MISK Schools

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Area: 365,000 SF
Year: 2019
Role: Design Director
Team: Gensler
Awards: 2019 AIA Orange County Design Award

The overarching architectural parti of this concept is to address two major environmental challenges specific to the project’s site within Riyadh. The impact of the sun and wind on the human experience led the design team to a holistic design solution which addresses both conditions through innovative Architectural, Landscape, and Engineering strategies.

The naturally occurring formations resulting from the aeolian process of desert winds served as the starting point of a conceptual parti for the proposed design of the flagship MiSK Schools campus. Through sketching, massing and wind modelling, we arrive at land and building forms optimized to calm winds while providing opportunities to capitalize on natural ventilation strategies during optimal climactic conditions. We then introduce an overarching and site-unifying shade canopy which serves to reduce heat gain, filter and reduce the intensity of the strongest daylight conditions and provide an ideal platform for a vast photovoltaic array providing incredible energy-generation potential.