A venue designed for the digital age

As part of the new King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) in Riyadh, the Conference Center makes a distinct impression with its faceted geometry, evoking the landforms of the desert terrain. The master plan for the larger civic, financial, commercial, and residential development features a sunken outdoor pedestrian path as well as a monorail system that connects the district.

The Conference Center contains nearly 1,300,000 square feet of conference facilities, along with restaurants, an elevated public concourse, and a monorail station. The state-of-the-art building sets a new standard for flexible conferencing, providing a multipurpose event hall with operable walls, a 600-seat auditorium with full lecture and cinema support, and a “digital forum” approach that allows all venues to be internally and externally networked.

The conference rooms are designed as immersive four-wall video environments, with walls that contain retractable projection screens allowing users to conduct virtual meetings. The conference rooms are clad in electrochromic glass that permits users to change from clear to opaque glass based on their desired levels of light and privacy. A “media cloud” in the ceiling of each conference room has the ability to communicate with mobile devices, permitting wireless sharing and projection of user content in a meeting setting. Dynamic interactive signage enables conference attendees to brand individual rooms and conference venues.

Engineering the “mega-roof”

The Conference Center is defined by its bold structural design. The building’s organic, faceted geometry responds to the district guidelines, which require all buildings to have faceted exterior enclosures.

The building is composed of three distinct structural systems. A four-story underground substructure houses parking and mechanical facilities. Above ground, the conference facilities are housed in two independent steel structures. The large, column-free spaces are spanned using a combination of steel trusses and composite columns, with a lateral system of reinforced concrete walls. An independent structural steel “mega-roof” spans over these buildings and rests directly on the concrete substructure.

The roof structure is composed of a uniform network of structural steel elements, with steel columns that support the roof nodes at the large spans. The geometry of the roof is reconciled at the corners of the facets in drum-shaped steel nodes. Straight primary members run along the facet edges and connect to the nodes using a standard connection. Secondary members run within the plane of each facet and connect to the midpoints of the primary members. The secondary members brace the primary ones and provide support and attachment points for the facade.

The folded geometry of the roof provides structural stiffness. Inside, the space between the angular roof and the conferencing facilities defines a network of daylit gathering spaces.

An integrated approach to sustainability

The building employs innovative sustainability strategies, including an enclosure that locates areas of glazing where they are least susceptible to the harsh desert sun; a ventilation system incorporating a “solar chimney” that uses solar heat to move air through the main atrium spaces; and a roof planted with indigenous desert grasses to minimize irrigation requirements. The atria is heated and cooled via a radiant slab, thus focusing thermal comfort at a height of eight feet above walking surfaces and reducing energy consumption by 30 percent. The folded geometry of the roof creates a continuous channel to drain rainwater and sand, while also facilitating the natural flow of air, aiding the passively/actively designed MEP systems of the building.

These innovative sustainability features reduce pollution, energy use, and material waste, thus helping to advance key goals of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision National Transformation Program.

The conference rooms are designed as immersive four-wall video environments, with walls that contain retractable projection screens allowing users to conduct virtual video meetings. The conference rooms are clad in electrochromic glass that permits users to change from clear to opaque glass based on their desired levels of light and privacy. A “media cloud” in the ceiling of each conference room will have the ability to communicate with mobile devices, permitting wireless sharing and projection of user content in a meeting setting. Dynamic interactive signage will enable conference attendees to brand individual rooms and conference venues.