Msheireb Downtown Doha

Msheireb means ‘a place to drink water’ in Arabic. It is a QR20 billion (US$5.5 billion, €4.18 billion) project,[5] covering an area of 31 hectares (77 acres) (310,000 square metres) offering a maximum floor space quantum of 764,176 square metres.[6]

The city has six construction phases: Phase 1A, Phase 1B, Phase 1C, Phase 2, Phase 3 and Phase 4.[7]

Phase 1A's contract was awarded to a consortium consisting of Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company.[8]

Phase 1B began in December 2011, and Carillion and Qatar Building Company were selected as the main contractors.[1] In January 2018, Carillion's UK business went into liquidation blaming its collapse on problem contracts including the Msheireb Downtown Doha project, where the company claimed it was owed £200m[9] - former CEO Richard Howson said he felt like "a bailiff" in chasing the debt.[10] However, this claim was quickly disputed by Msheireb Properties, who said it had continued to pay Carillion but Carillion did not pass funds on to its supply chain, leaving over 40 subcontractors unpaid, resulting in Msheireb incurring additional costs to pay Carillion’s suppliers and engaging a new contractor to complete the project.[11] The Qataris were prepared to testify to the UK Parliamentary committees investigating Carillion's collapse,[12] provided written evidence to them, and were considering a £200m claim against Carillion.[13] In June 2018, Carillion (Qatar) LLC went into liquidation.[14][15]

The project was expected to take two years, but the customer was said to have changed architect three times and issued 40,000 new drawings. The project is now due to finish in December 2018.[10]

Brookfield Multiplex and Medgulf were contracted for Phase 1C in November 2012.[16]

Phase 2 began in December 2012, with Arabtec Construction being awarded the contract.[8] In May 2013, Obayashi Corporation and Hamad Bin Khalid Contracting Company were awarded the contract for Phase 3.[17]

Msheireb Downtown Doha is located at Mohamed Bin Jassim District – central Doha, bordered by:[18]

• Al Rayyan Road to the North;
• Jassim Bin Mohamed Street to the East;
• Msheireb Street to the South; and
• Al Diwan Street (part of Ring Road A) to the West.

The Msheireb project site is immediately adjacent to the Amiri Diwan, Qatar’s seat of government and Ruler’s palace. The site is also adjacent to the redeveloped Souk Waqif, a successful mixed-use scheme based on a traditional Qatari souk and the historical Al Koot Fort.

Qatar National Archives building in the Diwan Amiri Quarter

The master plan comprises six distinct phases. The first phase, referred to as the ‘Diwan Amiri Quarter’, currently under construction, features a combination of three major government buildings including the National Archive, along with heritage sites, a museum and an Eid Prayer Ground.

Subsequent phases include a 5-star Mandarin Oriental Hotel,[19] Park Hyatt Doha[20] & MGallery[21] along with 1 additional hotel, commercial office space, a multitude of residential types and a wide variety of retail shops and restaurants. There is also a significant community and arts focus, featuring a cultural forum, school, nurseries and mosques.

Heritage Quarter

Msheireb Museums in the Heritage Quarter

The Heritage Quarter is a historic area which contains traditional courtyard houses and the recently-restored Msheireb Eid Prayer Ground, dating to the first decade of 20th century, alongside a newly constructed mosque. The newly-renovated Msheireb Eid Prayer Ground, found opposite of Al Koot Fort and in close proximity to Souq Waqif, was inaugurated in October 2014. It occupies 3,200 square meters and can hold up to 3,600 worshippers.[22]

This quarter hosts the Heritage Houses, which include the Bin Jelmood House, the Company House, the Mohammed bin Jassim House and the Radwani House. The Heritage Houses have been refurbished and re-purposed as individual museums that collectively constitute the Msheireb Museums, a project that was formally opened to the public in October 2015.[23]

Three-year project with leading architects, city planners, engineers, and academics (including specialists from Harvard, Princeton, Yale and MIT) to understand how insights from the past can be combined with present-day technologies and thinking to achieve a new, distinctly Qatari architectural language.[25]

Language comprises seven ‘steps’ or distinct design principles: Past and Future; Individual and Collective; Space and Form; Aspects of Home; Aspects of the Street; Climate Design; Language of Architecture.

Approximately 25% of the city will be allocated towards residential developments. Hotels, shops and retail establishments will take up a combined space of 26%, while government buildings have been allotted roughly more than one-third of the entire area.[26] The city is expected to accommodate around 15,000 residents.[2]

Msheireb Downtown Doha is set to contain one of the largest collection of LEED-certified buildings in the world.[27]

Sustainability is central to the Msheireb project, in terms of both the conservation of natural resources and the quality of its design.

All buildings within the development will target an average Gold rating under the internationally recognized LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system developed by the US Green Building Council, while several buildings will aim for a Platinum rating.

The entire project features sustainable design that consumes fewer resources, generates less waste, costs less to operate, and achieves a reduced carbon footprint.

• 
  Construction in Msheireb Downtown Doha in 2013
• 
  Roadside view of construction in Msheireb Downtown Doha in 2013

• Mushayrib
• Msheireb station