Working and Living
Remote camp strives to provide comfort to Northern Area employees
Private-public partnership brings 760,000 m2 Fadhili Bachelor Camp to fruition near Jubail.
The company’s largest-ever remote bachelor camp is operating successfully near Jubail.
The 760,000-m2 Fadhili Bachelor Camp (FBC) accommodates more than 2,500 employees working in the Northern Area Oil and Gas Operations at Fadhili, Wasit, and Khursaniyah.
The FBC was designed and constructed to meet Mowaamah requirements for accessibility. Mowaamah, run by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, is an accreditation awarded to companies that provide suitable work surroundings for people with disabilities.
The camp includes 2,548 single-occupancy residential units, with 1,904 units for Grade Code 3-10; 588 for Grade Code 11-14, and 56 for Grade Code 15+. The units are laid out over 13 buildings of two and three floors, with room sizes of 27 m2, 34 m2, and 65 m2.
Comfortable facilities
Recreational facilities include a fully equipped gymnasium, games room, indoor basketball court, library, and a 50-person movie theater. The external facilities include a full-size all-weather soccer field, a 2.5-kilometer jogging track, two tennis courts, a volleyball court, and a 25-m eight lane swimming pool.
A grand mosque is located at the heart of the facility, and is flanked by a community center and a large reception hall. The community center includes dining facilities to accommodate 500 people, a commissary, barbershop, mailroom, and a multipurpose hall, in addition to office space to accommodate camp administration personnel.
The external landscaped areas were designed with a focus on sustainability, reduced water consumption, and environmental diversity.
The camp is supported by a 24-hour fire station and a 24-hour medical clinic administered by Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare.
I would like to highlight the incredible efforts of the team in safely getting through the challenges posed by COVID-19 while dealing with the unprecedented impacts. Executing the project on time, with a focus on safety and quality, while maximizing the use of local content, and uplifting Saudization remain key.
— Yaser A. Shehri, manager Community Services Projects Department
On-time completion
Construction started in January 2018 and finished on Dec. 31, 2020, with the more than 2,800 workers surpassing 14-million safe man-hours to complete the project on time despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project was executed under the Community Services Projects Department and is administered by the Northern Area Community Services Department for the post-construction contract duration.
Faisal A. Hajji, executive director of Community Services (CS), said, “The FBC demonstrates our enduring commitment to develop inclusive communities, which are vibrant, accessible, and environmentally sustainable, with a central focus on improved quality-of-life and employee well-being.”
Mohammad A. Sultan, general manager of CS, said the project was “an excellent example of a value driven initiative leveraging private sector involvement in alignment with our corporate and strategic Vision 2030 objective.”
IKTVA and Saudization
The project is the first to utilize a third-party Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) procurement concept through the Fadhili Field Housing Company, a joint venture between MASIC, a private real estate and investment company and Aramco in a first-ever partnership with a private sector real estate developer. The NESMA Group was chosen for engineering, procurement and construction work, and will manage the facility.
The project reached a 40% In-Kingdom Total Value Add (iktva) localization target designed to drive domestic value creation, and Saudization started at 16%, with a targeted rise to 45% of Saudi citizens employed at the camp by 2025.
Residents were accommodated over a four-week period from Jan. 1 without disrupting oil and gas operations.