A Europe for all seasons

IT’S INCHING TOWARDS midday on a sweltering June morning. I’m stood on a shadeless pile of sand off the coast of Dubai which is scarcely up to the task of housing one person, let alone 15,000 a day.

The proposed plan of the Heart of Europe

But Josef Kleindienst, the Austrian man behind the development of what will be the first permanent island in the beleaguered 11-year-old World development to open, says in just over two years it will do just that. What’s more, he says, though the only speck of water I can feel is that which is pooling in salty droplets on my brow, the streets of Dubai-Europe will be doused with rain and snow.

As I learn over the course of our AC-devoid trip, this is more than just a gimmick; the regulated microclimate on the six seven-hotel islands should lead to a massive windfall in a hot and highly competitive tourism market.

“The biggest issue for Dubai hotels is the summer,” Kleindienst says.

“Josef Kleindienste don’t have this issue. We are very much attractive in the summer with our climate-controlled areas and our snow areas and rain areas. If we get the service right, we should have higher occupancy than Dubai hotels.”

That’s not bad, considering Dubai hotels had an 80 per cent occupancy average last year, faltering only in the sapping summer heat.

But can man really conquer nature in one of the most unforgiving climates in the (actual) world?

“It’s not really space age… it’s simple,” the Kleindienst Group CEO starts, before going off on a tangent on how the idea originated over a century ago with Austrian town planner Camillo Sitte who thought people should live in communities where they could access everything by walking — “No cars, no highways, all of this crap gone.”

“It was necessary to create this climate-controlled interface otherwise you cannot reach what you need in your daily life because it’s too hot to walk.” Cue Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, “Europe’s largest application-oriented research organisation”, as it bills itself.

Kleindienst explained he wanted at the heart of his project — ‘the Heart of Europe’ — a year-round ideal climate of 27 degrees Celsius, no more than 60 per cent humidity and six metres of wind per hour.

“This gives you perfect comfort.

“We asked them if they could do it and they were interested… they stayed here for a couple of weeks, measured wind, sun and whatever they needed to know… then they designed the system and simulated it on computers and informed us they could do it.”

How it should all work is complicated and Kleindienst admits he doesn’t understand it all himself, but the nuts and bolts are that every time the temperature rises above 27 degrees Europe will experience ‘rain’ coming from vents disguised in decorations 18 metres up — while in Switzerland, the rainwater will be frozen and it will actually snow.

This will cool the natural temperature in the immediate proximity, while the rain left on the ground is quickly drained to ensure humidity doesn’t rise, simultaneously being recycled for the next shower. The water must stay below six degrees to keep humidity low.

“It will rain for 10 minutes or 15 minutes and that’s enough for one or two hours.

“We know people here love it, I’ve seen people dancing in the street when it starts raining.”

The effect will be the same with the snow, with additional heaped snow piles scattered around which won’t melt as quickly.

“You will sit there and it will almost be like the mountains in Switzerland or in Austria.”

The wind regulation relies on older energy-efficient technology, with blockers and tunnels to either disperse or amplify the wind as optimum comfort dictates.

All this sounds a rather extravagant waste of energy in a world facing an acute energy shortage, but Kleindienst says the scientists were instructed to use no more than the same amount of energy that an equivalent-sized mall might use. Have they managed?

“As per the simulator it works…the Germans, they calculate and they measure and they’re telling you ‘yes’…These are scientists, they are very serious about what they’re doing, they would tell you ‘no’ if they could not do it.”

The main arrival gate from where the journey of discovery begins

A RUNNING THEME of our interview is Kleindienst’s fixation on the target to get tourists to stay in ‘Europe’, with its plush hotels (five of which will be five-star, and the other two “above this level”), for an average of two weeks. So far, we both agree the snow and rain would be enough to attract me out there for at least a day.

Dubai’s 10 million visitors currently spend an average of three days in the emirate, so Kleindienst has his work cut out.

“We need another 11 days, and we need it… for people of any ages, for families, for bachelors, for people with any interests.”

So what else is on offer at this $850 million project — which Kleindienst says is actually worth 50 per cent more?

The islands will have 3,000 rooms, or 9,000 beds, including in 68 ‘floating villas’.

The villas will be situated in front of artificial reefs made of metal transplanted with real coral, in order to encourage the aquatic life, including the dolphins sometimes seen in the area.

There will be a fulltime European circus on the islands, a circus school, a daily evening laser light and fireworks show, and a host of “authentic” clubs and restaurants, waited on by staff brought out from the European country they are representing – asking customers, in their native tongue, for payment in Euros.

“We want you to travel, we want you to plan for your trip, it’s not like you go in your car and you go to Atlantis hotel, no, you need to prepare yourself. It’s very important to make it special and different.”

Okay, this could hold my attention for another few days. Kleindienst also has plans to bring out the type of busking street performer ubiquitous on European streets who currently cannot perform in Dubai due to busking laws. They will come on working visas and will lend authenticity to the islands, he says, while he even hopes to start up an artist-in-residency programme to inspire the next generation of Picassos.

For the 6,000 expected daily visitors not staying on the island, there will be luxury yachts, an RTA boat service and a cable car stretching from the mainland as transport options.

“You cannot build a real Europe here, but that’s not the objective. What we are doing is to build a luxury resort with European design, European brands and European ideas… That means two things: you don’t need to go to Europe to see it, and we can take you on a trip out of Dubai.

“Ask 10 of your friends if they ever wanted to travel the world, maybe from 10, nine want to. Then ask how many have done it? We don’t do it, right? The reason is time, money, security….here we should be able to travel the world.” Already on the island are dozens of Spanish olive trees up to 1400 years old — albeit sitting on an island where a sign prominently declares: ‘Willkommen in Deutschland — Passkontrolle’.

Spanish olive trees are not typically associated with Germany, I venture.

Kleindienst shrugs his shoulders: “On some things you have to compromise.” THE DEVELOPMENT has not been smooth sailing. The recession gathered momentum just as project developer Nakheel opened the islands for sale in 2008. This gave rise to a host of failed transactions, hasty land sales and even an out-of-court legal settlement for Kleindienst with Nakheel, while six years on the only structures adorning the islands are a “temporary” club on Lebanon, while UAE Prime Minister and Vice President and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has a villa on Greenland. Kleindiesnt says it’s high time Shaikh Mohammed got some neighbours — but he doesn’t for a minute rue the recession and its delaying impact.

“What you see is the result of seven years of work from experts from all over the world, and it will take another two-and-a-half years (to complete), so the majority of the work is done… Without the recession we would have completed this project far earlier and it would have been far less quality than it is today, so actually for the project the delay was good.”

The developer’s faith in the vision is unshakeable. If everything goes according to plan, I ask, does he think The World Islands, this brash and outlandish development, will be regarded as the Eiffel tower of the future; which at the time of construction was lambasted by French’s artistic elite as a “giddy, ridiculous tower”.

“The Eiffel tower is something unique, but every shaikh with proper wealth could build the Eiffel tower. This is much bigger than the Eiffel tower and nobody will be able to copy it. You will not see another World project.”

If all 300 islands are of a similar standard, “you will not be able to leave Dubai anymore”.

The way the islands are being built upon is through pioneering ‘vibro-compaction’ technology that turns sand into compact land; yet concerns have been voiced that building on sand is a fool’s paradise.

Kleindienst readily dismisses any suggestion the islands — and their buildings — won’t last, citing numerous tests and additional cautionary measures, such as piling all buildings, that the construction entails.

“Can this island sink? After the weight of the building is on the island, the island can only settle another 25 millimetres over a period of 50 years… it’s the maximum allowed and geotechnical experts can measure this whether compaction is done in a way to achieve this result. “After these islands are compacted they’re more safe than the mainland because the mainland is not compacted to deal with liquefaction (in the event of an earthquake).”

But building on islands — let alone building on manmade ones — is a tricky business, not for the faint of heart.

Do people think Kleindienst is brave, or just downright crazy?

“Both. People ask me why we are investing out here when we could earn easy money with developments on the mainland. It’s not about the money, it’s about the challenge to create such a project. If you decided purely on money we would build in Jumeirah Village South or Business Bay or any other area where you have roads and everything is clear and no headache.

“A lot of people don’t want to touch islands because they don’t know islands and they don’t have patience for islands, we know islands and we like islands and we have the patience for islands.”

Being the first will naturally have its commercial benefits though, he says.

“The first one has to resolve all the issues but the first one always will have the advantage of moving at the beginning. What’s happening right now, most of the other island owners are in discussion with us to use our infrastructure, to use our knowledge…some even want us to manage our islands and operate them later…it can create a lot more business for us.”

Kleindienst is currently in discussions with about 50 owners of other islands, and believes construction on those islands will begin in the next few years.

As we get back to Dubai shores, I’ve consented to spend a lot more time in Kleindienst’s Europe than my initial one day, though two weeks still seems a stretch. But he is of the opinion that between now and the end of 2016, the growing list of enticements will be enough to bring me round.

“When you tell me ‘yes’, we have done it right.” —amanda@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE