ASRD

Riyadh - KSA

Urban Development

2025

Area: 38,000sqm

Option 1:

Proposed for a site in Riyadh, ASRD unfolds as a large scale courtyard housing block, wrapped in a continuous envelope of dark timber vertical fins that vary in depth and spacing across the facade, breaking what could have been a monolithic mass into a more textured, rhythmic surface. Critically, the building's massing is not arbitrary. Its height and stepped profile are calibrated to follow the sun path, a strategy conceived to maximize self shading across the block and reduce solar heat gain throughout the day, allowing the architecture itself to serve as a passive cooling mechanism in Riyadh's climate.

At its heart, the scheme is organized around a generous internal courtyard, landscaped with lawn, gravel pathways, and clusters of trees, anchored by a grouping of large sculptural boulders set within the central green. The courtyard functions as the building's shared social core, framed on all sides by the residential wings above and opening views toward Riyadh's surrounding skyline of high-rises and palm-lined streets beyond.

This first design option organizes the building across five levels. The ground floor totals 5,744 square meters of gross floor area, accommodating approximately 27 apartments alongside dedicated pedestrian and vehicular access points. The first through third floors each total 6,204 square meters, with roughly 36 apartments per level, while the fourth floor reduces to 5,192 square meters and around 27 apartments, topped by a roof area of 81 square meters.

Along the street edge, the building presents a continuous, five-story datum line to the boulevard, its dark timber cladding and deep window reveals establishing a consistent architectural language that carries directly from the sun-responsive massing strategy through to the residential courtyard within.

City skyline with modern high-rise buildings in the distance, a partly cloudy sky, and a courtyard with trees, rocks, and people walking in the foreground. Beirut architecture
Cityscape at dusk with dark storm clouds overhead, illuminated windows in a courtyard, and tall buildings in the background. Beirut architecture
A modern multi-story building with wooden facade and glass windows, set along a busy urban street with cars and streetlights, under a partly cloudy sky. Beirut architecture
Modern multi-story building with a wooden facade, large windows, surrounded by parked cars on a wet street, under a cloudy sky. Beirut architecture
Modern building with large glass windows illuminated from inside, situated on a wet street at dusk with dark clouds and a few visible stars in the sky. Beirut architecture
Nighttime cityscape of a modern urban area with high-rise buildings, illuminated streets, and a downtown area with a large, uniquely shaped building in the foreground. Beirut architecture
A 3D architectural rendering showing two perspectives of a courtyard-style apartment complex with surrounding buildings, green rooftop areas, and central open space with trees and pathways. The image includes labels Fig. A and Fig. B, with a site pla
Architectural plan with two different layouts, one labeled 'Masterplan' and the other showing divided 'Block 1' to 'Block 4' around a central garden, with trees and pathways.
Floor plans for a multi-story residential building, showing layouts for ground, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th floors, with apartment counts, gross floor area, and roof space details.
Floor plan layout showing the 5th, 6th, 7th floors and roof of a building with apartment distributions and square footage details.
Architectural diagrams of a modern multi-story building showing sectional views, including a longitudinal and transversal section with labeled floors, roof, and parking areas, and green trees integrated into the design.
Architectural drawing of a multi-story modern building with wooden slat facades, large windows, and landscaped surroundings including trees, viewed from the road with a site plan in the corner.
3D architectural rendering of a modern, multi-story building with irregularly spaced windows and green trees along the sidewalk, seen from the road with a north arrow and site plan in the corner.
3D rendering of a modern multi-story residential building with a central courtyard featuring green lawns, trees, and pathways, labeled as "Garden - Bird Eye view".
Architectural rendering of a modern building with multiple floors and large windows, surrounded by a landscaped park with trees and walking paths.
A digital architectural rendering of a modern residential or commercial building with a central courtyard, featuring trees, people, and open green spaces, viewed from street level.
3D architectural rendering view from balconies showing a modern apartment complex with outdoor green spaces and trees.
Architectural rendering of a modern residential complex viewed from the balconies, showing multiple garden courtyards with trees and landscaped green spaces, surrounded by three-story buildings with large windows and rooftop gardens.

Option 2:

This second option for ASRD departs from the first scheme's single continuous block, proposing instead a cluster of ten individual volumes arranged across the site in a loose grid, each built up around its own private courtyard and connected by a network of pedestrian pathways threading between them. A slender spine volume anchors the composition at its center, running the depth of the site between the surrounding buildings.

The building envelope itself is directly shaped by environmental forces. Each volume is calibrated between a high side and a low side, following the arc of the sun path on one axis and the prevailing wind direction on the other, so that height differentials across the massing both maximize self-shading through the day and guide airflow across the site rather than blocking it.

The resulting silhouette steps down from a dense, mid-rise base toward a single tower at its highest point, tapering as it rises. The ground floor totals 6,262 square meters of gross floor area across approximately 34 apartments, followed by 5,748 square meters and roughly 30 apartments on the first floor, and 5,758 square meters with about 31 apartments on the second. The third and fourth floors each hold just over 5,200 square meters, with 32 and 30 apartments respectively, before the massing begins its more pronounced taper. The fifth floor reduces to 3,567 square meters and 22 apartments, the sixth to 2,488 square meters and 15 apartments, the seventh to 1,450 square meters and 9 apartments, and the eighth to 529 square meters and just 3 apartments, culminating in a rooftop terrace of 36 square meters at the summit of the composition.

3D architectural diagram of a housing complex with multiple buildings, green spaces, and pathways, viewed from two different angles, labeled as Fig. A and Fig. B.
Architectural floor plans of a multi-story apartment building, showing ground floor, 1st floor, and 2nd floor layouts with labels for pedestrian access, vehicle exit, and apartment numbers.
Floor plan layouts for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th floors of a building, showing the placement of apartments with green areas indicating outdoor spaces and blue dots representing specific points or features. Key details include GFA in square meters, r
Diagram of project layouts showing the 7th floor, 8th floor, and roof, with details of square footage, number of apartments, and roof area.
Architectural floor plans and sections of a multi-story building, including transverse and longitudinal views, with labeled floor levels from ground floor to roof, and areas designated for parking at the bottom.
A digital architectural drawing of a modern, multi-story building with white and light blue cube-like structures and a site plan in the bottom right corner. The building appears to be situated along a road, with a small tree visible near one of the e
3D architectural rendering of a modern white building with blue-tinted windows, viewed from the road, with a site plan diagram in the bottom right corner.
3D bird's eye view of an urban public space with white buildings, green and blue rooftop gardens, trees, and pathways
A street view of a public space with trees, sidewalk, and buildings, featuring pedestrian figures and a modern architectural design.
Architectural rendering of an urban street view with modern buildings, green trees, and pedestrians walking along the sidewalk.
Diagram of a building envelope showing how sun path and wind direction influence insulation levels, with labels for sun path, wind direction, high and low insulation areas, and a curved orange line representing the sun's path.