The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) has unveiled the winning design for AlUla’s new airport terminal in Saudi Arabia.
Following a global competition, the winning design was announced during the 7th annual Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh.
The second terminal of AlUla International Airport will house luxury amenities, including a hotel and spa, and extensive retail areas. It will capture “the essence of AlUla from touchdown to take-off”, RCU said in a press release.
“The design promises that the infrastructure will seamlessly blend with AlUla’s natural landscapes, ensuring harmony and coexistence,” it added.
The new expansion will increase the international airport’s annual passenger capacity from 400,000 to 6 million. Additionally, the total area of the airport will grow to around 2.4 million square metres.
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) was established in 2017 to preserve and develop AlUla, described as the world’s largest living museum, alongside the French government agency Afalula.
The $15 billion AlUla project is located close to Saudi’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hegra, which opened to the public for the first time in 2020.
AlUla will include five unique districts, five heritage sites, 15 cultural assets and museums, 10 million square metres of green spaces, and 5,000 hotel rooms.
Airport for world’s largest living museum
The plans also include a luxury resort designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, due to debut in 2023.
Earlier this year, RCU announced architects Lina Ghotmeh and Asif Khan for two major museums – a contemporary art museum and a museum of the ‘incense road’.
Ghotmeh said the contemporary art museum will immerse visitors “in a creative journey from the desert expanse to the lush cultural oasis of AlUla, interweaving the natural environment, agriculture and art to reveal the heart of contemporary culture”.
Khan said his design “takes the form of a public space, not a museum within walls… with galleries and spaces for sensory experiences and learning”.
Images courtesy of RCU
