Occupying a prominent prow site within the King Abdullah Financial District of Riyadh, the Cloud mixed-use building takes a strong position as an urban connector and as a socially and environmentally proactive citizen. Composed of a five-story office block and a seventeen story residential tower linked by the ‘soft tissue’ of its two-story retail podium, the major masses bracket a semicircular public garden at ground floor and a second floor residents’ garden and office terrace. These environments are sheltered from western sun under a great soaring shade canopy—forming microclimates, channeling prevailing winds, opening to the northern sky.