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Shopping Centers Today -> December 2003
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SAUDI SKYSCRAPER
Middle East’s tallest structure soars above Riyadh
BY SUSAN THORNE
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The affluent Saudi Arabian consumer is accustomed to shopping the world’s premier retail destinations, heading for stores in New York, London and Paris on a regular basis. So when Altoon + Porter Architects, Los Angeles, set out to design the interior of a high-end, 450,000-square-foot shopping center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, the firm knew it had to create a sophisticated, modern look that would appeal to shoppers well-versed in the best the world’s retailers have to offer.
“We needed to make the style conversant with contemporary Saudi culture, which sees itself in the 21st century and wants to be perceived in that way,” said Ronald A. Altoon, an Altoon + Porter partner.
The resulting center, called Al Mamlaka (The Kingdom), opened last year at the base of a 3.3 million-square-foot, mixed-use skyscraper, Kingdom Centre, which soars over Riyadh, where the average building is five stories tall.
Like the shopping center, the tower above it reflects a contemporary Saudi Arabia. It was designed by Ellerbe Becket, Minneapolis, for Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, an international businessman and a grandson of the founder of Saudi Arabia. The prince envisioned Kingdom Centre, which now houses his corporate headquarters, as an icon of Riyadh — a landmark as potently symbolic as the Eiffel Tower.
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| Saudi Arabia’s elite can afford to shop in Paris, New York and London. Only now they don’t have to. |
To that end, Ellerbe Becket created a modern, 984-foot-tall monolith — the same height as the Eiffel Tower and the tallest building in the Middle East. Its top third is dominated by a sculptural void crowned by an observation deck. Besides the shopping center, Kingdom Centre contains a Four Seasons hotel, offices, condominiums, a wedding and conference center, and a sports club.
At the base, Altoon + Porter designed the softly curved, three-sided shopping center around an airy, three-story atrium with elevators, grand staircases and fountains; the shops line the periphery. The anchors are British department store Debenhams and Saks Fifth Avenue. The other 90 retailers include Nine West, Tiffany, Tommy Hilfiger and Zara.
Altoon compares the spacious common area to the Middle Eastern tradition of the caravansary — an inn surrounding a courtyard where caravans would rest for the night. Among the atrium’s striking features are freestanding glass enclosures, from one to three floors high, some of which house temporary tenants; their design was inspired by the chests travelers once carried by camelback. A neutral color scheme of beige, gray and black is carried forward in sleek-looking stone, glass and stainless steel surfaces throughout the interior.
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That choice of materials was dictated partly by the extreme desert climate and the risk of power outages.
“Because of the intense outdoor heat, which frequently exceeds 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime, we had to consider what would happen inside during power shortages,” Altoon said. “So we used durable materials that don’t overreact to heat.”
To conserve energy, Al Mamlaka uses a system of stratified air, engineered to restrict full air conditioning to areas where people walk and shop while allowing the uppermost portions of the atrium to be warmer. Fabric screens filter windows to provide soft natural light and minimize the sun’s heat.
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Al Mamlaka’s setting in the Islamic Middle East led to other design considerations. The center’s third floor, designated Ladies Kingdom, is reserved for women only. Shielded from the atrium by frosted glass and staffed exclusively by women, the segregated zone allows female customers to shop free of the concealing garments Saudi law requires them to wear in mixed company. In addition to stores, the Ladies Kingdom features a business center, a spa, restaurants and concierge services. One of the center’s three vehicle entrances leads directly to that level, so that female shoppers may arrive there in privacy.
On the lower floor, glass entrances on all sides connect the center with the surrounding retail district of Riyadh, a city of 4 million that is Saudi Arabia’s commercial and industrial hub.
Al Mamlaka received an ICSC International Design and Development Award at ICSC’s Spring Convention in Las Vegas last May. But Altoon says he is also proud that the project embodies his client’s vision of a spectacular new complex for Riyadh. When he first visited the completed shopping center, the normally reserved prince reacted with an enthusiastic “Wow!”
 | Current Issue February 2012 |