Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Zamil Structural Steel, a subsidiary of Advanced Building Industries Company (Senaat), has won an $82 million (SAR308 million) contract to fabricate and install steel structures and external façades for Qiddiya’s National Tennis Centre.
The contract was awarded by a consortium comprising Bouygues Bâtiment International (Saudi Arabia branch) and Almabani General Contractors, according to a statement to the Saudi bourse. It has a 19-month duration.
Qiddiya Investment Company announced plans in June to build the National Tennis Centre within the giga-project, located 45km west of Riyadh.
Designed by US-based sports designer Populous, the centre will be built to ATP, WTA and ITF standards, with 30 courts: 28 hard courts and two clay courts.
The centre court, with a retractable roof, will have a capacity of 15,000, with total capacity across all courts reaching 33,000.
The tennis centre award follows a $306 million façade contract for the Qiddiya stadium won by an IKK Fangda joint venture.
Qiddiya City is already home to Six Flags, the Middle East’s largest theme park, and Aquarabia, the Middle East’s largest water park.
The contract was awarded despite escalating Houthi attacks on sites across the kingdom, particularly in the capital Riyadh. The renewed attacks have raised concerns about construction schedules and investor confidence in Saudi Arabia.
With the Houthis targeting Saudi energy and civil infrastructure, Saudi Arabia has postponed the 10th edition of its flagship Future Investment Initiative (FII) summit.
The Saudi Public Investment Fund, the $900 billion sovereign wealth fund that oversees the country’s largest projects under the Vision 2030 development strategy, cut spending on so-called giga-projects last year. The fund has said it wants to increase private sector investment in Vision 2030 projects.
GCC countries awarded contracts worth just over $200 billion between January and September, up 2.5% from a year earlier, Kamco Invest said in a quarterly update drawing on data from MEED Projects.
In Saudi Arabia, contractor awards jumped 82% year on year in the first half, Saudi Contractors Authority platform SCAVO said in September. The kingdom awarded more than $24 billion in the third quarter, half the Gulf total.
