King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center - Permasteelisa Group

King Abdullah Financial District Conference Center

Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

A focal point of Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District, this spectacular conference centre features a dramatic, faceted roof that evokes the landforms of the desert terrain.

Made possible by inventive engineering solutions, the state-of-the-art building pioneers flexible conferencing – providing nearly 1,300,000 square feet of conference facilities, a multipurpose event hall with operable walls, a 600-seat auditorium with full lecture and cinema support, and a ‘digital forum’ that allows all venues to be networked. It also contains restaurants, an elevated public concourse and a monorail station.

Brand: Permasteelisa Gartner Middle East

Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

Developer: King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD)

The project

The concept

The building is defined by its bold structural design, with an organic, faceted geometry, and vast, column-free spaces that use a combination of composite columns, steel trusses and lateral reinforced concrete walls. Two independent steel structures sit above ground, and a four-storey substructure is situated underground, upon which the steel ‘mega-roof’ rests.

What did we do?

We designed, engineered, manufactured and installed mega roof members totalling 4,200 tonnes of steel and 19,000 sqm of glazing panels with Glass Fibre Reinforced Concrete (GFRC). The total façade area is 21,850 sqm.

Key facts

Year completed

2018

Total façade supplied

21,850 sqm

Building size

130,000 sqm

Building height

42m