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Faisal T. Bouzo

Co-Founder & Partner, Construction & Planning Co. (C&P)

Tarek F. Al Ajlani

Co-Founder & Partner, Construction & Planning Co. (C&P)

Working closely with clients on real estate development, planning, design, and consultancy, these firms are keen to bring new innovations and standards to the local market.

How would you describe your journey to becoming a leading contractor in Saudi Arabia?

FAISAL T. BOUZO C&P was founded with the sole mission of delivering high-end results that are both high in quality and competitive in time delivery. We spent the first few years working mainly on residential projects; a corporate opportunity later presented itself, and we grabbed it. Since then, our focus has shifted toward fit-out in the private domain, and we began diversifying our portfolio in the healthcare, hospitality, real estate, and entertainment sectors. In terms of construction, our focus is on base-builds, fit-outs of all types, and landscaping. Because we are confident in our ability to deliver top-quality projects and because of the vast experience we have gained over the years, we began venturing into the public sector in Saudi, and it has been met with pleasing results. We are currently entering into a joint venture with large multinational design firms and will focus more on real estate development due to the rising demand for mid-end/low-cost residential projects.

MOHAMED ALBAKRI For 17 years we have been an architecture consultancy, seeing from a close perspective the direction of residential developments, working with developers to help them to build more effective housing for their clients. SAHEM was founded as a result of a thorough assessment of the Saudi housing market and the incorporation of the major trends in the sharing economy and technology. The goal is to help bring different sectors or different business players to participate in building housing options for the end user through one source. The end user interacts with the land developers, master planners, banks for the mortgage, architecture consultants, and construction companies all through one player. Traditionally, many of the available options in the market are already built. That means the customer does not have the chance to do the customizations. Moreover, many of the current offerings today have inefficiencies that are inadequate for today’s market.

What do you consider your signature projects, and what is your approach toward them?

TAREK F. AL AJLANI The new Apple headquarters in Riyadh and other international firms like Deutsche Bank, Strategy&, and Deloitte are several of our significant projects in the design and fit-out domains. We recently delivered the new headquarters for the Ministry of Communication & Technology (MCIT), in which we changed its traditional offices that were built in 1980 to a space that resonates with modernity and innovation, helping it achieve its desire to move in line with its new visual identity as per Vision 2030. Just like we do with any project in the kick-off phase, we first gain a deep understanding of the work environment the client is looking for. Based on that, we begin the design process that demonstrates the area from every angle and highlights all the components down to the smallest detail. The ministry sought to be one of the top places to work and to be ahead of others in terms of workspace efficiency and functionality.

What is your growth strategy for the medium term?

MA SAHEM can provide turnkey solutions and work alongside the customer through every step of the process. This model will be successful all over the country, and not only Jeddah. We started here because all the big vendors and players are here. If a company can make it in Jeddah, they can make it anywhere, because it is highly competitive. Land prices are high, and the client always seeks something different. In the future, our intention is to actually enter the Saudi market and perhaps the GCC. Every time we move to a new city, we plan to work with local architecture consultancies and contractors who meet our standards. However, to get there, one needs to work on certain things themselves. If we want to hedge for a heavy penetration in the market, we need to adopt a light business model where we can bring in partners. For these partners, we do a great deal of prequalification, knowing that our model works in cities that have cheaper land prices.

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