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Desert X AlUla 2024 Visitor Centre
Desert X AlUla 2024 Visitor Centre
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Project Featured on May 14, 2025
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Desert X AlUla 2024 Visitor Centre
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Project Featured on May 14, 2025
The 2024 Visitor Centre represents the culmination of an architectural series, its design dictated by a secluded location at the end of a narrow canyon. Unlike the isolated placement of 2020 or the complementary site of 2022, this version is nested between rock formations. The setting required a radical shift in spatial organisation: the building abandons the non-directional layout of its predecessors in favour of a strong directional movement. The design creates a singular, uninterrupted axis towards the West, contrasting the intimacy of the canyon walls with a carefully framed, monumental panorama.
The defining move is the 45-degree rotation of the central courtyard. This operation generates ample, shaded vestibules at the East and West for circulation, while opening entrances to primary functions—café, shop, and events—at the North and South corners. The rotated spaces frame potent diagonal views through the building towards the landscape, providing orientation while making the courtyard feel paradoxically more enclosed. Standing within, the visitor’s horizon is tilted, aligning with the circular oculus and the surrounding geological wonders.
The experience is elevated into a choreographed procession. Movement flows from a compressed, prismatic entrance vestibule into the open, sky-lit courtyard, and finally through the reflected vestibule expanding into the panorama. This sequence allows visitors to intuitively grasp the layout while heightening the emotional impact of the landscape. The 2024 edition refines the carved mass concept inherited from the 2020 Hegra reference, making its solidity more consequent.
Our journey with AlUla since 2019 has been a series of quiet, spatial experiments. From the foundational archetype of 2020 to the natural transformation in 2022, the 2024 process reflects a deep-rooted collaboration with the landscape and the institution. It completes the triptych as a definitive architectural synthesis, fostering an intimate, site-specific connection with the vibrance of AlUla.
The defining move is the 45-degree rotation of the central courtyard. This operation generates ample, shaded vestibules at the East and West for circulation, while opening entrances to primary functions—café, shop, and events—at the North and South corners. The rotated spaces frame potent diagonal views through the building towards the landscape, providing orientation while making the courtyard feel paradoxically more enclosed. Standing within, the visitor’s horizon is tilted, aligning with the circular oculus and the surrounding geological wonders.
The experience is elevated into a choreographed procession. Movement flows from a compressed, prismatic entrance vestibule into the open, sky-lit courtyard, and finally through the reflected vestibule expanding into the panorama. This sequence allows visitors to intuitively grasp the layout while heightening the emotional impact of the landscape. The 2024 edition refines the carved mass concept inherited from the 2020 Hegra reference, making its solidity more consequent.
Our journey with AlUla since 2019 has been a series of quiet, spatial experiments. From the foundational archetype of 2020 to the natural transformation in 2022, the 2024 process reflects a deep-rooted collaboration with the landscape and the institution. It completes the triptych as a definitive architectural synthesis, fostering an intimate, site-specific connection with the vibrance of AlUla.
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