The roadmap for skyscraper development in Dubai was charted out successfully at the second annual Smart Skyscrapers Summit that concluded in the UAE emirate last month (May 11 and 12).

The summit was held under the patronage of the Dubai Municipality and was produced by Expotrade, a global conference and event organiser.

The event was attended by more than 350 participants, with an agenda that featured over 20 keynote speeches, panel discussions and case studies.

Abdullah Al Rafia, assistant director general – engineering and planning department, Dubai Municipality, inaugurated the summit and spoke about the Dubai Frame Project that aims to implement one of the highest landmarks in the world. Located inside Za’abeel Park, the project will be in the form of a frame with two 150-m-high towers connected by a bridge at the top of the towers.

The summit featured a presentation on the challenges of delivering iconic tall and complex buildings globally by Samsung C & T’s Ahmad K Abdelrazaq.

He explained the benefits of early contractor involvement and provided case studies on several iconic structures around the world, highlighting the importance of transfer of technology across the boundaries to deliver structures of the highest safety and quality standards, on time and within cost.

Intelligent transit in modern high-rise buildings was the focus of the session conducted by Schindler’s John Mizon, that highlighted how new concepts such as transit management can ensure the quality of space being provided is increased and improved, thereby creating buildings that are efficient and improve people’s lives.

Kone’s Johannes de Jong focused on innovative technology to future-proof buildings (see also Saudi Focus).