MATHIS, the European leader in glulam-timber construction, was chosen to supply the glulam elements of part of the new Doha International Airport, in the Qatari capital.
The 80m x 25m structure, which has been completed, will make up the military-parade zone of the airport and is the first glulam construction to be erected in Qatar. This follows on various projects that MATHIS has worked on in the region in the past (and involving Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE).
Alan Dolléans, International Project Manager at MATHIS, explained: "Our trump card is to integrate the engineering design with the computer numerical control (CNC) fabrication machinery so that, when the elements arrive on site, they can rapidly and accurately be assembled."
Having completed several projects, such as the extension to King Khaled International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the creation of a 35,000m² storage building for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), MATHIS continues to expand its services in the Middle East with the first laminated timber construction project to take place in Qatar.
After two years of marketing, and having made several proposals and participated in many technical meetings in Qatar, MATHIS has seen its efforts rewarded. The company secured a contract to supply the glulam elements of a project in the military-parade zone of Doha International Airport in Qatar's capital.
The 80m x 25m structure, which is a mixture of timber and steel elements with a fabric covering, has been completed. MATHIS' glulam-timber expertise was chosen because of its technical, aesthetic, and ecological advantages.
Alan Dolléans commented: "Our philosophy is simple: we aid and assist the architects to realise their projects with our timber structures."
MATHIS provides all the structural calculations and drawings, carries out the fabrication of the structure, arranges the transportation from the factory to the client's site, and monitors the erection of the frame.
The timber elements of Doha International Airport military-parade zone were shipped by sea from MATHIS's factory in France, and then delivered to the site by lorries. The structure was erected in one week without any difficulties. The contractor responsible for the on-site execution, who is experienced in erecting steel structures, was pleasantly surprised by the ease of installation of MATHIS' 23-metre-long beams.
Having completed this initial project in Qatar, MATHIS has successfully shown that it is possible to provide alternative forms of timber construction in the region.
The company is currently in the process of studying drawings for other large-scale projects in the Persian Gulf and hopes to see further glulam projects come to light before the end of 2012.
