Doha - United Precast Concrete (UPC) Qatar, one of the country's leading companies specialised in precast concrete products is committed to contribute in modernising the country's construction industry by promoting a faster and cost effective system to the market, said a company official.
UPC Qatar is a subsidiary of the BPC Group, with offices and factories in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai and Oman, some of which have been in existence for 30 years.
Kim Vestergaard, UPC Qatar General Manager said that Qatar building industry demands rapid innovation in the field of construction, and the use Hollowcore Slabs system meets this requirement.
"We want to educate the market and show a system that is totally up to date worldwide. It is a very modern way of building towers and houses. It is a concept which is well proven for the past fifty years in Europe. Here in the Gulf, the system has been widely used in Dubai for the past 15 years", Vestergaard said in remarks to The Peninsula.
Basically, the Hollowcore Slabs use less raw material, cement and gabbro, the main raw material components because the Hollowcore Slabs structure has core openings which can be used for ventilation, electricity and water systems, he said.
Hollowcore Slabs are used for flooring and roofing in all kinds of buildings. It is particularly advantageous for villas, apartments, towers, malls, schools and car parks and other buildings saving time and money.
"The system has been used for some time in Qatar now, in some buildings in Doha, Ras Laffan, Al Khor, Messaieed and Dukhan. But now we want people in the industry to become more aware of the system and how to use the product", said Vestergaard before a seminar designed for consultants and engineers in the construction industry on Hollowcore Slabs that was conducted by UPC Qatar at the Diplomatic Club recently.
The world renowned Arnold van Acker fro Belgium, former Chairman of the International Concrete Federation-Commission on Prefabrication, together with senior staff from UPC Qatar participated in the technical seminar which focused mainly on the Hollowcore Slabs and their use.
In addition to Vestergaard, Ove Pederson, UPC Qatar Production Manager, Mogens Tyllesen, Executive Sales Manager at UPC and Arnold Van Acker illustrated in detail, about the technological advancement in the global construction industry and also underlined the importance of Hollowcore products for faster completion of construction projects.
Vestergaard said that in Qatar, the old conventional 'in-situ' system was much in use instead of the modern Hollowcore Slabs system, the reason being that it is still relatively little known to the market.
"We are looking forward to cooperate even closer with construction engineers and consultants and we do hope that will even develop some new ideas together and we can also learn from them", he added.
© The Peninsula 2007
