--- slug: binbaz-towers title: BinBaz Towers — An iconic hotel and hospital for the Bin Baz Foundation in Riyadh hero_subtitle: "Two aerodynamic towers for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme: Tower A (hotel and apartments, 160 m / 45 storeys) and Tower B (hospital, 55 m / 15 storeys), with parametric design and interior design by BCA as part of the Bottega Aurea team." year: "2021" location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia typology: Iconic hotel + Specialist hospital vertical_primary: High-End Interiors vertical_primary_slug: high-end-interiors vertical_secondary: High-End Interiors vertical_secondary_slug: high-end-interiors badge_raw: 2021 · Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · Iconic hotel + Specialist hospital · Digital & Parametric Design + High-end interiors + Public & Commercial Architecture scheda: Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — King Fahad Road Year: "2023" Client: Bin Baz Foundation (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) Typology: "Mixed-use urban complex: Tower A — hotel and apartments; Tower B — specialist hospital" Staircase — Tower A: 160 metres high, 45 storeys · high-end hotel with conference rooms, restaurants, a rooftop garden bar, swimming pool, gyms, hammam and shops · 66 apartments of various sizes Staircase — Tower B: 55 metres high, 15 storeys · a modern hospital with over 100 beds, including 5 storeys of specialist clinics Underground car park: 4 underground car parks, approx. 500 parking spaces Status: Concept Lead firm: Bottega Aurea Architecture & Masterplanning Ltd Project Management: Rinaldo Melucci Principal Architect: Ubaldo Occhinero Architectural Design: Marco Stigliano, Micaela Pignatelli Digital and Parametric Design: Maurizio Barberio (Barberio Colella Architects) Interior Architecture: Micaela Colella (Barberio Colella Architects) Environmental Design: Angelo Figliola Contributors: Dario Costantino, Ilaria Pinto, Alma Tafuni Environmental strategies: Aerodynamic shape to reduce wind pressure; ventilated double-skin facade to prevent overheating; solar chimney integrated into the core for passive ventilation; fabric shading over glazed openings fitted with water misters; water basins and vegetation used as evaporative cooling systems Cultural references: "A contemporary reinterpretation of archetypes from traditional Islamic architecture: elegant vaulted spaces, mashrabiyya, water basins and waterfalls, and integrated vegetation" images: - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-01.jpg alt: "BinBaz Towers: exterior view of the towers in Riyadh" caption: "Exterior view of the two aerodynamic towers: Tower A (160 m / 45 storeys, hotel and apartments) and Tower B (55 m / 15 storeys, hospital) along King Fahad Road." - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-03.jpg alt: Front view of BinBaz Towers Vision 2030 caption: The curved shape of the towers optimises wind pressure and solar radiation, the primary passive strategy for Riyadh’s climate. - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-plaza.jpg alt: BinBaz Towers Public Square, Riyadh caption: "The public square at the foot of the towers: an urban green space where the local community meets high-end hospitality." - filename: binbaz-towers-hall.jpg alt: BinBaz Tower A Hotel Lobby Interior Design caption: "The lobby of Tower A: Micaela Colella’s interior design reinterprets traditional Islamic architecture using contemporary materials." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-01.jpg alt: "Interior of BinBaz Towers: public spaces" caption: "Interior view of the shared spaces: double‑height spaces, filtering fabric shading, and water basins serving as both bioclimatic devices and cultural elements." - filename: binbaz-towers-bioclimatic-section-diagram.jpg alt: BinBaz solar chimney bioclimatic design caption: "Bioclimatic design with a solar chimney integrated into the core: it extracts warm air from the rooms and activates passive ventilation during peak hours." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-03-enhanced.jpg alt: Luxury spaces at Tower A Hotel, Riyadh caption: "The hotel’s public spaces: the palette of materials and colours reflects the Arab identity without veering into the realm of folklore." - filename: binbaz-towers-rooftop-terrace.jpg alt: BinBaz Tower A Rooftop Garden Bar caption: "The rooftop garden bar on Tower A: panoramic views of the Riyadh skyline, with vegetation and water used for cooling." - filename: binbaz-towers-facade-environmental-analysis.jpg alt: Environmental analysis of the BinBaz Towers facade caption: "Environmental analysis of the facade: aerodynamics, ventilated double-skin facade, textile shading with misting systems, and water basins as passive strategies." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-03.jpg alt: "BinBaz hotel interior: material detail" caption: "A detail of one of the hotel’s rooms: the palette of materials and colours reinterprets Islamic architecture through a contemporary, energy-efficient design language." - filename: binbaz-towers-site-volume-plan.jpg alt: BinBaz Riyadh Complex Floor Area Calculation caption: The site plan illustrates the relationship between the two towers of differing heights, the urban square and the axis of King Fahad Road. faq_count: 6 related_slugs: - urban-dunes - new-roots - bamboo-office cta: title: Do you have an urban-scale project or an iconic building in an extreme climate? body: If you are developing projects for towers, mixed-use developments, high-end hotels or healthcare facilities in desert or tropical climates, we can support you through the Digital and Parametric Design phases (geometry, fluid dynamics optimisation, parametric shading) and with the interior design of reception areas. BCA collaborates with Italian and international firms as part of multidisciplinary teams. button: Let’s talk about your project microcopy: We’ll get back to you within 48 hours. No obligation. gallery_renders: - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-03.jpg alt: Front view of BinBaz Towers Vision 2030 caption: The curved shape of the towers optimises wind pressure and solar radiation, the primary passive strategy for Riyadh’s climate. - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-plaza.jpg alt: BinBaz Towers Public Square, Riyadh caption: "The public square at the foot of the towers: an urban green space where the local community meets high-end hospitality." - filename: binbaz-towers-rooftop-terrace.jpg alt: BinBaz Tower A Rooftop Garden Bar caption: "The rooftop garden bar on Tower A: panoramic views of the Riyadh skyline, with vegetation and water used for cooling." - filename: binbaz-towers-hall.jpg alt: BinBaz Tower A Hotel Lobby Interior Design caption: "The lobby of Tower A: Micaela Colella’s interior design reinterprets traditional Islamic architecture using contemporary materials." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-01.jpg alt: "Interior of BinBaz Towers: public spaces" caption: "Interior view of the shared spaces: double‑height spaces, filtering fabric shading, and water basins serving as both bioclimatic devices and cultural elements." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-03-enhanced.jpg alt: Luxury spaces at Tower A Hotel, Riyadh caption: "The hotel’s public spaces: the palette of materials and colours reflects the Arab identity without veering into the realm of folklore." - filename: binbaz-towers-interior-03.jpg alt: "BinBaz hotel interior: material detail" caption: "A detail of one of the hotel’s rooms: the palette of materials and colours reinterprets Islamic architecture through a contemporary, energy-efficient design language." - filename: binbaz-towers-exterior-01.jpg alt: "BinBaz Towers: exterior view of the towers in Riyadh" caption: "Exterior view of the two aerodynamic towers: Tower A (160 m / 45 storeys, hotel and apartments) and Tower B (55 m / 15 storeys, hospital) along King Fahad Road." gallery_drawings: - filename: binbaz-towers-bioclimatic-section-diagram.jpg alt: BinBaz solar chimney bioclimatic design caption: "Bioclimatic design with a solar chimney integrated into the core: it extracts warm air from the rooms and activates passive ventilation during peak hours." - filename: binbaz-towers-facade-environmental-analysis.jpg alt: Environmental analysis of the BinBaz Towers facade caption: "Environmental analysis of the facade: aerodynamics, ventilated double-skin facade, textile shading with misting systems, and water basins as passive strategies." - filename: binbaz-towers-site-volume-plan.jpg alt: BinBaz Riyadh Complex Floor Area Calculation caption: The site plan illustrates the relationship between the two towers of differing heights, the urban square and the axis of King Fahad Road. --- # BinBaz Towers — Iconic hotel and hospital for the Bin Baz Foundation in Riyadh _Two aerodynamic towers for Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 programme: Tower A (hotel + apartments, 160 m / 45 storeys) and Tower B (hospital, 55 m / 15 storeys), with parametric design and interior design by BCA as part of the Bottega Aurea team._ **2021 · Riyadh, Saudi Arabia · Iconic hotel + Specialist hospital · Digital & Parametric Design + High-End Interiors + Public & Commercial Architecture** ## Sails of light in the desert Riyadh is a city undergoing rapid transformation. Vision 2030 — the Saudi strategy for economic diversification and openness — is rewriting the capital’s skyline, with public and private investments seeking to combine modernity, Arab identity and contemporary environmental standards. The Bin Baz Foundation, a prominent organisation in the Kingdom, has commissioned a two-tower urban complex along King Fahad Road, one of the city’s main thoroughfares, intended to become a benchmark for future developments in the heart of Riyadh: a private infrastructure that embodies the values — beauty, community, self-sufficiency, quality of life — of the national programme. The project was led by the team affiliated with Bottega Aurea Architecture & Masterplanning in Taranto. Within the team, Barberio Colella Architetti oversaw two specific and complementary areas: Maurizio Barberio led the Digital and Parametric Design — the aerodynamic curvilinear geometry of the towers, generated and verified using computational tools — whilst Micaela Colella developed the interior architecture of the private apartments. The environmental design was overseen by Angelo Figliola, continuing the team’s long-standing collaborations. The design challenge was twofold: to respond to Riyadh’s extreme desert climate — temperatures exceeding 45°C, predominantly northerly winds, and intense solar radiation — and to translate the themes of Vision 2030 into an iconic yet measured architecture, capable of reinterpreting the archetypes of traditional Islamic architecture (vaulted spaces, mashrabiyya, water basins) in a contemporary key. The two towers differ in scale and function. Tower A is the complex’s iconic building: 160 metres tall with 45 floors, it houses a hotel offering high-end facilities (conference rooms, restaurants, a rooftop garden bar, swimming pool, gyms, hammam and shops) and 66 apartments of various sizes with views of the skyline. Tower B, 55 metres tall with 15 storeys, is set to become a modern hospital with over 100 beds, including five floors dedicated to specialist clinics and the most efficient patient services. Below street level, four levels of underground car park provide space for around 500 cars. The aerodynamic shape of the building — a curvilinear volume that curves along the axis of the prevailing winds — is the result of fluid dynamics optimisation: it reduces wind pressure on the north-facing façades and the roof, a critical factor for towers of this height in Riyadh. The building envelope is a double-skin ventilated facade that prevents the interior spaces from overheating; a solar chimney integrated into the core of the towers extracts hot air and activates passive ventilation during the hottest months. The glazed openings are protected by a textile shading system with built-in water misters, which reduces direct solar radiation and lowers the air temperature at the entrance to the spaces through evaporation. The project combines luxurious interiors with extensive public green spaces outside, featuring urban squares designed for the local community. BinBaz Towers is not a single building: it is a small piece of the city that aims to become a replicable model for Riyadh — light and form for the new humanity that the Saudi capital is building. --- ## Image gallery ![BinBaz Towers exterior view of the towers in Riyadh](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-exterior-01.jpg) *Exterior view of the two aerodynamic towers: Tower A (160 m / 45 storeys, hotel + apartments) and Tower B (55 m / 15 storeys, hospital) along King Fahad Road.* ![Front view of BinBaz Towers Vision 2030](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-exterior-03.jpg) *The curved shape of the towers optimises wind pressure and incident solar radiation, the main passive strategy for Riyadh’s climate.* ![BinBaz Towers public square, Riyadh](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-exterior-plaza.jpg) *The public square at the foot of the towers: an urban green space where the local community meets high-end hospitality.* ![BinBaz Tower A hotel lobby interior design](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-hall.jpg) *The lobby of Tower A: Micaela Colella’s interior design reinterprets traditional Islamic architecture using contemporary materials.* ![BinBaz Towers interior public spaces](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-interior-01.jpg) *Internal view of the shared spaces: double‑height spaces, filtering textile shading, water basins as bioclimatic devices and cultural features.* ![Bioclimatic design section: BinBaz solar chimney](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-bioclimatic-section-diagram.jpg) *Bioclimatic design section with the solar chimney integrated into the core: it extracts hot air from the rooms and activates passive ventilation during peak hours.* ![Luxury spaces, Tower A, Riyadh hotel](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-interior-03-enhanced.jpg) *The hotel’s reception areas: the material and colour palette engages with Arab identity without veering into folklorism.* ![BinBaz Tower A rooftop garden bar](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-rooftop-terrace.jpg) *The rooftop garden bar of Tower A: panoramic views of the Riyadh skyline, with vegetation and water serving as cooling elements.* ![Environmental analysis of the BinBaz Towers facade](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-facade-environmental-analysis.jpg) *Environmental analysis of the facade: aerodynamics, ventilated double-skin facade, textile shading with misting systems, and water basins as passive strategies.* ![BinBaz hotel interior material detail](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-interior-03.jpg) *Detail of a hotel lounge: the material and colour palette reinterprets Islamic architecture through a contemporary, low-energy language.* ![BinBaz Riyadh complex site plan](images/binbaz-towers/binbaz-towers-site-volume-plan.jpg) *The site plan illustrates the relationship between the two towers of differing heights, the urban square and the axis of King Fahad Road.* --- ## Technical specifications - **Location:** Riyadh, Saudi Arabia — King Fahad Road - **Year:** 2023 - **Client:** Bin Baz Foundation (Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) - **Typology:** Mixed-use urban complex: Tower A — hotel + apartments; Tower B — specialist hospital - **Scale — Tower A:** 160 m high, 45 storeys · high-end hotel with conference rooms, restaurants, rooftop garden bar, swimming pool, gyms, hammam, shops · 66 apartments of various sizes - **Scale — Tower B:** 55 m high, 15 storeys · modern hospital with over 100 beds, including 5 storeys of specialist clinics - **Underground car park:** 4 storeys below street level, approx. 500 parking spaces - **Status:** Concept - **Lead firm:** Bottega Aurea Architecture & Masterplanning S.r.l. - **Project Management:** Rinaldo Melucci - **Principal Architect:** Ubaldo Occhinero - **Architectural Design:** Marco Stigliano, Micaela Pignatelli - **Digital and Parametric Design:** Maurizio Barberio (Barberio Colella Architetti) - **Interior Architecture:** Micaela Colella (Barberio Colella Architetti) - **Environmental Design:** Angelo Figliola - **Collaborators:** Dario Costantino, Ilaria Pinto, Alma Tafuni - **Environmental strategies:** Aerodynamic form to reduce wind pressure; ventilated double-skin facade to prevent overheating; solar chimney integrated into the core for passive ventilation; textile shading on glazed openings with water misters; water basins and vegetation as evaporative cooling devices - **Cultural references:** Contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Islamic architectural archetypes: elegant vaulted spaces, mashrabiyya, water basins and waterfalls, integrated vegetation - **Main BCA vertical:** Digital & Parametric Design (aerodynamic curvilinear geometry, computational optimisation) - **Secondary BCA vertical:** High-End Interiors (hospitality sub-segment interiors) + Public & Commercial Architecture (corporate/healthcare sub-segment for Tower B) --- ## How does one design an iconic urban complex in an extreme desert climate, whilst reducing dependence on mechanical systems? Major Middle Eastern cities — Riyadh foremost among them — face a construction paradox: to ensure comfort in high-rise buildings during the summer (over 45°C), the standard practice is to install massive air-conditioning systems that consume enormous amounts of energy. The result is a skyline of sealed, energy-guzzling and culturally neutral buildings, where solar radiation and wind become problems to be hidden rather than resources to be harnessed. BinBaz Towers demonstrates a different approach: the curvilinear aerodynamic form reduces wind pressure at a geometric level; the ventilated double-skin facade, the solar chimney in the core and the textile screens with water misters passively regulate light, heat and humidity; the contemporary reinterpretation of the mashrabiyya and water basins reintroduces a language rooted in local tradition into high-end Saudi architecture. Parametric design is not a formal exercise: it is the tool that allows every curve and every opening to be calibrated against the site’s actual climate data. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does designing for Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia entail? Vision 2030 is the Saudi Kingdom’s economic and social transformation programme, launched in 2016 and now fully underway: it envisages economic diversification beyond oil, cultural and tourism openness, and investment in quality of life, health and sustainability. For those designing in Riyadh within the framework of Vision 2030, this means responding to three converging demands: internationally recognisable quality architecture, a non-folkloric Saudi identity, and measurable environmental standards. BinBaz Towers — an iconic hotel for international tourism + a modern hospital for public health — embodies these three themes in a single private development of city-wide significance. ### How does the aerodynamic shape of a tower work in a desert climate? The high-rise towers in Riyadh are exposed to prevailing northerly winds, often carrying sand, which generate strong dynamic pressures on the facades and on the roof. A fluid-dynamically optimised curved plan — modelled using parametric tools and verified with CFD simulations — diverts the airflow around the building rather than allowing it to impact it, reducing the maximum pressure on the facades and enabling more modest structural dimensions. The same geometry helps with solar radiation: by orienting the curved surfaces, direct exposure to the sun during the hottest hours is limited, and natural ventilation is channelled into the public spaces at the base of the towers. ### What are the solar chimney and the ventilated double-skin facade, and why are they critical for Riyadh? The ventilated double-skin facade is a façade consisting of two glazed walls separated by an air cavity. In summer, the air in the cavity heats up through radiation and rises due to the chimney effect, evacuating heat to the outside and preventing it from entering the interior spaces. The solar chimney is an extension of this principle: a large vertical duct integrated into the building’s core that heats up intensely under the sun and creates a vacuum that extracts hot air from the rooms, activating natural ventilation even at great heights. In an extreme climate such as Riyadh’s, these two passive strategies drastically reduce the load on the cooling systems – the most expensive and energy-intensive component of a tower. ### How can mashrabiyya and water basins be reinterpreted in contemporary architecture? The traditional mashrabiyya — the wooden lattice that shades the openings in homes across the Islamic world — is not merely an aesthetic feature: it filters light, accelerates the wind through the Venturi effect, and cools the air as it encounters cool surfaces inside. In BinBaz Towers, this principle has been reinterpreted as parametric textile shading with built-in water misters: the wind is slowed down and cooled by evaporation before entering the public spaces. The water basins and waterfalls — also a nod to traditional architecture — complete the system by harnessing evaporation for passive cooling, and introduce a sensory element (the sight and sound of water) that psychologically lowers the perception of heat. ### What is BCA’s role within the Bottega Aurea team? On BinBaz Towers, BCA is part of the design team coordinated by the Italian studio Bottega Aurea (Taranto). Maurizio Barberio is responsible for Digital and Parametric Design: from the aerodynamic shape of the towers to the building envelopes, from parametric shading to fluid dynamics and structural optimisation. Micaela Colella is responsible for the Interior Design of the private spaces within the residential towers. ### Can a complex housing a hotel and a hospital function as a coherent urban space? Yes, provided that the two functions are organised to serve distinct catchment areas and to share the public space in a regulated manner. In BinBaz Towers, Tower A (hotel + apartments) and Tower B (hospital) have separate entrances, distinct circulation routes and independent service blocks. The public square at the base of the complex is a shared space that functions as an open civic space: vegetation, water basins, seating. The difference in height between the two towers (160 m vs 55 m) creates a recognisable urban composition and provides mutual shade during the hours of peak sunlight. --- ## Do you have an urban-scale project or an iconic building in an extreme climate? If you are developing projects for towers, mixed-use complexes, high-end hotels or healthcare facilities in desert or tropical climates, we can support you in the Digital and Parametric Design phases (geometry, fluid dynamics optimisation, parametric shading) and in the Interior Design of representative spaces. BCA collaborates with Italian and international firms within multidisciplinary teams. **[Let’s discuss your project]** _Response within 48 hours. No obligation._ --- ## Related projects - **Urban Dunes** — Urban vault made of 3D-printed sand blocks in Abu Dhabi: the same passive cooling logic for public spaces in a desert climate (Honorable Mention, Cool Abu Dhabi Challenge). - **New Roots** — Bioclimatic residences for the “House of the Future” competition in Dubai: lama, parametric mashrabiyya, volumetric fragmentation for the Persian Gulf climate. - **Bamboo Office** — Office building with a ventilated double-skin facade in Changzhou: the same bioclimatic façade-system strategy applied to the corporate sector. _Discover our approach to Digital & Parametric Design →_