Arcadis, one of the world's leading natural and built asset design and consultancy firm, said it has won a €20-million  ($22.5 million) contract to provide architectural, branding, design and construction consultancy services for the Gold Line of Doha metro project in Qatar.

The Gold Line is one of four lines under development in the first phase of Doha's 354-km metro network and is by far the largest single construction package crossing Doha from east to west.

This €3.2 billion ($3.6 billion) project includes 32 km of bored tunnel along with 13 new underground stations fitted out with high-end architectural finishes and state-of-the-art MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) systems, as well as services buildings, tunnels and entrances, in addition to landscaping, traffic and utilities works.

Arcadis said it clinched the contract on the strength of its earlier work on the Red Line South for Qatar Rail Company.

For the Gold Line project, Arcadis will work on behalf of the contractor, ALYSJ, a joint venture of several international and local construction and engineering firms. The ultimate client for the project is the Qatar Rail Company.

Arcadis' involvement in the project, which started this month, covers the detailed design and co-ordination of architectural finishes for 10 of the 13 new underground stations as well as associated MEP, structural and landscape design, plus construction support and consultancy services, said the company in a statement.

The remaining three stations on the Gold Line have been priced separately and may be assigned to Arcadis later. The design phase is expected to take 12 months and construction support an additional 24 months, said a top official.

"This is a great example of synergy between legacy Hyder and Arcadis capabilities and strong collaboration between the newly-formed Arcadis Qatar team and Arcadis Netherlands to bring the best of our global capabilities in rail transportation to serve Qatar Rail," stated Stephan Ritter, the executive board member of Arcadis responsible for the activities in the UK, Continental Europe and the Middle East.

"This award is also a tribute to the team already working on a similar package on Red Line South metro in Doha, as their excellent work has encouraged the ultimate client, Qatar Rail Company, to have confidence in recommending a further package of work to Arcadis," he added.-TradeArabia News Service