Lihyan Moveable Suite

Al Ula, KSA

ALULA is shaped by the monumental landscape, the knowledge, culture and experience of previous civilizations, and the life-giving wadis and oasis that connect and bind them. ALUla Central will be the cosmopolitan tourist hub that combines beautiful open spaces, graceful streets and elegant buildings in an authentic way, exemplars of contemporary Arabic planning. This new central CORE with parks, promenades and attractions will attract high numbers of curious visitors and ensure every inhabitant has access to a higher quality of life, sense of well-being, beauty and culture and natural open spaces that remind them of their links to the land.

1. Context

ALULA is shaped by the monumental landscape, the knowledge, culture and experience of previous civilizations, and the life-giving wadis and oasis that connect and bind them. ALUla Central will be the cosmopolitan tourist hub that combines beautiful open spaces, graceful streets and elegant buildings in an authentic way, exemplars of contemporary Arabic planning. This new central CORE with parks, promenades and attractions will attract high numbers of curious visitors and ensure every inhabitant has access to a higher quality of life, sense of well-being, beauty and culture and natural open spaces that remind them of their links to the land.

2. Colors, materiality, contrasts

AlUla’s natural landscape is a visual symphony of interplaying colors. The Five Star Hotel will experiment with these distinctive color combinations to accompany visitors on a journey through the unique AlUla landscapes

3. Shapes, materials, feelings

A continuity in the indoor-outdoor experience will replicate the magical and serene feeling typical of vernacular housings or will make guests feel like they are embedded in the majestic AlUla rocks.

Site Analysis: ENVIRONMENT

Shapes, materials, feelings

AlUla’s territory has created a special approach to architecture, creating a design language based on the historical and natural context; the Cabins must be the expression of this. We aim to explore and evolve a code that is already present in AlUla’s DNA and in the Journey Through Time.

This location offers more than most, as it combines landscape and Natural fabric. Distributed in a harmonious and ripple-like manner, the Natural fabric displays incredible 360° views, a truly unique dialogue between the natural fabric & landscape. This view must be enhanced through view points

Existing Condition and Project Boundary

Concept design

Lihyan Moveable Suite

The term Lihyan (lyn) appears in ancient writings as both a toponym and an ethnonym, but the phrase Dedan (ddn) only appears as a toponym (name of a place). Dedan seems to have originally referred to Jabal al-Khuraybah mountain. The two names are combined in Maniac inscriptions, with the former designating a location and the latter a people. However, the names are frequently used in contemporary historiography with a chronological connotation, with Dedan denoting the older era and Lihyan the later of the same civilization.