Ssangyong Construction Completes Dubai Ultra-Luxury Hotel 'Atlantis The Royal'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyemin] Ssangyong Engineering & Construction announced on the 21st that it has completed the construction of the luxury hotel 'Atlantis The Royal' in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), eight years after winning the contract.

Exterior view of 'Atlantis The Royal' in Dubai, completed by Ssangyong Construction. (Photo by Ssangyong Construction)

The hotel was contracted by Ssangyong Engineering & Construction in December 2015, with construction starting in July the following year. Located on the Palm Jumeirah artificial island in Dubai, it consists of three 44-story hotel towers (791 rooms) and three 39-story luxury residence towers (231 units). The total construction cost was $1.254 billion (KRW 1.55 trillion), featuring 94 swimming pools including ultra-luxury pools.

This project was commissioned by the Dubai Investment Corporation (ICD), which was the largest shareholder of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction at the time in 2015. Ssangyong Engineering & Construction served as the project lead and jointly won the contract with Belgium’s Besix in December of that year.

Atlantis The Royal has an 'S'-shaped layout when viewed from the sky and features an irregular exterior resembling stacked Lego blocks. Site Manager Han Seung-pyo of Ssangyong Engineering & Construction explained the exterior finishing, saying, "There are very few cases worldwide of buildings constructed with all streamlined curved shapes," adding, "The 33,000 panels attached for the exterior finishing are all streamlined, making it a highly complex structure."

Because of this, the project was anticipated to be a high-difficulty construction from the design stage. In particular, coordinating opinions was challenging as 54 consultants from 14 countries participated in the design. The COVID-19 pandemic, which lasted over three years, was also a major obstacle. As a result, the construction period was extended by about two years, and the construction cost increased by approximately $415 million compared to the original contract amount of $840 million due to design changes and other reasons.

A representative from Ssangyong Engineering & Construction stated, "Based on our experience in constructing overseas luxury buildings, we plan to actively pursue high-end construction contracts in Dubai and the Middle East going forward."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.