King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station / Zaha Hadid Architects

Architects: Zaha Hadid Architects
Year: 2024
Photographs: Hufton + Crow
Manufacturers: thyssenkrupp
Structural Engineer: BuroHappold Engineering
Building Services Engineer: BuroHappold Engineering
Acoustic Consultant: BuroHappold Engineering
Sustainability Consultant: BuroHappold Engineering
Lighting Consultant: BuroHappold Engineering
Main Contractor: BACS Consortium
Design Team: Zaha Hadid, Patrik Schumacher
Project Principal: Gianluca Racana
Project Director: Filippo Innocenti
Project Architect: Gian Luca Barone
Project Associate: Fulvio Wirz
Construction Support Leads: Marco Amoroso, Domenico di Francesco
Construction Support Services: Vincenzo Caputo, Abdel Halim Chehab, Marko Gligorov, Stefano Iacopini
Project Team: Marco Amoroso, Vincenzo Caputo, Abdel Halim Chehab, Lee Cubeddu, Rawan Al-Derjem, Domenico Di Francesco, David Fogliano, Manuele Gaioni, Marko Gligorov, Subharthi Guha, Alexandros Kallegias, Lisa Kinnerud, Alexandre Kuroda, Stefano Iacopini, Carolina López-Blanco, Jamie Mann, Mohammadali Mirzaei, Arian Hakimi Nejad, David Wolthers, Nicola McConnell, Mario Mattia, Massimo Napoleoni, Niki Okala, Carlos Parraga- Botero, Sohith Perera, Izis Salvador Pinto, Carine Posner, Neil Rigden, Paola Salcedo, Nim
Competition Team: Alexandre Kuroda, Fei Wang, Lisa Kinnerud, Jorge Mendez-Caceres
People Flow: BuroHappold Engineering
Safety Assessment: BH with Transsol
Development Engineer: Riyadh Metro Transit Consultants (RMTC)
Independent Checking Engineer: Buro Veritas
Independent Safety Assessor: TÜV Rheinland / ISARail Group
Transit Systems: Line 1 Siemens (BACS), Line 4&6 Alstom (FAST)
Viaducts: AECOM & TriPod-ssd (Line1), Atkins (Line 4&6)
Automatic Fare Collection: Indra
Structure Contractor: Saudi Lebanese Tarouk Contracting
MEP Contractor: Zamil
Interiors and Landscape Contractor: DEPA
Facade Contractor: Permasteelisa Gartner Saudi Arabia
Façade Engineering: NewTecnic
Design Management: AECOM
Transport and Civil Engineering: BuroHappold Engineering
Fire Protection and Life Safety: BuroHappold Engineering
Specification Consultant: AECOM
Cost Consultant: AECOM
Signage and Way Finding: Transport Design Consultancy
City: Riyadh
Country: Saudi Arabia

King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in Riyadh, serves as a key interchange within the Riyadh Metro network, which opens on December 1, 2024. The station integrates six rail platforms across four levels, connecting the KAFD terminus, King Khalid International Airport, and the KAFD monorail sky bridge. Acting as a multi-modal hub, it links with bus and park-and-ride services while providing new public plazas. The station’s design, characterized by a three-dimensional lattice formed from opposing sinewaves, optimizes internal circulation based on traffic flow patterns. Its façade, composed of ultra-high-performance concrete panels with geometric perforations, reduces solar gain, referencing traditional regional architecture. Zaha Hadid Architects prioritized environmental performance through passive cooling, sliding door panels, and a renewable-powered high-efficiency system. The project earned LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.

King abdullah financial district metro station / zaha hadid architects

The Riyadh Metro network, recognized as the world’s longest driverless transit system, extends over 176 kilometers, comprising 6 lines and 85 stations. With a capacity to accommodate 3.6 million daily passengers, the metro aims to decrease car journeys across the city and promote sustainable transportation methods. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, functions as the primary interchange within the network.

The Riyadh Metro network is scheduled to begin passenger operations on Sunday, December 1, 2024, with the inauguration of its Blue, Yellow, and Purple lines (Lines 1, 4, and 6). The network is designed to ease traffic congestion, reduce travel times, and enhance the quality of life for Riyadh’s expanding population. As the world’s longest driverless transit system, it spans over 176 kilometers with six lines and 85 stations, linking key districts, business hubs, and cultural landmarks across Saudi Arabia’s capital. Planned by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC), this automated rapid transit system aims to serve both residents and visitors. With a capacity to handle 3.6 million passengers daily, the network will help decrease car use throughout the city and promote sustainable transportation options.

The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), functions as a key interchange within the new metro network. It connects the KAFD terminus and King Khalid International Airport while providing access to the sky bridge for the local KAFD monorail. The station features six rail platforms across four levels, integrating with bus and park-and-ride services to form a major multi-modal transport hub for the city. In addition, it introduces new indoor and outdoor public plazas, enhancing the urban fabric of the financial district. The design of the KAFD Metro Station emphasizes connectivity, contributing to the identity of Riyadh’s metro system. Its projected rail, car, and pedestrian traffic patterns have been modeled, mapped, and structured to optimize internal circulation and prevent congestion.

The station’s configuration features a three-dimensional lattice formed by a sequence of opposing sinewaves, generated from the repetition and frequency variations of the station’s daily traffic flows. These sinewaves serve as the central spine for the building’s circulation and extend outward to shape the station’s exterior, which is clad in ultra-high-performance concrete panels. The façade incorporates geometric perforations designed to reduce solar gain, offering a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional environmental sheltering methods found in the region’s vernacular architecture. The façade’s composition mirrors patterns created by desert winds on the sand, where intersecting frequencies and reverberations produce the complex, repetitive patterns observed in nature.

The KAFD Metro Station consists of elements closely interconnected through repetition, symmetry, and scale. Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) continually refined the design throughout its development to enhance structural efficiency and environmental performance, while streamlining the construction process without compromising spatial quality. The design seamlessly integrates the self-supporting external envelope with the internal structure, which supports the train platforms and viaducts. To ensure optimal comfort with minimal energy demand, the station incorporates passive design strategies alongside a high-efficiency cooling system powered by renewable energy. This system automatically adjusts cooling output according to passenger levels throughout the day. In addition, sliding door panels on each platform help retain cool air within the station, further improving energy efficiency. The KAFD Metro Station has earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.