The Conference Center emerges at the southern terminus King Abdullah Financial District’s ‘Wadi’ circulation and entertainment network. The project’s mega roof evokes the landforms of the desert terrain while conforming to the district guidelines for faceted enclosures. A custom hypertufa growing substrate was developed to mimic regional limestone cliff growing conditions and deployed over one third of the rooftops’ triangular containments to support arid vegetative plant growth throughout the center’s varied roof planes. The exterior strategy flows inside as a labyrinth of living walls and planting beds to improve air quality and human comfort. The innovative collaborative design reduces pollution, energy use, and material waste helping advance key goals of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 National Transformation Plan.

Credits: Sam Lawrence; Design team leader through Design Development as Principal / Sr. Project Manager with HMWhite

Client: Skidmore Ownings & Merrill / Riyadh Investment Corporation