Earthquake puts a halt to F+G and Atkins in Pakistan

Faithful & Gould has said a £300m scheme it is working on in Pakistan is “in limbo” following the earthquake in the region. F&G is providing cost consultancy services on the 1m ft2 plus mixed-use development in Islamabad, one of the cities badly hit by the quake.

F&G’s parent company Atkins is providing multidisciplinary services on the project, which is at the feasibility stage.

Chris Short, director at F&G who has been leading his firm’s work on the scheme from the Epsom office, said work had stopped on the project while the client, a local developer, weighed up whether to go ahead with the high-rise element of the scheme.

If it does, the design must now be earthquake-proof.

He said: “The earthquake has set us back a bit. We have got up to the concept stage and we have done a concept cost estimate. Atkins have calculated areas and so on. But now we are in limbo.”

We have got up to the concept stage and we have done a concept cost estimate. But now we are in limbo

Chris Short, director, F&G

The development is aiming to be iconic and will include a hotel, plus shopping and residential facilities.

Short said the job was being costed based on Middle Eastern prices after the initial cost information it got from Pakistan was found to be wildly inconsistent. The information came from both published sources and the developer behind the scheme.

“We have got a lot of work on in the Middle East, so we are relying on the data we have from the region,” said Short.

The earthquake struck South Asia on 8 October, killing tens of thousands of people and turning tower blocks in Islamabad to rubble.