The King Abdullah Financial District metro station designed by Zaha Hadid Architects in Riyadh has been completed. The work is an important interchange hub for rail, road and pedestrian transit flows within the Saudi capital's metro network which, with an extension of over 176 km, 6 lines and 85 stations, is the longest automated transport system in the world.
The fluid and dynamic volume, according to the finest expressive tradition of the studio, evokes the theme of speed and interconnection: the external shell composed of a three-dimensional grid of sinusoidal waves in high-performance concrete, perforated to reinterpret the traditional mashrabiya and modelled like dunes shaped by the desert wind, encloses six railway platforms on four levels, connected to the neighbouring financial district through new public squares.
The high-performance building has earned LEED Gold certification, thanks to the combination of passive design techniques and a high-efficiency cooling system powered by renewable sources that automatically adapts to different user flows depending on the time of day.
