Sumou Al Shabab Mixed Use

The brief

Sumou Al Shabab is a mixed-use development on a 45,000 m² site in Riyadh. It combines an office tower of 45+ storeys, a 4-star hotel of 15+ storeys and a 3-storey retail podium. NoVi's commission covers the concept, architectural design development, the façade, the integration of public realm and landscape, and coordination with the project's consultants.

The challenge

A mixed-use scheme places very different buildings on one plot. Offices, a hotel and shops each need their own address, arrival and servicing, yet the site still has to read as a single place from the street. In Riyadh's climate the ground plane matters as much as the towers: shade, orientation and the spaces between buildings decide whether a public realm is actually used.

Our approach

Carrying the concept through design development lets the massing, the façade and the ground plane be resolved as one design rather than three. The façade is developed as part of the architecture, and the public realm and landscape are integrated with the podium from the outset. Coordination with the consultant team keeps every discipline aligned with the architecture as the design develops.

For the client, this means one architectural team holding the idea and its development together, from the first concept to a coordinated design.