Hundreds of Ark Pacific modular buildings have been assembled across PNG resource sector developments since the company penetrated the local camp accommodation market in 2010. Over the last decade Ark has substantially increased its international market share in the oil and gas sector – its growth primarily driven by quality and unrivalled production output. By 2030, it is anticipated that Ark buildings will dominate the camp landscape of the world’s largest natural gas field.
In addition to PNG, Ark camps can be found in Argentina and Russia, as well as in Qatar where it has captured 70 percent of the LNG camp accommodation market. Its growth in Qatar is anticipated to escalate given the government’s announcement in March that it will expand output from North Field West (i.e., part of the world’s biggest gas field) before 2030.
Ark’s first significant project in Qatar was the 2,500-person LGV camp expansion project in 2020. It is currently in the process of manufacturing a 2,000-person senior staff camp for world-leading engineering company, Technip Energies. With another two-years’ worth of buildings in the production pipeline, Ark has truly cemented itself in the accommodation supply chains of Qatar’s oil and gas mega-contractors.
Cass Ruka, GM Ark Pacific, says that the reason Ark became the camp building market leader so quickly in Qatar was its flat pack building system, specifically its “high quality, together with its rapid manufacturing, delivery, and installation, as well as its safety rating, particularly with regard to fire.”
Ruka confirms that “for a 5,000-person camp it takes us a maximum of three months, upon issuance of a purchase order, to have all components delivered to site. We also manufacture and deliver in stages which means that the first lot of building componentry is on site in less than one month.” The speed at which Ark can manufacture and deliver its building systems varies little, irrespective of whether the camp is being built in Qatar, PNG, Sudan, or Argentina.
Ark’s unrivalled production output has been facilitated by factory expansion and an ongoing investment in automation over nearly 20 years. Ruka reports that the company’s automated system of robotic welding for instance, not only ensures the highest quality of welds, but also a 24/7 round-the-clock and 365 day-per-year fabrication capability.
Ark’s modular systems enable a multitude of building configurations, across single or multiple storeys, and on diverse topographies, in even the most remote locations and climate extremes. In addition to accommodation blocks housing literally thousands of workers, some of the other types of buildings Ark has provided its resource clients with, include recreation centres, medical facilities, office complexes, kitchen and dining facilities, commissary buildings, maintenance workshops, and laboratories.
