The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD), designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, is a centerpiece of Riyadh’s ambitious metropolitan railway system, which inaugurates its first lines on 1 December 2024. Able to accommodate 3.6 million commuters daily, the Saudi capital’s metro is the world’s longest rapid driverless transit system, stretching 176 kilometers across six lines and 85 stations.

The station’s six rail platforms, distributed in four levels, connect with the bus terminals and park-and-ride facilities, creating a major multi-modal transport hub for the city. The train, automobile, and pedestrian traffic expected in this station has been taken into account in the design, always with a view to easing circulation. The resulting scheme is an openwork formed by a sequence of opposing sinewaves (generated through repetition and frequency variation of everyday traffic flows) that act as a spine for movement in the building.

These waves extend to the area outside the station, clad in concrete panels. Geometric perforations on the facade help to minimize solar gain. The facade’s sculptural composition echoes the natural patterns that desert winds make on sand. Structural efficiency and environmental performance are maximized by simplifying the construction process without loss of spatial quality, integrating the self-bearing structure of the external envelope with the internal frame of the station, which supports the platforms and viaducts.

Foto cortesía del Metro de Riad