RAK Ceramics, the world's largest ceramic tiles & sanitaryware manufacturing company, has supplied 85 per cent of the tile requirements of Saudi Arabia-based Princess Noura Bint Abdul Rahman University, the world’s largest women’s university, being built with an estimated value of USD 11.5 billion (SAR 43.127 billion). RAK Ceramics has been contracted to deliver 230,000 square metres of porcelain tiles.
PrincessNoura BintAbdul RahmanUniversity is poised to be the world's largest centre of higher learning for Arab women as it will accommodate over 26,000 students and will feature 13 colleges, including those for medicine, dentistry, nursing, naturopathy, IT, languages, instant translation and pharmacy.
Dr. Khater Massaad, CEO, RAK Ceramics said: "This groundbreaking university project underlines the huge strides being made by Saudi Arabia in enhancing the academic sector. RAK Ceramics shares a common vision with PrincessNoura BintAbdul RahmanUniversity in terms of the quality we strive to achieve, and in line with this we will be supplying specially developed porcelain tiles to offer a distinct character that will complement the University's stature as a centre of academic excellence for Arab women. Moreover, this new undertaking also manifests the reputation of RAK Ceramics as the premier provider of tile solutions to many of the world's most prestigious development projects."
The entire university project will include an administration building, a central library, conference centres, buildings for 15 academic faculties, several laboratories, a 700-bed hospital equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, housing for university staff, mosques, a kindergarten school, and exclusive amusement centres for families and students. RAK Ceramics is working with main contractor Saudi Bin Laden Group, contractor Arabtec Saudi Arabia and project engineer Dar Al Handasa – Shair & Partners in this project.
A spokesperson from Saudi Bin Laden Group said, "RAK Ceramics brings a wealth of tiling expertise and experience that will definitely help us realise the level of sophistication and quality required by this unprecedented project. PrincessNoura BintAbdul RahmanUniversity has been developed to establish new benchmarks in the academic sector, so it is imperative that we only work with the industry's best suppliers such as RAK Ceramics."
RAK Ceramics is a USD 1 billion global conglomerate in the ceramic industry, offering a product portfolio comprising over 6,000 designs in ceramic tiles, Gres Porcellanato, and several models in sanitaryware. The company has also been recently conferred the SuperBrand 2010 Award and continues to be a global pioneer in the world of ceramics through innovative products such as the RAKSLIM, a new brand of 4.5-millimetre thick tile that sets new industry benchmarks in thickness, strength, cost and ease of use. RAK Ceramics is also founding member of Emirates Green Building Council, which supports the development of sustainable buildings in UAE.
