Winner of an international design competition to create a 33 hectare urban park in the heart of a capital city. The scheme aimed to both address and challenge the complex social constraints of the country and provide a unique leisure resource that is accessible to all.

The park was developed around a movement network strategy that promoted physical activity and scaled to allow appropriate levels of privacy and intimacy for family groups. Central to this is the creation of The Ring – a circular promenade that links together the separate elements of the park. The promenade is sized at 10 metres wide to accommodate large family groups moving in opposite directions. The 4 hectare lake evolved during the detailed design process as an opportunity to accommodate the out flow of spent irrigation water drained from the adjacent highway. Following initial reverse osmosis treatment for the water, the lake is designed to be ecologically self–sustaining, in spite of summer temperatures of 50°C.

A series of public buildings are located within the park, including a climatron facility: a group of controlled environments that will encourage interpretation of the various ecosystems encountered on the same line of longitude as Riyadh. Eight cultural gardens provide an interpretation of the varying cultures found on the same line of latitude as the city. The park received 1.8 million visitors in its first year after opening and the scheme has won a number of urban design awards. The park generates an annual income each year which is reinvested in the maintenance and upkeep of the park.