In the 1970s, Saudi Arabia, buoyed by a surge in oil prices, embarked on an ambitious building programme. The country moved rapidly to develop its cities and infrastructure.
But Prince Salman, then the governor of Riyadh, now the country’s King, saw that this was resulting in cities that were unmoored from their local context.
LA : He really led the motion back in the day with a lot of the architecture that was going on.
LA : But back in the 70s, what ended up happening is that we didn't really have a lot of local designers. And there was a rapid need for trying to populate the very expanding kingdom at the time. So there was a lot of global influence.
LA : And at that time, they thought it was something that was not of the place. And that's why they wanted to take it back to that rooting, that is cultural.
The prince led the development of a new approach, which would highlight the nation’s rich and diverse heritage. A national architectural manual was developed.
LA : The Salmani approach was a philosophy that was created, which emphasizes a balance between tradition and modernity. It is created basically highlighting 19 architectural characters across the kingdom that is contemporary, yet deeply rooted in the Saudi identity, culture and environment. So it creates a cohesive yet unique architectural character for the kingdom.
LA : But that does not mean that the whole kingdom would have that same aesthetic because by the end of the day, you have different styles. You have the Najdi style, which is pertaining to the central region. You have the Hijazi pertaining to the western. You have the Khaliji influence in the Eastern.
And this Salmani style, as it has become known, would look to the future, as well as the past.
LA : It's not a complete replica of the past when you look at projects today, but rather honoring the past with a modern twist, but still remaining contextual and true to the region.
Welcome to Engineering Matters. I’m Rhian Owen, and I’m Alex Conacher. In this episode, part of a mini-series produced in partnership with Egis, we are examining how Saudi Arabia has developed an approach to architecture that pays tribute to the past, while meeting the needs of its population today, and anticipating a smarter and more sustainable future.
King Salman’s son, Mohammed Bin Salman, often known as MBS, has built on his father’s work with a vision for the country’s future.
LA : So Saudi Arabia is undergoing incredible transformation under Vision 2030. It emphasizes sustainability, innovation. It really focuses on cultural preservation and the quality of life.
LA : We have the Saudi Green Initiative. We have the Green Integration, the Quality of Life, the National Industrial Development and Logistics Program, and the National Cultural and Heritage Program. These are all shaping the new urban landscape that blends heritage as well as cutting edge development.
LA : So Vision 2030 gave a blueprint for the future of Saudi Arabia, because when you have the Salmani architecture as the foundation and then the Vision 2030, which is something that looks to the future, that's the blueprint for how they expect everyone to start designing in Saudi Arabia.
LA : Lana Al-Dwehji’s practice, Omrania, is today part member of Egis’s 10N, a collective created by Egis. But its history is entwined with the development of the Salmani style.
LA : The Tuwaiq Palace, completed in 1985 as a meeting place for diplomats, exemplifies the Salmani approach. Built around an oasis, its sinuous walls resemble a desert fortress. These are punctuated with tent-like canopies, and step down like terraced pools.
LA : The Tuwaiq Palace received the Agha Khan Award, and that's why it stands out as an iconic example. It blends contextual and timeless design, and it forms materials that resonate with the desert landscape.
LA : The building was deliberately set back from the cliff edge in diplomatic quarters,
LA : not only to respect the dramatic typography of the site,
LA : but it also reduces the environmental impact and maximizes the natural shading
The building deploys the Kingdom’s architectural heritage, to solve the modern problem of sustainable temperature control.
LA : So what ended up happening through the design, we came up with a greening strategy,
LA : which here is a really critical role, that at its heart, the Tuwaiq Palace encompasses an oasis.
LA : So this creates a microclimate, it cools the environment, the surrounding places and spaces around the Tuwaiq Palace, and it provides a serene shaded retreat in a desert environment.
LA : A defining characteristic of architecture on the Arabian peninsula, and of Saudi Arabia, is the use of facades to maintain a comfortable indoor climate. Omrania made use of this approach elsewhere in Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, completed in 2019.
LA : A really nice example is a hotel that we designed in the Diplomatic Quarter. In essence it really embodies Salmani architecture with a modern twist because this project—which is the Radisson Blue Hotel and Residence—it features advanced multi-layered facade system and the high performance glazing, it shields the building from the sun.
The hotel uses terracotta ‘baguettes’ to cool and shade rooms. A year after it was completed, the Public Investment Fund, or PIF, Tower was topped out. Omrania used cutting edge digital design techniques, informed by cultural context, to finetune the building’s environmental performance.
LA : It features a double skin facade system designed for extreme desert conditions. There was a study that was done with the louvres and how they are orientated so they can provide optimal comfort for all the employees inside the tower. So that drastically improved the thermal performance and it really reduced the energy loads.
The double skin makes room for—and disguises—a key innovation, designed to protect workers and speed maintenance, on Riyadh’s tallest building. Behind the facade, catwalks run around each floor.
LA : A really nice feature to this project is the integration of a catwalk.
LA : What's very interesting is that when you have a tower of this magnitude, what ends up happening is that the cleaning process becomes very tedious if you have BMUs coming from the roof of the project. So the integration of these catwalks allowed us to do like quick repairs, let's say a glass or a window breaks, it's very easy just to go specifically to that floor and just replace that. The cleaning cycle has been improved drastically. It only takes 28 days to clean it, and you don't even have to do any interruptions to the building operations.
Omrania has spent fifty years designing buildings that pay attention to both cultural context and climate, as a time of rapid growth.
In 2007, for the first time, more of us lived in a city than in the countryside. Today, almost half of the world’s population lives in a city,. And by 2050, the UN estimates, this will rise to 70% of humanity.
What can the planners of these cities of the future learn from Saudi Arabia ?
LA : What I can say about Saudi Arabia is that the development is very ambitious and it's fast-paced, which is really exciting and challenging for architects and planners.
LA : My personal advice would be to always educate yourself about the heritage and the local architecture of the country and the area.
This can be supported by the public sector, through the study and sharing of national styles.
LA : We have a lot of initiatives created by the ministry of culture—there were a lot of design commissions that were founded to really provide invaluable guidance.
LA : We're thinking about the future, but also honoring the past. So it really ensures that the design decisions contribute meaningfully to national goals that will always cover sustainability, urban development and cultural preservation.
And this culturally informed approach should be complemented by the use of modern design tools.
LA : Architects should really push the boundaries with innovation to explore new technologies with the integration of AI, digital twins, staying up to date with the latest software tools that would really help us achieve our goals in terms of design. But we have to remain genuine to the heritage that we have.
