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Project Profile
Diriyah
PROJECT NAME:
Diriyah
PROJECT DEVELOPER:
Diriyah Gate Development Authority
PROJECT SIZE:
14sqkm
INVESTMENT PIPELINE:
US$50.6 billion
PROJECT COMPLETION:
2025 (Phase One)
Making History
BIG PROJECT ME PROFILES DIRIYAH, THE HISTORICAL, CULTURAL AND LIFESTYLE MEGAPROJECT COMING UP IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA, THAT WILL TRANSFORM THE KINGDOM’S CAPITAL ONCE COMPLETED
n November 2020, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, the ruler of Saudi Arabia, laid the foundation stone for Diriyah Gate, marking the launch of one of the Kingdom’s most important projects – one that will reshape its capital Riyadh and provide resident and visitors with a completely new lifestyle experience.
Situated approximately 15 minutes away from Riyadh’s city centre, Diriyah is a massive development project that aims to become a mixed-use historic, cultural and lifestyle destination, built around Saudi Arabia’s historical birthplace and a UNESCO heritage site in At-Turaif.
The megaproject aims to showcase 300+ years of the Kingdom’s history via a range of experiences focused on heritage, hospitality, education, retail, and dining. Created in the Najdi architectural style, Diriyah will embody the principles of both new urbanism and historical architectural typology, the authority behind the project, Diriyah Gate Development Authority (DGDA), says.
Once completed, the megaproject will be home to more than twenty luxury and ultra-luxury hospitality venues, as well as museums, galleries, public squares, retail outlets, hotels, recreational spaces, residences, educational institutions, and offices. With a projected resident population of more than 100,000 people, 55,000 jobs created, and more than 25 million visitors annually, the project will truly be transformative for the Kingdom.
However, delivering it is no easy task, given the sheer size and scale of the project.
There is a total of 14 square kilometres of redevelopment planned, along with an investment pipeline worth US$50.6 billion. As a crucial part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 blueprint, it is estimated that the completed
Showcasing history
Diriyah will showcase 300+ years of Saudi Arabia’s history through various experiences.
Transformation project
The megaproject will transform Riyadh with more than 14sqkm of redevelopment planned. project will add approximately $7.2 billion to the Kingdom’s annual GDP.
In order to deliver this gigantic undertaking, expertise is required from almost every sector. Therefore, over the last couple of years, several major contracts have been awarded, with 2022 seeing Egis receive a contract for the project management services of all phases of the South and Garden districts, while WeBuild has been awarded a $1.07 billion mega-carpark construction contract. The multistorey, mega-carpark will have space for 10,500 vehicles and will include a three-storey underground parking area, with a total built up area of nearly one million square meters. It will create more than 9,000 jobs, DGDA says.
Other notable awards from 2021 included Pace being appointed to design and supervise the construction of the six-kilometre-long spine of Wadi Hanifah Park, which is a nature-focused getaway consisting of four interactive zones; and Binyah, a business unit of Saudi Real Estate Company, being awarded a $115 million contract to carry out infrastructure work, also at Wadi Hanifah.
The Wadi is an integral part of Diriyah’s masterplan, the DGDA points out, adding that it was what drew people to the area centuries ago and led to the founding of the ancient city that is being restored today. The masterplan for the Wadi will comprise of the Heritage and Cultural Zone, the Wadi Living Zone, the Eco-Tourism Zone, and the Sports and Activity Zone.
In addition, the northern section of the development’s infrastructure was awarded to SaudiCo in 2021 as well in a $1.5 billion contract, while the southern infrastructure development contract went to a joint venture between El Seif and China State, at a value of $1.8 billion.
Another major attraction for Diriyah is the 15,000 square metre premium dining destination, Bujairi Terrace, which is scheduled to open before the end of the year. The asset collection will include 20 food and beverage brands that are being curated to cater for both local and international markets and will form part of the overall first phase of the development.
These F&B brands have been handpicked and offer a mix of offerings to visitors and residents, with global
flagship names sitting alongside Middle Eastern – particularly Saudi – cuisine to ensure authenticity and context.
Founded in 2017, Diriyah Gate Development Authority’s mandate has been to preserve and celebrate the historic city, while also ensuring that the gigaproject is developed on schedule. Big Project ME was invited by DGDA to tour the gigantic site earlier this year, and was able to speak with Mohamed Saad, vice president and chief development officer at DGDA, about progress on site and the impact of the project overall.
“One of the biggest challenges has been [to build around and preserve the historical and cultural landmarks]. Especially around Wadi Hanifa, which has historically been planted and over the years, people damaged the wadi, building without being compliant to any codes. So, we’re demolishing all this, and restoring the wadi to its original state,” Saad says, adding that in At-Turaif, there is zero tolerance towards affecting the site in anyway, shape of form, with sensors in place to track vibrations or cracks during the construction process.
Adding to the challenge is that as the site teams are working across the megaproject, excavations and operations are uncovering new historical finds throughout the site, with Saad highlighting a recent find as an example of the care and caution the teams have to exercise.
“We were replanting a park and they reached a depth of 1.5 metres and had to pause because they started seeing evidence of mud and stone walls. We have a protocol and a very strict policy when we do these kinds of things. We have supervision from the heritage and cultural team, things will pause and go to the culture committee, there’ll be inspections, surveyors will come and do their work, and so on.”
This consideration is especially important considering the size and scale of the infrastructure works across the site, with the massive super basement under Diriyah Square extending three levels below ground, with space for up to 10,500 cars and covering a total built up area of nearly one million square metres. The mega car park is the core of the entire project as it includes civil and structural works, tunnels, and other connections. Awarded to WeBuild’s subsidiary, Salini Saudi Arabia, it is part of a much larger infrastructure plan for the mega-development.
“It’s the central piece. We’re working now on the design of the parking structures in South and the Gardens, and we’re very close to awarding the parking on the North. All the tunnels are under construction. We’ve split into two packages – Package A, which is the northern part of the tunnels, and Package B, which is the south part. There are two different contractors as we felt that the scale and volume had to be split, just to manage the risk,” Saad says, adding that SaudiCo is working on the northern tunnel, while a JV between El Seif and China State is handling the southern one.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the Northern carpark is very close to being put out for tender, with the DGDA team just going through governance to get the required approvals.
“This one is under design, so we’re tendering the designer within the next couple of months. We’re working North to South, and I know that phasing isn’t a word that we’re using much here, but it (the project) is naturally moving from North to South as we go. The south will be in the design stage, and the north will be more into construction,” he elaborated.
When it comes to the utilities, Saad said that the infrastructure contracts have been awarded, with the tunnels holding the utilities inside them. A contract has been awarded to Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) for DG1, for $371.4 million, he states,
Pedestrian plans
The masterplan for the megaproject has kept pedestrianised access at the forefront of the planning, DGDA says.
25m
Estimated number of visitors to the project annually
and that a contract for DG2 is close to being signed with them as well.
He explains that the infrastructure tunnels run parallel to the vehicular tunnels so as to make it more efficient, otherwise it would cause excess usage of concrete and duplication of work. Approval has been granted for the detailed master plan for DG2, which will allow the team to move to the next step of designing infrastructure for it.
Movement through the site is a crucial consideration for the masterplan, Saad says, explaining that the topography of the site has been utilised to encourage visitors to move through the site on foot, with plenty of pedestrianised access.
“You can park your car, go to the first basement retail level and then just get out to the wadi naturally. It’s all connected. We have four metro stations – two in DG1 and two in DG2 – and they’re all underground. We cannot have above ground metro stations, and we’re coordinating with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City to prioritise two of the metro stations on one line, and the other two will be for future expansion,” he states, adding that RCRC will be the ones to award the contract for the stations.
“The metro network isn’t under construction just yet, we’re still designing with RCRC, but it will happen. The coordination and design are happening. We’re coordinating the exact locations and there will be an intersection at one station to connect the future line.”
Saad adds that a discussion is ongoing with RCRC about the timeline
Zero tolerance
DGDA says there is zero tolerance about impacting or affecting the historical landmarks and sites around Diriyah during construction.
185m
Mud bricks will be produced for use on the site
of construction for the stations. As per their standard construction methodology, construction of a station could take up to 58 months to build.
“We’re telling them that we don’t have this time – we need to come up with innovative methodologies to construct these stations as quickly as possible,” he asserts.
Further enhancing the connectivity across the development will be ‘Hero’s Park’, which will be a link between DG 1 and DG 2. Designed as a huge open space, the park is actually a bridge crossing Riyadh’s Western Ring Road and will be the main crossing point for the site, Saad says.
“It’s the main crossing point between the two master plans. There
are also two smaller pedestrian bridges and we’re studying to see if we need further connections for pedestrians,” he adds, but stresses that the Hero’s Park will be the main point of crossing.
For now, DGDA will be developing all elements of the project themselves, Saad says, but adds that there have been some discussions held with investors, mainly around residential areas.
“The discussions that are happening are around residential – investors are interested in taking a ‘super plot’ and developing townhouses and villas. There is a lot of interest from investors in hotels, but again it’s back and forth discussions and nothing has been signed off yet.”
DG1 will be anchored from the north by King Salman Square, which is set to
be 1.5 times the size of Trafalgar Square, Saad highlights, pointing out that it can hold up to 18,000 people. The plaza will be one of the iconic gathering points for the destination, while on the South side of the plaza will be the House of Al Saud, which will be one of the flagship museums with 45,000 square metres of GFA, he states, adding that the concept design has been done by Foster + Partners.
Alongside it will be a a number of luxury hotels, with brands such as Ritz Carlton, Address, and the Four Seasons, he adds. However, the majority of the retail will be concentrated around Diriyah Square, along with five ultraluxury hotels, along with branded residential sitting across the hotels.
King Salman Mosque will be another anchor point for the development, which can accommodate up to 14,000 worshippers when its open plaza is considered. There is also a period village, which will offer visitors an authentic experience, taking them back 300 years to how people used to live in the area.
The development will also be home to a number of academies and cultural attractions, such as the Arabic Calligraphy Museum, and the Arabian Peninsula Museum, he says.
By 2025, Saad says that a number of residential projects, which are under construction, and most of the hotels in Phase One would be very advanced or close to being delivered.
“I think by the end of 2025, Diriyah Square will be in a very advanced stage,” he states.
“We were actually doing a deep dive into the program with Mace, our PMC, and one of the interesting facts we were analysing was the physical constraints of the site, as no matter what we do, we can only fit in 70,000 workers per day.
“But in order to meet our program, we need to figure out how we can fit 150,000 workers per day – double the program. When you look at the site, you have physical constraints from the west, where you have a 20-metre escarpment, and the Western Ring Road from the other side, which has limited access points.”
Between all the contractors, there are currently between 10,000 to 12,000 workers per day currently on site, but Saad stresses that this needs to ramp up
Gathering points
Diriyah will be full of gathering points to encourage social interaction and experiences.
Deep dive
A deep dive into the program has found that the project will need to utilise off-site construction technology to meet deadlines and requirements on site. very quickly, with 2023 and 2024 likely to be the peak periods of construction.
This challenging programme will be further complicated with the rising prices of materials and squeezed supply chains; he adds.
“We are feeling the pressure of inflation – the market is very dynamic with all the giga-projects happening at the same time and the supply chain is not able to cope with this pace. The big contractors who have the capability to build projects of this size and complexity are all stretched.
“Inflation is not just affected by the capacity and volume of work in the market, but also by oil prices, global commodity prices, the war in Ukraine and so on.”
Therefore, as part of this deep dive with Mace, Saad reveals that serious consideration is being given to utilising off-site construction methodologies, and other construction technologies to speed up the pace of work.
“Because we cannot fit more than 70,000 people, it’s a simple mathematical problem. You need 150,000 workers, but you cannot fit them. So let us consider pre-fabrication, pre-cast options. You can get really good quality pre-cast and prefabricated options. We actually built the car park for Bujairi Terrance, which is four levels all underground, all out of precast. Just the foundation was cast in-situ, and then slabs, beams and everything was done in precast and finished within 11 months,” he elaborates, adding that Nesma carried out the project.
Another element of the project that will delivered off site will be the traditional mudbricks for the exterior leaf of the external walls.
“We have already acquired one million square metres off-site, 20-kilometres north of the Diriyah site, and there we’re producing 185 million mud bricks, and we’ll be innovating this material for the contractors, so that they can go ahead and build the skeletons, the frames in concrete, and when they’ve finished, the mudbricks will be delivered to the site so they can use them (to finish the external walls),” he concludes.
