Financial details

Two towers by Saudi Bin Laden which will share the same first floor; the slant on the right will be a distinctive element.

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KAFD is a clear highlight of the many projects in Saudi Arabia, with LEED and market-leading excavation vehicles just the beginning.

It is known globally that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is in the process of transforming itself, with plans for its infrastructure, services and residential sectors about to keep the big players busy for the next decade. Of all the voluminous projects spearheaded by the royal family, Riyadh’s King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) may be the most intricate.

Situated just a short drive up from the centre of the city, the district will house the large community of professionals working within the financial sector and related industries, to rival the best and most attractive business venues in the world – including the Capital Market Authority and the Tadawul, Saudi Arabia’s stock exchange. The finished project will be split 42% to private use and 58% to public use.

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The intricacy derives from the challenge of constructing 77 buildings on the site over six zones, occasionally with just a few metres of space between them.

Despite a focus on housing corporations, there will also be residential and retail outlets, a 152,511 m2 hotel, a centre for conventions and exhibitions, as well as buildings earmarked for the government.

Today, the most developed buildings have passed phase one; their basic structure in place ready for arterial partitions. But the entire site overall, blinding white in the sun, is still filled with deep holes as the excavation continues.

The SR 4.4 billion ($1.1 billion) project will build 10 towers first (PP10) and then another 30 (PP30), explains Whysal Haddad, mechanical engineer and LEED-In-Charge at the Saudi Bin Laden Group, which is building four of the first 10 towers.

The project is built over four distinct areas, each with its own workers and timescales. Standing between two enormous excavated holes in the ground, with JCBs and trenchers little more than beetles at the bottom, he points out that there is not enough room for two lanes of vehicles to come in and out, between what will be skyscrapers.

“The spaces between the buildings on these pathways, as you can see, are very narrow. It means we’ve had to be very coordinated when delivering materials as there is only one lane for the vehicles. It’s a challenge for the construction, though Saudi Bin Laden (SBG) can deal with it.”

He adds that the soft earth of the narrow paths on which we are standing has been reinforced by concrete to prevent a crumbling landslide into the excavated holes, which can be around 60 feet deep. Along with the regulatory safety netting, the firm footing inspires full confidence as a visitor.

“Each of the four areas has its own teams, management and designs. Sometimes the coordination is a big challenge, and of course there are restrictions in a safety sense, which is a good thing,” says Haddad, who gained both education and work from Jordan, his home country, and the US. “However, you can see that we have no restrictions moving between zones.”