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Saudi Arabia’s New Murabba Development Company (NMDC) has signed agreements with three US-based engineering firms to undertake design works on various assets at the New Murabba downtown project in Riyadh.

The client signed an agreement with New York-headquartered firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) to lead early design works for the first residential community within the New Murabba development.

The other agreements were signed with Aecom and Jacobs, who have been appointed as the lead design consultants for the Mukaab district.

The latest agreements build on NMDC’s August signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with another US-based firm, Falcons Creative Group, to develop the creative vision and immersive experiences for the Mukaab project at the New Murabba development.

The Mukaab is a Najdi-inspired landmark that is set to become one of the largest buildings in the world, standing 400 metres high, 400 metres wide and 400 metres long.

Internally, it will feature a tower atop a spiral base, with 2 million square metres (sq m) of floor space dedicated to hospitality. The structure will include commercial areas, cultural and tourist attractions, residential and hotel units and recreational facilities.

This latest announcement follows other MoUs that NMDC has signed in recent months. In August, NMDC signed an MoU with Alat, a Public Investment Fund-backed company, to explore the development and integration of technologies supporting the Mukaab project.

This MoU also covers potential future technology needs across the wider New Murabba downtown development. 

This followed NMDC’s signing of an MoU with South Korea’s Heerim Architects & Planners in July to explore additional design work for assets within the 14-square-kilometre New Murabba downtown project.

In July, NMDC signed an MoU with another South Korean firm, Naver Cloud Corporation, to explore technological solutions for delivering the New Murabba downtown project.

Also in July, NMDC announced the completion of excavation works for the Mukaab, the centrepiece of the overall development.

Downtown destination

The New Murabba destination will have a total floor area of more than 25 million sq m and will feature more than 104,000 residential units, 9,000 hotel rooms and over 980,000 sq m of retail space.

The scheme will include 1.4 million sq m of office space, 620,000 sq m of leisure facilities and 1.8 million sq m of space dedicated to community facilities.

The project will be developed around the concept of sustainability and will include green spaces and walking and cycling paths to promote active lifestyles and community activities.

The living, working and entertainment facilities will be developed within a 15-minute walking radius. The area will use an internal transport system and will be about a 20-minute drive from the airport.

The downtown area will feature a museum; a technology and design university; an immersive, multipurpose theatre; and more than 80 entertainment and cultural venues.