Sphere Abu Dhabi Construction Gathers Pace: ALEC Reports Piling Under Way on the AED 6.4 Billion Yas Island Venue, 62,872 Calibrated LED Tiles in 933 Facets and a 150-Metre Dome, Completion Targeted for the End of 2029

2026-09-07

Construction of Sphere Abu Dhabi, the second Sphere venue in the world after Las Vegas, has moved from preparation into active delivery. On 7 September 2026 ALEC Holdings CEO Barry Lewis told Gulf Business that soil improvement, ground works and piling are under way on Yas Island, Atkins has been appointed lead designer, permit applications have been submitted and the major procurement packages, including structural steel and the technology partners, have been concluded. The contract, awarded by the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) in May 2026, is valued at around AED 6.4 billion (USD 1.7 billion) and is the largest single contract in ALEC’s AED 32.5 billion backlog. The dome will be approximately 150 metres in diameter, with an internal display assembled from 933 facets and 62,872 individually calibrated LED tiles, and a programmable LED exterior, the Exosphere. Capacity is up to 20,000 guests, and completion is targeted for the end of 2029.

What ALEC reported on 7 September 2026

The update came in an exclusive interview that Barry Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of ALEC Holdings, gave to Gulf Business. According to Lewis, the project “has already advanced significantly since the award”: Atkins has been onboarded as lead designer, permit applications have been submitted, and the major procurement packages, including structural steel and the technology partners, have been concluded. Ground works and piling are in progress on the site between Yas Mall and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi.

“Those are important early steps because this is a project where design, procurement and construction must advance in parallel,” Lewis said. “The sequencing is particularly demanding given the scale and complexity of the structure.” He added that “the work completed to date places the project exactly where we want it to be at this stage”.

ALEC received the letter of award from DCT Abu Dhabi on 22 May 2026, eight days after DCT and Sphere Entertainment Co. named Yas Island as the site of the venue. The contract covers the full design, procurement and construction of Sphere Abu Dhabi, including its immersive technologies and integrated building systems, and is scheduled for delivery through 2029. In ALEC’s results for the first half of 2026, published on 13 August, the project is listed as the largest single contract in the group’s backlog and as “the world’s second Sphere after Las Vegas”.

Sphere Abu Dhabi in figures

Two envelopes and 62,872 tiles: why the build is technically demanding

Sphere Abu Dhabi will consist of two distinct envelopes. The internal envelope contains the amphitheatre and the immersive LED screen; the external envelope, the Exosphere, houses individually controllable LED elements. According to Lewis, this creates an unusually complicated construction sequence: “Each stage is tightly interdependent, and once that sequence is established, there is very little room to deviate from it.”

The finished dome will be immediately recognisable to anyone who has seen the Las Vegas original, which opened in September 2023, but the engineering underneath it cannot simply be copied. “An identical public experience does not mean an identical construction solution,” Lewis said. “Almost every layer beneath that appearance has to be adapted for Abu Dhabi.” That means different climatic conditions, building codes, power requirements, logistics networks and suppliers, while the Sphere concept itself stays intact.

The clearest illustration is the interior display. Lewis explained that much of the physical specification has to remain fixed because the content is created for a precisely defined environment: a specific screen geometry, pixel count and combination of visual, audio and sensory effects. “Change the envelope materially, and the content no longer performs as intended.” The internal display will be assembled from 933 facets comprising 62,872 individually calibrated tiles, which must align seamlessly into one continuous 180-degree image. “A small deviation can appear as a visible seam or distortion,” Lewis said. The tolerances are so fine that the supporting steel and the panels have to be installed in temperature- and dust-controlled conditions, with a temperature-matched connection between the assembly area and the building: “Even a difference of around four or five degrees can affect the tolerances.”

From the May 2026 award to piling: the timeline

1. 15 October 2025: ALEC Holdings lists on the Dubai Financial Market in the UAE’s largest construction-sector IPO, raising AED 1.4 billion.
2. 14 May 2026: DCT Abu Dhabi and Sphere Entertainment Co. (NYSE: SPHR) announce Yas Island as the site of Sphere Abu Dhabi, the first Sphere outside the United States, with USD 1.7 billion invested by DCT in the construction phase and completion expected by the end of 2029.
3. 22 May 2026: DCT Abu Dhabi issues ALEC a letter of award for the full design, procurement and construction of the venue; Gulf Business reports the award on 25 May 2026.
4. 30 June 2026: ALEC’s backlog reaches AED 32.5 billion, with Sphere Abu Dhabi as the largest single contract; the results are published on 13 August 2026.
5. 7 September 2026: ALEC reports soil improvement and piling under way, Atkins as lead designer, permits submitted and the structural steel and technology packages concluded.

The venue is also planned as a platform for Emirati culture. DCT Abu Dhabi said the Exosphere would display the work of Emirati artists, and the programme would combine the signature immersive productions of Sphere in Las Vegas with Sphere Experiences about Emirati culture and heritage, concert residencies of local, Arabic and global artists, and marquee and brand events. DCT is coordinating road enhancements, site access and site-wide infrastructure with the Department of Municipalities and Transport and its Integrated Transport Centre, the Department of Energy, Taqa, Etihad Rail and Aldar. Once open, the venue’s operations are expected to create thousands of local jobs, according to the 14 May release.

ALEC Holdings: the contractor behind the project

ALEC Holdings PJSC is an engineering and construction group headquartered in Dubai and majority-owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD). It listed on the Dubai Financial Market on 15 October 2025 in the UAE’s largest-ever construction-sector IPO: ICD sold 1 billion shares, or 20% of the capital, at AED 1.40 per share, raising AED 1.4 billion (USD 381 million) at a market capitalisation of AED 7 billion. Total subscriptions reached about AED 30 billion, an oversubscription of more than 21 times, and ICD retains 80%. The listing was one of the deals behind the growth of retail participation on the exchange, which we described in our article on the 59,108 new investor accounts DFM opened in the first eight months of 2026.

On 13 August 2026 the group published its results for the first half of 2026. Revenue rose 67.6% year on year to nearly AED 9.0 billion, and Q2 revenue grew 51.3% to AED 4.4 billion. Building and Construction revenue more than doubled, up 105.6% to AED 5.8 billion, on the back of the Stargate Data Centre, Wynn Al Marjan Resort and the ilmi Science and Discovery Center. EBITDA increased 2.7% to AED 440.4 million, while net profit fell 10.5% to AED 213.8 million, and Q2 closed with a net loss of AED 16.6 million because offshore work in the Energy Services segment was halted during the regional conflict while the group continued to carry the cost of idled manpower. The company ended June with AED 2.4 billion in cash, a net cash position of AED 1.0 billion and about 61,300 staff and labour in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and approved an interim dividend of AED 100 million payable in October 2026.

The backlog stood at AED 32.5 billion on 30 June 2026, up 21.5% from AED 26.7 billion at the end of Q1 and 7.1% from AED 30.2 billion at the end of 2025, equal to 2.0 times trailing twelve-month revenue. The UAE accounts for 93.1% of it and Saudi Arabia for 6.9%; Building and Construction represents 55.3% and Energy Services 44.1%. Besides Sphere Abu Dhabi, the H1 awards included three EPC contracts on ADNOC’s Das Island worth more than AED 1.8 billion for the subsidiary Target Engineering. ALEC guides for revenue growth of about 45% to 50% in 2026, with the backlog already covering 100% of the expected 2026 revenue. Lewis told Gulf Business that the group remains selective: “We concentrate on complex, high-value projects that are strategically important to clients and to the region, and we make sure we have the people, supply chain and management capacity to execute them properly, before we commit.” Data centres, which ALEC identified as a priority about seven years ago, and Saudi Arabia, where he named aviation, entertainment, data centres and energy, are the other growth areas. In Ras Al Khaimah the group is finishing the Wynn Al Marjan Island resort, where its MEP and fit-out businesses are also engaged.

Yas Island’s pipeline to 2029

Sphere Abu Dhabi is one of three large leisure projects due on Yas Island by the end of the decade. On 7 September 2026, the same day as ALEC’s update, Miral and Warner Bros. Discovery announced three Harry Potter-themed lands at Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi on 63,000 sqm, with construction completion targeted for 2029. A Disney theme park resort, announced on 7 May 2025, is being developed by Miral without a published opening date, and Topgolf Yas Island with 82 hitting bays is scheduled for 2026. The island already hosts Ferrari World, Yas Waterworld, SeaWorld Yas Island and Yas Marina Circuit with the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, and from 2027 it will host the BRIDGE Summit.

The demand side is documented in the Oxford Economics study for IAAPA that we covered on 6 September: in 2024 the UAE attractions industry generated USD 5.4 billion in revenue and 64 million visits, family entertainment centres grew from 76 to 311, and the sector employed 69,100 people. On the property side, Abu Dhabi recorded AED 67.8 billion of residential sales in H1 2026, and on 7 September Aldar launched Sei Saadiyat with 778 homes in the cultural district that will be completed by the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi on 11 December 2026.

What Sphere Abu Dhabi means for business in the UAE

For companies, a contract of around AED 6.4 billion with a fixed 2029 deadline is first of all a three-year procurement pipeline. ALEC delivers projects through an integrated model with its own MEP, fit-out, facade, technology systems and equipment rental businesses (its Related Businesses segment generated AED 2.6 billion of revenue in H1 2026), but a structure of this complexity still relies on specialist subcontractors and suppliers: structural steel fabrication, climate-controlled assembly, LED and audio-visual integration, acoustics, calibration, logistics and heavy equipment. The second wave is operational: once the venue opens, it will need event production, ticketing, hospitality, food and beverage, retail and transport services on Yas Island, on top of what Warner Bros. World, SeaWorld and the future Disney resort already generate.

Foreign firms that want to take part usually need a UAE legal presence before they can be registered as vendors or subcontractors. The choice of structure follows the scope of work:

• on-site construction, installation and MEP works in Abu Dhabi require a mainland licence with the matching activities and, for many packages, classification of the contractor or consultant with the emirate’s authorities;
• design, engineering consulting, software, audio-visual technology supply and trading can be run from a free zone company in Abu Dhabi (ADGM, KEZAD, Masdar City) or Dubai, with a local partner or distributor for delivery on site;
• procurement by government-linked entities in Abu Dhabi weighs In-Country Value (ICV) certification, which rewards local spending, Emirati employment and UAE-based assets;
• a corporate bank account is needed for performance bonds, advance-payment guarantees and retention money, which are standard in UAE construction contracts;
• engineers and site specialists need employment visas and Emirates ID, and their degrees may have to be attested;
• VAT registration is mandatory once taxable supplies exceed AED 375,000 a year, and every UAE company has to register for corporate tax, with 9% payable on profit above AED 375,000.

How Atlant Capital can help

Atlant Capital sets up companies in Abu Dhabi and across the UAE for contractors, engineering firms, technology suppliers and hospitality operators that want to work with projects of this scale. We select the jurisdiction and the licensed activities for the actual scope, whether it is a mainland licence for site works or a free zone company for design, supply and consulting, and take the client through company formation, corporate bank account opening and work visas and residency for owners, directors and specialists, as well as the legalisation of corporate documents and powers of attorney for those who sign from abroad. Accounting, audit, VAT and corporate tax filings are handled by licensed accounting firms from our partner network.

Conclusion

Four months after the letter of award, Sphere Abu Dhabi has a lead designer, submitted permits, concluded steel and technology packages and piling rigs on site. The numbers are fixed: around AED 6.4 billion, a 150-metre dome, 933 facets and 62,872 calibrated tiles, up to 20,000 guests and completion by the end of 2029. For ALEC it is the largest contract in a AED 32.5 billion backlog; for Abu Dhabi it is the third large leisure project on Yas Island alongside the Harry Potter lands and the Disney resort; for businesses it is a defined three-year window of construction demand followed by a new operating venue.

FAQ

What is Sphere Abu Dhabi and where is it being built?

Sphere Abu Dhabi is an immersive entertainment venue with a capacity of up to 20,000 guests, the second Sphere in the world after Las Vegas and the first outside the United States. It is being built on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, on a plot between Yas Mall and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi, a short drive from Zayed International Airport. The site was announced by DCT Abu Dhabi and Sphere Entertainment Co. on 14 May 2026.

How much does Sphere Abu Dhabi cost and who is building it?

DCT Abu Dhabi is investing USD 1.7 billion in the construction phase. The main contract for the full design, procurement and construction went to ALEC Holdings under a letter of award of 22 May 2026 and is valued at around AED 6.4 billion, the largest single contract in ALEC’s AED 32.5 billion backlog as of 30 June 2026. Atkins is the lead designer.

When will Sphere Abu Dhabi open?

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2029, according to DCT Abu Dhabi’s announcement of 14 May 2026 and ALEC’s H1 2026 results. As of 7 September 2026 the project is at the soil improvement and piling stage, with design, permits and the main procurement packages concluded. The public opening date and ticketing have not been announced.

How does the construction of Sphere Abu Dhabi differ from Sphere in Las Vegas?

The public experience will be identical, but the engineering is adapted to Abu Dhabi’s climate, building codes, power requirements, logistics and suppliers. The interior display of 933 facets and 62,872 calibrated tiles must form one continuous 180-degree image, so the supporting steel and the panels are installed in temperature- and dust-controlled conditions; according to ALEC, a difference of four or five degrees can already affect the tolerances.