Architect: Leigh & Orange Architects, Hong Kong
Acoustics, building security, multimedia, IT: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Hong Kong
Size: 970,000 square feet
Completion: March 2009

Al Shaqab is an Olympic-quality equestrian facility that will host international events and promote excellence in breeding and showing Arabian horses. The project, by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, is architecturally modern, but incorporates historic buildings on the site.

The new Al Shaqab will include an international competition arena, multiple air-conditioned indoor arenas, technologically advanced veterinary hospital, state-of-the-art equine sports therapy facility, endurance training area, as well as an all new riding academy and world class breeding and show complex.

The academy hosts worldwide games, attracting world leaders as well as the general public. A flexible security program designed by Shen Milson & Wilke permits zoned isolation areas for various types of functions.

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles play an important role in the design. Water features required for the 500 to 1,500 horses on the site create moats throughout the site. Ha-ha (or hidden) walls surround the site to keep out vehicles. An internal bollard and gate system also controls vehicles. Access control systems use smart cards to control the 1,000-plus employees. These are backed up with 600 closed circuit television cameras, 1,500 access control points, and numerous alarm monitoring points throughout the site.

All of this is controlled through a centralized security operations center with full dispatch and monitoring capability.

Shen Milsom & Wilke designed a converged network to deliver a wide variety of systems and services including voice, data, and multimedia. The fully redundant fiber-optic network encompasses the entire complex and includes wireless LAN and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

Multimedia includes video cameras for recording events in the performance arena, plasma screens, and a high-quality public address system. Audio and video signals can be distributed throughout the campus via the LAN.

Al Shaqab was recently placed under the operational umbrella of the Qatar Foundation. It is part of Education City.

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