Arup owed almost £4m by Austin-Smith Lord over Abu Dhabi project

Consultant Arup is owed nearly £4m from cash strapped architect Austin-Smith Lord (ASL) for work on Abu Dhabi’s cultural quarter, documents seen by Building’s sister title Building Design reveal.

The documents - which detail the company vountary agreeement (CVA) which ASL is poised to enter in order to cope with its debts - show that ASL is owed more than £11.3m from its government-backed client and in turn owes Arup, which was acting as engineer, £3.8m for work on the Qasr al-Hosn cultural quarter project.

Project manager Buro Four is also owed £700,000 by ASL.

As Building has reported, ASL has now been forced to close its Abu Dhabi office with the loss of 13 jobs in addition to the 40 staff in London who have lost their jobs because of the problems with the huge Middle Eastern scheme.

The delayed payment has plunged the architect into financial turmoil. ASL has asked its creditors to accept the CVA, which would come into effect on 28 November allowing it to pay down debts more slowly or in part, if it is not paid outstanding fees before then.

Neil Chapman, director at ASL, said he remained confident that ASL would be paid before the 28 November deadline and would not have to invoke the CVA.