AL FAISALIAH RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

A C U LT U R A L I C O N W I T H S K Y H I G H A M B I T I O N S
AL FAISALIAH
RIYADH, SAUDI
ARABIA
The iconic Al Faisaliah was Riyadh’s first
skyscraper, and continues to be one of the
most striking buildings in the Middle East.
Its landmark office tower rises 270 metres
over the city, soaring to a tapered point
in one smooth giant arc. At its pinnacle
the tower narrows to a brightly lit lantern
topped with a decorative stainless steel
finial.
The complex contains 30 floors of office
space, a five-star hotel, residential
accommodation, a shopping centre,
a banqueting and exhibition hall, two
levels of underground car parking and
the highest restaurant in the Kingdom.
At ground level of the office tower,
a five-storey lobby with a petal roof
links the hotel to the apartments and
shopping mall. The lobby features a
spectacular coloured glass wall, which is
the largest artwork of its kind. The wall
design is intended to reflect the natural
environment of Saudi Arabia.
The harsh climate in Riyadh presented
a major challenge for BuroHappold
Engineering. In particular there was
a sharp focus on achieving energy
conservation despite the high
temperatures – around 50% of the region’s
electricity consumption is from the use of
mechanical air conditioning, so our team
needed to carefully consider the efficiency
of the systems for Al Faisaliah.
CLI EN T
King Faisal Foundation
AR CH I T EC T
Foster + Partners
D U R AT I O N
Completed May 2000
SERV I CE S PR OV I D ED BY
BU R O HAPP O LD
Structural engineering, building services
engineering, civil engineering, quantity
surveying, project management, fire
engineering design and risk assessment.
Image © Joe Poon
Copyright © 1976-2016 BuroHappold Engineering. All Rights Reserved
In addition to this, the cost of using
energy during peak hours in Riyadh is
very high, resulting in the need to reduce
consumption between 1pm-5pm daily.
We installed an air conditioning plant that
uses ice in the cooling process, serving
to minimise the amount of energy drawn
from the supply grid. The chillers produce
ice at night, when the external air is cooler,
then switch off during the afternoons
to allow the ice to melt for use in the air
conditioning system.
In addition to the air conditioning design,
our engineers made extensive use of
other passive energy control methods,
incorporating a combination of carefully
chosen glass for the facade and various
external shading systems. Silver-adodised
aluminum panels with cantilevered
sunshading clad the space in between
the tower’s observation decks, minimising
glare and contributing towards controlling
the environment. Seeking to offer further
control over Al Faisaliah’s internal spaces,
our team also introduced a Building
Management System (BMS) to control all
engineering processes, monitoring and
adjusting individual elements to enhance
operating efficiency and living conditions.
With the aim to conserve natural
resources, our team utilised recycled
groundwater for all Al Faisaliah’s water
requirements, from drinking water to
bathing and toilet flushing. Al Faisaliah
is able to feed off the groundwater that
is pumped out from underneath the Al
Kazama Center, which is located next to it.
Water is gathered and treated from wells
surrounding the Al Kazama Centre, then
distributed to Al Faisaliah via a network of
pipes.
Seeking to offer a high level of flexibility,
the tower features a unique long-span arch
system, providing a column free space
with a movable partition system. This
allows the substantial hall to be divided
into several separate rooms to provide
facilities specific to the needs of the
occupants. Now one of the region’s most
celebrated architectural achievements, Al
Faisaliah offers stunning, efficient spaces
with a high degree of flexibility for the
future.
Images © Joe Poon
Copyright © 1976-2016 BuroHappold Engineering. All Rights Reserved