Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN)– Soon, the arid desert of Saudi Arabia will witness the opening of a one-of-a-kind project that is set to be the largest temperature-controlled garden in the world.
The King Abdullah International Gardens project, with a total area of two million square meters, is in line with the Quality of Life Improvement Program, which is one of the programs of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030, according to the Saudi Press Agency “SPA” on its website.
In an interview with CNN in Arabic, Situ Plan Ltd managing director Nicholas Sweet, who led the winning team in the project’s international design competition in 2007, said: “We designers take on a lot of projects in our profession, but nothing I’ve done comes close. I get so excited when I see pictures of this chart finally popping out of the ground.”
Two crescents in the desert
When looking at the imaginary images of the project, one will see an impressive modern structure that takes the form of two crescents in the nature of the desert kingdom.
“Early designs showed a single crescent shape, and that was what caught the attention of the jury. Later in the process, we were asked to think through the construction of the building gradually, and the idea of a double crescent emerged,” Sweet said.
The roof is the interesting part of the main building, and it’s made of a very lightweight, but very strong diaphragm material.
The ‘pillows’, according to Sweet’s description, are made with a pattern that allows for temperature control and the type of light that penetrates the gardens.
This reflects the need for each garden to adapt its environment with the needs of the groups of plants it contains in terms of temperature, humidity, light level, soil type, water, as well as the degree of irrigation and water quality.
The Crescent building includes a series of parks, administrative and research offices, restaurants, specialized shopping kiosks, mosques, an adventure playground, and other facilities.
The project expects to receive up to 25,000 visitors per day during peak times on weekends and public holidays.
The official website of the Unified National Platform of Saudi Arabia indicated that it will be among the three largest covered botanical gardens in the world, and that it represents a very big shift in the concept of tourism and entertainment in the Kingdom.
More than 500 thousand plants
These gardens will house an astonishing collection of 1,750 different species, and more than 500,000 plants in total.
The project will include various botanical gardens, including the “Forest Garden” which is a “rich and diverse interpretation of the rainforest,” according to Sweet.
King Abdullah International Gardens Project; Striving to expand the green area, and create an appropriate environment that contributes to improving the quality of life. #Quality_of_Life_Program #Saudi_Vision_2030 https://t.co/KrtJjqf0DZ
This 10,000 square meter park aims to convey an educational message to the visitor who will discover that in this vast area this amazing collection is equivalent to the rainforests that mankind is destroying every second of every day.
The area in the middle of the two crescents will house an outdoor space that includes 3 important groups, which are the native plants of the central region of Saudi Arabia, a wider group of the country, and the whole group of the Arabian Peninsula.
Construction and installation of the project will be completed in the spring of 2024, and Sweet is expected to open in the fall of 2024.
