In order to improve the quality of life, a new metro system for the Saudi Arabian capital will be created. Gerber Architekten won the competition for the Metro Station in 2012. The design of the station reinterprets the Arabian desert landscape, recalls a minimalist dune and thus establishes a dialogue between tradition and future. This new oasis becomes a communicative meeting place of the city. The sculptural form creates a park which gradually rises upwards in gentle waves to become the roof of the Metro Station. This dune park will answer the pressing need for more green urban space in Riyadh.
The Olaya Metro Station offers the city of Riyadh the amenities of a major transportation hub together with public gardens. A symbiosis is formed between the two: the dune park benefiting from accessibility by public transportation, while the Olaya Metro Station gains a significant destination in the form of the gardens. This public space provides a spacious landscape with graceful paved areas all naturally shaded by palm trees combined with water features, picnic areas, seating amphitheatres, wireless internet coverage and a terraced terrain for sitting or strolling. For the first time an urban city space will be accessible by public transport; combined with the landscape architecture (also by Gerber Architekten), the overall concept of the Olaya Metro Station mediates between traditional and modern elements and creates an inclusive urban public space.
Location | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |
Competition | 1ˢᵗ prize 2012 |
GFA | 90,387 m² |
Landscaping | 19,970 m² |