Farnek celebrating $4.5mn windfall from eight Expo 2020 Dubai pavilions
UAE-based FM company says it will mobilise over 350 staff at Expo 2020 Dubai
Farnek has revealed it has secured FM contracts for eight national pavilions, worth AED 16.7 million ($4.5 million) at Expo 2020 Dubai.
In a statement, it said the countries include, China, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Singapore, The Philippines, Bahrain, Morocco and Pakistan.
At over 13,000sqm, the biggest contract is for the Saudi Arabian pavilion. More than 130 staff will be deployed to provide cleaning, pest control, operational support and facility integration services throughout the event’s second largest exhibit.
“The Saudi Arabian pavilion presents us with a unique challenge which simply put is its sheer scale,” said Markus Oberlin, CEO, Farnek. “During the six-month Expo 2020, it will be open to the public for up to 16 hours per day, which will require a dedicated team of over 130 technical and cleaning staff, working shifts throughout the show.”
The China pavilion is also another major contract win, said the UAE-based FM specialist, explaining that it will require over 80 staff covering security, cleaning and pest control.
The China Pavilion will also be one of the largest at Expo 2020 Dubai, measuring over 4,600 square metres. The pavilion is modelled on a traditional lantern with architecture that references ancient Chinese innovations and features a wall inspired by fluent printing technology, which turns into a dazzling digital light show at night.
“This is a complex and intelligent structure,” said Khaldun Aburok, Farnek’s director of Business Development. “And Chinese officials were confident that we understood how smart buildings worked and more importantly how to maintain, clean and secure them.
“We are currently working closely with Huawei developing smart security solutions tailored to our specific requirements, at our new AED 200 million staff accommodation centre – Farnek Village,” added Aburok.
Farnek is 100% Swiss owned and managed, and the firm will be overseeing FM services at an exhibit where visitors can take a virtual hike through the Swiss countryside, it has a restaurant serving Swiss specialties and it’s expecting 15,000 visitors per day.
“The challenge with the Swiss pavilion was high footfall, understanding their technology and managing the highest standards of cleanliness for the restaurant as well as the high traffic areas,” said Oberlin.
“Switzerland is in our DNA – quite literally in many cases and so we had an in-depth understanding of their requirements and we have allocated more than 30 technicians to manage this diverse and innovative pavilion,” added Oberlin.
Sustainability was another key feature of the Pakistan, Bahrain, Morocco, Singapore and Philippines pavilions, noted Farnek.
“Time and again, we came across like-minded country officials who shared our passion for a future that is both smart and green and I believe that our clearly-defined proposition enabled us to obtain these contracts,” said Aburok.
Farnek is responsible for the hard and soft services FM of the entire ‘Opportunity District’ and Farnek Hospitality was recently chosen to manage the 2,273 new apartments in Expo Village. Farnek’s scope of work includes managing the reservation services, concierge, front office services and housekeeping.
