File 11.0 - Saudi Arabian National Center for Science and Technology (SANCST Science Halls)

1 photograph

File includes 1 photograph print of mode. The SANCST Science Halls were conceived as a demonstration centre showing the development of science within the Muslim world, and making science accessible to all. The 125 hectare site was 12 km north of the Riyadh centre core. The entry was to be through a large semi-circular plaza from which both the Headquarters Building and the Science Halls could be accessed. The Headquarters Building possesses a strong central axis and the Science Halls are located near the far end of the site. The latter is set on an oblique angle giving it dual orientation. It also uses a strong system of Islamic geometric ordering, superimposition and the rotation of the basic square. The Science Halls have a traditional introverted character and the building mass sits on the Arabic landscape like a finite object, particularly in its use of natural materials. The exterior cladding is a warm colour of horizontally stratified Riyadh limestone with varying band depths. The important features of the Science Halls are the arrival plaza and its orientation, the souk street circulation, the laboratories, the demonstration theatres, the formal gardens, the traditional riverbed gardens, and the medicinal herb gardens.