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Parsons Corporation was recently awarded a 5-year contract by the KAFD DMC. The contract concerns the provision of comprehensive project and construction management services in the King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD).
Particularly, Parsons will provide these services for the development of commercial, hospitality, residential, municipal, and mixed-use buildings as well as the associated infrastructure to support the high-rise development.
The company is working with KAFD DMC to ensure that all new buildings obtain LEED certification. Further, Parsons is jointly engaged to manage the design and construction of water recovery and reuse facilities to supplement scarce resources for development.
King Abdullah Financial District Overview
King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) is a mixed-use financial district that is being developed in Saudi Arabia. Particularly the project, the cost of which is approximately US$ 7.8 billion is coming up at the Al Aqeeq area in Riyadh, near King Fahad Road.
King Abdullah Financial District Development and Management Company (KAFD DMC) is overseeing the development of the project. KAFD DMC is a company fully owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Initially, Rayadah Investment Corporation was in charge of the project acting on behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pension Authority.
Inside King Abdullah Financial District
The development sits on an area of more than 1.6 million square meters. It consists of more than 83 buildings including a total of 61 towers in which residential solutions, work and entertainment will be offered. Upon completion, KAFD will provide more than 3 million square meters of space for various uses, 62,000 parking spaces and accommodation for 12,000 residents.
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All buildings will be connected by an air-conditioned skywalk system enabling people to access the whole development. As Riyadh is known for its high temperature, a solar system will be fixed to cool the passenger bridges.
Riyadh Metro, a Metro station under construction is set to serve the King Abdullah Financial District. The station covers an approximate area of 8.150 m2 and is situated at the east of the Northern Ring Road. It will link to metro lines 1, 4, 6, and the KAFD monorail. Within the development, there will also be a station monorail system every 3.5 kilometres.
King Abdullah Financial District design team
The project’s master plan was designed and superintended by Danish architectural company Henning Larsen Architects. International architecture companies like Gensler, Omrania, SOM, HOK, CallisonRTKL and Foster + Partners were tasked to design individual structures in the district. For example, the 380-meter PIF Tower was designed by HOK and Omrani. Additional design work was offered by W Architecture and Landscape Architecture.
The Riyadh Metro station was designed by the UK Zaha Hadid Architects.
King Abdullah Financial District Project Timeline
2006
The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) construction began in 2006.
2011
The scheme was the largest in the world seeking green building accreditation.
2017
The first phase was set to open in July, with the whole project being 70% complete
2021
The King Abdullah Financial District Company signed contracts worth SR10 billion to complete the work and activate the centre.
