it into perspective, this equates to about 18 per cent of the aboveground building height being underground,” says Hardwick.

The core of the project is done with reinforced concrete. The two basements are conventional and reinforced concrete slabs, while the ground floor and the podium have post-tensioned slabs.

“Select Group is also working towards completing the interiors of first by June 2017 for the Residences at Marina Gate One. This means we will have several units fully completed and can ensure we achieve the highest quality of finishing throughout the project,” he adds.

The finishes, fixtures and fittings will be from top brands. Interior work on the villas of the tower is expected to start by Q4 this year.

Hardwick continues: “In terms of main contract works for Phase Two, Alec was appointed in August 2015 and is currently onsite carrying out excavation works. It will overlap the excavation works with preparation for construction of the basements to ensure we deliver the project by Q3 of 2018.”

In January this year, Select Group signed with the Jumeirah Group to bring its five-star Jumeirah Living brand to the Marina. Jumeirah Living Marina Gate, the third phase of the Residences at Marina Gate, is a 60-storey branded residences and hotel apartment development.

The Residences at Marina Gate ... work under way.

Jumeirah Living Marina Gate is currently at the schematic design stage with Select Group working closely with the Jumeirah Group to ensure a luxurious development with five-star facilities. The design-led luxurious living destination will include 104 hotel apartments, 389 branded residences and 15 waterfront villas a resident’s lounge, gymnasiums, infinity pools, room service and many more facilities.

According to Hardwick, enabling works have started on the third tower, with Swissboring having been appointed to carry out the foundation works. Jumeirah Living Marina Gate is scheduled for completion in Q3 of 2019.

Commenting on the challenges, Hardwick says: “Whilst initially we were quite fortunate with the site with the first two phases benefiting from the Phase Three plot as a laydown area, as the development progresses and becomes more constrained, logistics becomes more of a challenge. But what is great within Dubai is the support of the authorities and the master developer to ensure these challenges are overcome,” he points out.

With over 150,000 sq ft of retail within the community, Select Group has also appointed Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), a retail expert both globally and regionally to carry out a full assessment of the community and advise on a retail strategy to ensure the community benefits from the retail.

Prominently positioned, Marina Gate residents will benefit from excellent transportation network links, being within walking distance to the tram, metro and water taxis.

Select Group is one of the largest privately held real estate development and investment companies in the GCC, having delivered over 3,000 homes in the last five years.

Key players

Developer: Select Group
Design: Aedas
Main contractor: Alec
MEP contractor: Alemco
Piling: Swissboring