The latest project award boosts DSI’s project wins to AED2.8 billion as of May 2011, an increase of around 200 percent compared to the same period in 2010.

“The emirate of Abu Dhabi continues to be the second largest contributor to our backlog,” said DSI CEO Khaldoun Tabari, commenting on the latest project win.

“We have observed significant progression in the momentum of project awards during the first quarter of 2011. As major urban developments are coming on stream, we see severe competition. However, our rich experience of more than four decades in Abu Dhabi gives us the competitive advantage in securing substantial projects wins in the second half of the year.”

Mark Andrews, managing director of DSI-MEP, said: “We are keen to deliver to the highest standards on this prominent project and we expect to start pre-commencement of the MEP works immediately.”

Andrews added: “Our technical expertise and proactive management allow us to cope with the evolving and challenging market dynamics of Abu Dhabi. Competition has exhibited substantial pressure on margins and therefore we are pursuing an effective strategy to realign our business model, cut down unforeseen marginal costs and improve our procurement to submit competitive bids while maintaining our traditional best in class quality for our clients. Our involvement in early stages of the project design has become essential in ensuring reduced errors margins and technical variations to achieve higher productivity, cost effectiveness and operational efficiency.”

Drake & Scull International Abu Dhabi holds a prestigious profile of iconic projects in the emirate, such as the Baynunah Tower, Al-Muneera development in Khor Al-Raha, the Shangri La Hotel Qaryat Al-Beri, for which it won the “MEP Medium Project of the Year Award” at the Middle East MEP awards in 2008, and the Yas Island Rotana Resort and Centro by Rotana Hotel.