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Foster's mark on the Kingdom: a tour of Foster + Partners' projects in Saudi Arabia

Norman Foster, the British architect born in Manchester in 1935 and winner of the 1999 Pritzker Architecture Prize, leads Foster + Partners. This is a tour of nine of the practice's projects in Saudi Arabia, from Al Faisaliah Centre in Riyadh to Laheq island at The Red Sea.

Al Faisaliah Centre, Riyadh
Photo: Francisco Anzola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
SNB Head Office, KAFD, Riyadh
Render: Foster + Partners
Atheel hotel, KAFD, Riyadh
Photo: KAFD
King Salman International Airport, Riyadh
Render: Foster + Partners
New Abha Airport terminal
Render: Foster + Partners
Haramain High Speed Rail, Madinah station
Photo: Virtual trip, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Red Sea International Airport
Photo: Red Sea Global
Shura Island, The Red Sea
Render: Foster + Partners
Laheq island, The Red Sea
Render: Foster + Partners
WHY IT MATTERS

Let me explain

Al Faisaliah Centre: the Kingdom's first skyscraper, a 267-metre tower with a golden glass sphere 200 metres up. SNB Head Office, KAFD: a 40-storey tower clad in triangular glass panels. Atheel, KAFD: 214 rooms and suites, opened in September 2026 and linked directly to the KAFD Metro station. King Salman International Airport: a masterplan of about 57 square kilometres with room for six parallel runways and up to 100 million passengers by 2030. New Abha Airport terminal: a competition-winning design for MATARAT Holding inspired by the village of Rijal Almaa. Haramain High Speed Rail: four stations on a 450-kilometre line linking Makkah, Madinah, Jeddah and King Abdullah Economic City. Red Sea International Airport: dune-inspired shell roofs, powered entirely by renewable energy. Shura Island: 11 low-rise resorts blending into the dunes and beaches. Laheq: a 400-hectare residential island centred on an 800-metre ring around a lagoon (Foster + Partners, KAFD, Red Sea Global, Pritzker Prize).

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