King Abduhlla Economic City; saudi arabia

architecture & planning; university district / stadium; Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, chicago, IL
5.4 mil M2 University/ Medical & Stadium District: Concept through SD
24,211 Hectares’, 7 District Master Plan: Programming to SD

Conceived of from scratch . . . King Abdullah's Economic City (KAEC) covers approximately 13 million square meters and is planned for a population of 460,000; providing jobs for more than 300,000 people.

Divided into 7 districts the 1st of which is the University / Medical District.  Anchored around the main campus, a 15,000 student university and medical center designed to work with private R&D laboratories spread throughout its 5.4 million sm.  The district also boasts a medical campus which will provide world class medical care to KAEC residents and serve as a teaching hospital; a 4000 student satellite campus dedicated to technical & manufacturing industries and a landmark 45,000 seat stadium.  

Holding a prominent position at the meeting of 2 canals the KAEC stadium provides an iconic focal point at the North end of the City.  In addition, the nature, location and form of the stadium capitalizes on concepts of sustainable design and technology . . . making it a highly visible example of architectural and urban breakthroughs present in KAEC.