NORR designs Jenan City in Saudi Arabia

The multi-disciplinary Canadian firm NORR Group has designed the largest private development in Saudi Arabia.

“Jenan City,” owned by Jenan Real Estate Company, is a 290,000-square metre development of offices, hotels and residences to be located in Al Khobar in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, in the heart of its petro-chemical industry.

The development’s design, which was unveiled January 24, combines horizontally massed low-rise buildings, punctuated by towers varying from 12 to 37 floors. The buildings have open spaces, courts and gardens, intended to reflect the richness and layering found in Middle Eastern cities.

Office and hotel towers anchor the master plan and are designed to establish Jenan City as a landmark for Al Khobar and the region.

Yahya Jan, NORR vice president and design director, has explained that the project’s massing responds to the environmental challenges of the desert site. The massing, with the highest buildings in the west and openings in buildings along the north edge of the site, is intended to take advantage of the prevailing winds.

The project is slated to start construction this summer, with completion scheduled for the end of 2013.

NORR, which is a member of the Ingenium Group, has been operating in the Middle East for 20 years. NORR is a multi-disciplinary consulting business, with architecture, engineering, planning and other expertise. Its head office is in Toronto and it has 30 offices worldwide.

In late 2010, Ingenium acquired the majority of the U.K. business and assets of Archial Group of the U.K. and DM Design Group of Chicago.