UAE

The fall in demand for steel in the United Arab Emirates has driven a gulf steel firm to stall on the opening of its new facility. RAK Steel, which is based in Ras Al-Khaimah and was set up by the emirate's investment authority and the Middle East Traders Group, was due to open its new site in the first quarter but this has been put back until the end of 2009. Chief executive Ajay Aggarwal said: “Until the construction industry starts working again, all other associated industries will be affected.”

United Kingdom

Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners’ plans to redevelop Chelsea Barracks have been substantially patched up, with Thomas Heatherwick airlifted in to oversee a new landscaping plan that reflects the site’s military history. 

“The Heatherwick Studio landscaping concept…will be developed with the advice and input of a consultative panel comprising senior representatives of the military,” developer Project Blue said in a statement.

The number of apartments in the development has been cut by 13 per cent, from 638 to 552, the statement added. 

Abu Dhabi 

The Abu Dhabi government has invited tenders for a 131-kilometre metro line. The government's transport department is looking for a consultant to undertake the feasibility study for the scheme, initial designs and the schedule of works. It is expected that the contract will be awarded in the third quarter of 2009. The first phase, the feasibility study, is expected to take 18 months. The metro line will be supported by a planned network of buses and trams, under a 20-year transport plan for Abu Dhabi.

Norway

A leading Norwegian architect and Pritzker Prize-winner, Sverre Fehn, died this week aged 84. Fehn won acclaim with his design for the Norwegian Pavilion at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels. This was followed by a famously-loved Nordic Pavilion at the 1962 Venice Biennale and a series of landmark museums, including the Hedmark Museum in Hamar, the stuning Norwegian Glacier Museum at the mouth of the Fjaerland Fjord, and the Norwegian Museum for Photography in Horten.

United States

American architects are backing Obama, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) has said. “America's architects stand ready to work with President Obama and Congress to help rebuild and renew America,” Marvin Malecha, president of the AIA said. “Achieving the priorities that the President outlined in his address will require the support and participation of architects - whether to design the next generation of green buildings that help break our addiction to foreign oil, build the hospitals and health facilities that revolutionize how medicine is delivered, or modernize schools to help our children compete in the global economy.”