幻影宫丨沙特阿拉伯利雅得

The Mirage Palace

A visionary concept of post pandemic dwelling

Location: Riyadh, KSA

Function: Residential

Area: 28000 m2

Status: Conceptual Design

Conceptual Model

The main design approach was to fully integrate the architecture with nature with an aggressive contextual approach inspired from the ‘‘Mirage’’ phenomenon That occurs forming illusion at that type of environment and climatic conditions with a contemporary luxury style.

Building envelop

Earth-sheltered best suits the design concept as it generates a camouflaged building not only from wild animals but also more effective in climates that have significant temperature extremes and low humidity. Sand and gravel are best for earth sheltering. These soils compact well for bearing the weight of the construction materials and gives the ultimate protection against extreme temperature conditions. It has been proven  that Earth-sheltered houses are more cost-effective in desert climates in extreme conditions.

Thermal isolation

Earth-Sheltered technique requires less maintenance for the building, The main building material will be ground stone and sand (from the existing site) mixed to create concrete aggregate, and the interior and exterior walls and floors will be made of the resulted concrete material &local stone, thus achieving a fully sustainable building envelope using on-site local materials & techniques.