Case Studies

At the start of 2017, a gigantic shopping and leisure centre opened in Cairo. It includes the first real indoor ski slope on the African continent. Before dropping the snowflakes, BESIX first cast the concrete, in quantities which could have built a small pyramid.

The Mall of Egypt is one of the largest retail facilities that have been developed in the region. With a very congested roof hosting all MEP services and a limited time for the MEP works installation, our role was to utilize BIM for MEP Prefabrication in order to significantly reduce the installation works duration and achieve the planned completion date.

Our scope included:

• Achieving a highly coordinated BIM model

• Modularization of the Prefabricated MEP works

•  Prefabricated MEP assemblies drawing production and installation sequencing

Snow under the sun

The 380 shops of the mall, its cinema complex, leisure centre and restaurants are a guaranteed draw for tourists and well-heeled Cairo residents. But to enjoy the star attraction of the complex you must first don snow boots: before entering a ski slope and winter garden covered with real snow which, like in Dubai, welcome amazed visitors not accustomed to these temperatures.

10.000 person workforce

BESIX joined forces with OCI to build the complex, along with car parks (6,700 places), access roads and the technical buildings needed for cooling and distributing electricity across this very special project. In the final stretch, more than 10,000 workers and subcontractors joined forces with the teams of the future retail outlets to ensure a top quality welcome for the first visitors.

Recycling on site

Highlights of the building work included casting the slabs of the huge floor, the huge slab roof that covers the mall, and the 'rocks' and columns of the spectacular indoor ski slope. With the help of specialist Egyptian companies, BESIX was able to recycle 75% of the waste of all trades on the construction site, an effort that contributed to the LEED Gold environmental certification awarded to the complex.

Introducing video: click here.