saudi arabian desalination plant to become heatherwick studio's 'jeddah central museum'

industrial space to ‘makers souk’ in saudi arabia

Studio Heatherwick reveals new plans for its latest project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the Jeddah Central Museum, which will see the transformation of a desalination plant into a complex of galleries and ateliers spaces. Located along the waterfront of the Red Sea, the area will become a new district centered around craftsmanship and the arts, taking the form of a ‘makers souk,’ a marketplace for artists and designers.

An exhibition space will occupy the main turbine hall — lofty, industrial, and dramatic, the space will be infused human-scale comfort. Fronting a semi-enclosed marketplace, the elongated building will be wrapped in a soft, silver cladding, designed to reflect sunlight as part of a low-carbon strategy.

images courtesy Heatherwick Studio

heatherwick studio’s waterfront museum

The new Jeddah Central Museum by Heatherwick Studio represents one section of a larger development which will cover 5.7 million square meters in the core of the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. With a range of tourist, entertainment, sports, cultural, commercial, and residential facilities, the project aims to serve as a source of inspiration and creativity for both locals and tourists, fostering artistic pursuits throughout Saudi Arabia.

The architects write: ‘Jeddah has been a city of artists and makers for over a thousand years and an engagement programme has already begun with the existing creative community so they can actively help to shape the design.’

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project info:

project title: Jeddah Central Museum

architecture: Heatherwick Studio

location: Jeddah, Saudi Arabia