Inspiring culture

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The King Abdulaziz Centre for Knowledge and Culture is a project of inspiring architecture destined to become Saudi Arabia’s preeminent cultural institution

Situated near Dhahran on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia, the King Abdulaziz Centre for Knowledge and Culture is a project relatively small in size, but big on innovation, ambition and unique design.

The centre is estimated to cost around US $400 million (SR 1.4 billion) and is being developed by Saudi Aramco as part of the oil giant’s 75th anniversary celebrations.

Aramco says the purpose of the centre is to promote the development of knowledge and culture in the Kingdom by offering an array of exhibits, events and learning tools that engage and educate students, adults and scholars.

Covering a total of 70,000m2 it will include a library of 200,000 books, a 930 seat auditorium, a 315 seat cinema, a 1500m2 hall, a museum, a learning centre, a children’s discovery zone, a 4,000m2 multifunctional plaza and supporting administration areas.

The main construction tender for the project was opened at the beginning of the year with four firms prequalified; Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Oger, Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) and Turkey’s Baytur Construction & Contracting Company.

By the middle of the year Aramco retendered the contract and included more contractors in the bidding process such as Dubai’s Gulf Technical Construction Company (GTCC).The bids are currently being evaluated and main construction is due to start in Q2 2010 and finish in 2013.

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One of the most striking features of the centre is without doubt its unique pebble-like shapes, which were designed by Norwegian architects Snohetta with engineering by Buro Happold.

Snohetta’s project manager Astrid Renata Van Veen says they wanted to come up with a one-off piece of architecture to reflect the centre’s cultural purpose.

“It’s important that a cultural building has its own expression and doesn’t lend images from any other known cultural buildings around the world,” she says.

“The client had very clear aspirations for a never-before-seen-building. The idea of the pebbles came into play because the project has a lot of different functions and we thought each of these should get their own outlook. These individual items are then composed together in one frozen moment.”

There are five main pebble shaped structures which are arranged to visually and physically support each other, she added. One of the most visually interesting elements is the ‘keystone’ which is the only pebble suspended above ground level.

Wedged between the tower and another pebble, the keystone is a key element in the geometry of the pebble composition. The function of the keystone will be as a public ‘dialog, discussion and contemplative space’ linked to the library.

The tower itself will be 86m high with 17 floors and three below-grade levels. The various levels will include plant rooms, the learning centre and restaurants and lounge areas.

Underneath the tower, linking all of the pebbles is the 4,000m2 plaza at grade level. The space will function as a large foyer and channel visitors to the various
cultural elements.

Van Veen says one advantage to designing the project was that many of the centre’s different elements, such as the theatre, cinema, library, exhibition space, museum et cetera do not require large amounts of natural light.

“That is one of the reasons why we chose introverted shapes like pebbles,” she says.

“There are quite a lot of introverted functions in this project which means we didn’t have to worry about windows and conventional function – it allowed us play around a lot more with the shapes
and design.

“The tower is probably the only place where these rules of conventional function applied.”

While the design and the shape and the project may be unique, Van Veen says construction will be relatively conventional for the most part.

The tower will be built using a concrete core containing lifts, stairs, shafts and MEP while the other pebbles will use steel structures. The walls for all pebbles will be constructed using insulated wall systems, which will be faceted to follow the curves of the pebble’s unique external facade.