The practice’s Riyadh office is located in the city’s King Abdullah Financial District, a large, mixed-use development for business and entertainment. The Riyadh studio provides local expertise and a personalised service for clients, facilitating the design and construction of new projects across the region. The team comprises both local Saudi professionals and international expatriates.
Foster + Partners has been present in Saudi Arabia since 1994, with the commissioning of the Al Faisaliah Centre tower, which was Saudi Arabia’s first skyscraper defining Riyadh’s skyline. Completed in 2000, the tower was followed by major infrastructure works for Al Haramain rail network and the SNB Head Office tower. Ongoing work includes the King Salman International Airport, which will boost Riyadh’s position as a global logistics hub, stimulate transport, trade and tourism, and act as a bridge linking the East with the West, and Abha Airport, which reinvents the airport terminal as a series of interconnected human-scale clusters, outdoor courtyards and walkways.
The practice has also worked on a number of projects for Red Sea Global, including the Red Sea Airport terminal, which is inspired by the forms of the desert; Southern Dunes, a luxury resort situated a short distance inland from the coast; and Nujuma, a hyper-luxury resort on the edge of the Al Wajh lagoon. All the practice’s projects on the Red Sea coast have been carefully planned and sited to minimise environmental impact. They are a celebration of Saudi Arabia’s amazing desert landscape and pursue the highest environmental standards of sustainability in an effort to preserve, protect and enhance the region’s stunning natural biodiversity for generations to come.
