Welcome pavilions for the Wadi Alfann valley of the arts

Wadi AlFann is a landscape of narrow valleys surrounded by rocky outcrops. The long, narrow valleys suddenly open out into inland expanses, followed by further crevices that lead to other expanses. It's a type of open-air museum, apt to be inhabited by works of art that you discover one after the other as you travel through the area. The rocky outcrops direct the views and guide visitors. They are veritable points of anchorage and orientation inherent to the valley.

Land-Architecture
The architectures we are proposing for Wadi AlFann have a singular posture.
They are not buildings.
They have the character of land-art.
We have called them ‘land-architectures’.
They are both archaic and contemporary.
They use the minerality of the environment in which they are found.
Their design incorporates the manufacturing process.
Land-architectures are in-situ, intrinsic to the site on which they are built.
They are architectures that are open to the landscape.
They invite visitors to experience the outside and the inside simultaneously.
They inhabit the landscape and engage in dialogue with it.
They embrace the topography, adapting to it.
Land-architectures enter into tension with the landscape, while at the same time integrating themselves into it.
Like land art, land architecture has an affinity with minimalism and geometry.
Land architecture makes the landscape its alter ego.

Massive roofs
Supported by rock monoliths scattered across the ground, massive roofs shelter and bring together the experiences offered by each pavilion.
The roof protects, collects energy, creates shade, lights up at night, creates air flows and frames the landscape. They are thick, polygonal slabs. Like plate tectonics, they are juxtaposed with a variety of inclinations. Daylight penetrates the heart of the architecture through the interstices between the slabs, forming patios that offer views of the starry sky at night. The thickness of the roofs incorporates all the technical equipment and tools required for the use of residents (lights, curtains, solar panels that can be immersed at night, rails, slides, ...)

Event Pavilion drone (North pavilion view) - Wadi Alfann

Hybrid monoliths
The roofs rest on hybrid rock-concrete monoliths. The sandstone rock fuses with the concrete, which is poured on site. The concrete belongs to the environment in which it is found. It is made from the site's own aggregates. The production of these hybrid monoliths is an experimental process that crystallises the encounter between nature and architecture, between the archaic and the contemporary.

Programmatic islands
Under the roof, a series of islands bring together groups of uses that need to be indoors. They are accessible and connected by a vast sheltered outdoor public space that is brought together by the roofs. The islands are delimited by glass walls that can be obscured with curtains as required. Their lightness contrasts with the massiveness of the roof and the thickness of the hybrid pillars.
Where possible, the walls are transparent to maximise the depth of view towards the outside.

The ground beneath the roofs
Under the roofs, the ground is of a different nature depending on whether it is located inside or outside the programmatic blocks.
Outside the blocks, the ground is an extension of the surrounding site. The topographical variation of the ground slides under the roof and crosses the pavilion from one side to the other. The floor is made of stabilised sand aggregate to give the same appearance as the desert sand around the pavilion.
Inside the blocks, the ground is calmer. Composed of sandstone slabs, they are adapted to the uses of the blocks.
In this way, each land-architecture is anchored and adapted to the site where it is located.

PERS 1-ORIENTATION PAVILION - Wadi Alfann

Pavilion of Orientation
The orientation pavilion is located to the north of the Wadi Alfann valley, threshold into Wadi Alfann. It serves as the main access point and starting point for tours of the valley. It is set in the axis of the main road, overhanging the arrival point, giving it a signposting character.

Event Pavilion
The events pavilion is located to the east of the Wadi Alfann site, close to a major traffic artery. The car park is located outside the pavilion, away from views of it. It is located on a flat topography, at the heart of the site's various valleys. Its position below, in the centre of the valley, creates an effect of convergence towards this pavilion from the outlying outdoor event hubs.

Canteen pavilion
The canteen is the southernmost pavilion on the site. It is located close to a road so that it can be easily accessed from outside the Wadi Alfann site. It is open to site visitors arriving from the east, but also to non-site visitors from the west. The pavilion is located between two of the site's characteristic boulders, on a rocky knoll. It is also situated between two large palm groves, providing the various shaded parking areas required for the restaurant's operation.

Project
Welcome pavilions for the Wadi Alfann valley of the arts

Location
Alula, Saoudi Arabia

TenderPublic

Surface
6130 m²

Team
Projectiles, lead architect
Terrell, all trade engineer
8'18’, lighting
Studio 4215 , sustainable development
Michel Desvigne Paysagiste, landscaper

Client
The Royal commission for Al-'Ula (Rcu) & Afalula

Phase
Competition