Ingenium’s NORR division reveals design for the largest privately owned mixed use development in Al Khobar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Together with Jenan Real Estate Company, experts in real estate and community development in the Kingdom’s Eastern Province, NORR Group Consultants International Ltd. (NORR), a member of the Ingenium Group of companies, has unveiled the design concept for Jenan City.

“We are delighted to have been selected as consultants for this landmark development in Saudi Arabia,” said Victor Smith, President and CEO, the Ingenium Group. “This project is one of three NORR is currently designing in Al Khobar. As a result of these successes, we are registering our group in Saudi Arabia and expect to have our office operational in Al Khobar by April of this year.”

At 290,000 square meters of construction area, Jenan City is the largest privately-owned project currently under development in Saudi Arabia. The architecture and engineering design commission for this project was awarded to NORR in 2009.

Jenan Real Estate, the owner of the project and a leading real estate developer based in Al Khobar, has ambitious plans to offer innovative solutions for the Saudi commercial and residential markets.

Al Khobar is located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, the heart of the Kingdom’s petro-chemical industry. Al Khobar is experiencing growing demand for commercial, residential and hospitality property.

With its mix of office, hotel, retail and residential uses, Jenan City’s diversity and complexity is a microcosm of the city itself. In order to respond to the context, NORR’s design team researched Saudi economic and cultural requirements. NORR then produced a detailed project brief and a unique design that responds to the needs of the community.

NORR’s solution celebrates the richness and layering found in a traditional Middle Eastern city, providing open spaces, courts, and gardens for shared and private use.

In order to address the requirement for density, the design combines horizontally massed low-rise buildings punctuated by towers, varying in height from 12 to 37 floors.

Yahya Jan, NORR Vice President and Design Director, explained that the project’s massing responds to the site’s environmental challenges. Jan said, “We used the results from computational fluid dynamic studies and physical wind tunnel models in order to locate buildings and openings to create outdoor spaces that respond to the region’s desert environment. The massing of the project, with the highest buildings in the west and openings in buildings along the north edge of the site, is intended to make the most of the prevailing winds.”

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

Jenan City Components:

Component	Description	Gross Area	% of Total
Office	Class A	20,000 sm	7%
Hotel & Service Apts. (Hilton)	200 Keys +98 apts.	40,000 sm	14%
Residential Vertical Compound	60 apts.	13,000 sm	5%
Retail	16,000 sm GLA	22,000 sm	8%
Residential (freehold)	385 apts.	96,000 sm	33%
Parking + Services	2,000 cars	97,000 sm	33%
Total Gross Area	—	288,000 sm	100%

The Jenan City project is slated to commence construction this summer with completion targeted for the end of 2013.

NORR’s current expansion in the Middle East and India is in line with the Ingenium Group’s corporate strategy of focused and measured expansion around the globe. In late 2010, Ingenium acquired the majority of the UK business and assets from the administrators of Archial Group PLC, Archial Holdings Ltd, Archial Architects Ltd, Archial Resources Ltd and Alsop Sparch Ltd. The newly acquired organisation operates under the names of Archial and Alsop Sparch. Around the same time, Ingenium also acquired Chicago’s DM Design Group, a firm with a strong portfolio of international hospitality projects and which now operates as NORR.