Konoz ‘Box of Jewels’
Middle East & Africa
View Project
Ajdan Infinity Complex
- Location
- Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia
- Client
- Ajdan Real Estate Development Company
- Services
- Landscape Architecture
- Sector
- Mixed Use
- Size
- 45,510m²
A pool-led landscape at the foot of three Khobar Corniche towers.
A landscape design organising water, planting and public space across the foot of three residential towers on the Khobar Corniche, overlooking the Arabian Gulf. Developed by Ajdan Real Estate, the scheme will place three high-rise residential towers above an open-air retail and F&B village, with the landscape designed as the connective tissue across the foot of the development. The brief asked for an outdoor public realm that would extend the commercial offer, support a programme of cultural and social activity, and counter the heat of the Saudi summer.
Water will be the design’s principal material. A range of features, large reflective pools, misting and trickling elements, will work together to cool the immediate microclimate of a corniche where summer temperatures routinely exceed 40°C. The pools, which give the project its name, will run as a continuous element through the public spaces between the towers.
Programmed public space
Beyond the cooling effect, the landscape will be calibrated to host a varied public programme: events and performances, food and beverage, interactive art and play, and quieter areas for resting, meeting and gathering. A boulevard will structure pedestrian flow through the development with on-grade tree planting, seating, and space for temporary market stalls. Multifunctional courtyards will provide flexible community space at smaller scale. An ecological green roof will carry the landscape upward into the residential levels, with planting, terraces and balconies designed to give residents a continuous sense of outdoor connection, particularly important for a development whose climate makes extended outdoor use difficult for much of the year.
