Wadi Terraces

A retreat that follows the lines of the valley.

Overview

Wadi Terraces follows the valley’s own geometry: a sequence of low, earth-coloured terraces set along the contour lines, each shaded by the one above it.

The project is in design. So far our work has been on the ground: months of surveys, light studies and conversations with the families who have farmed this valley for generations.

Location: AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Year: 2029, expected
Status: In design
Typology: Landscape
Coordinates: 26.6174° N, 37.9215° E

Gallery

The work so far.

Two images. Select any one to see it full screen.

02 / 02A white study model of a terraced house

Drawings

Drawn, then redrawn.

Early studies in plan, section and elevation, from the point of arrival to the spring. They will change before anything is built.

The ground floor, set out on a 6 × 5 m structural grid.36 × 10 m · 5 rooms · 360 m² ground floor

Materials

Made of few things.

Three materials, chosen at the source and left to age. Nothing is painted to look like something else.

Honed Travertine
Selected in blocks at the quarry, honed and never polished. It warms in the sun and stays cool underfoot.
Fair-faced Concrete
Cast once, in timber formwork we draw ourselves. The tie holes stay: they are how you read the pour.
Low-iron Glass
Without the green cast of ordinary glass, so the landscape reads true from edge to edge.