King Abdullah Financial District

new development under construction in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) is being built in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It will have the Saudi Stock Exchange and Capital Market Authority. The KAFD will be an important financial center in the Middle East.[1] However, KAFD will not only be a financial center. It will have areas where people live, offices, and educational and recreational facilities. The King Abdullah Financial District is estimated to be worth about $7.8 billion (US). [2]

Under construction in 2012

Facilities and attractions change

There will be multiple educational and recreational attractions for residents and visitors of all ages in The KAFD. KAFD will feature museums, exhibitions, malls, hotels, restaurants, conference centers and auditoriums. Such as, the Aquarium, the Conference Center, the Built Environment Museum, the Earth's Climate Center, the Science Museum, the Relaxation Health Club, and the Interactive Children's Museum.[3] Also, there will be seven uniquely designed mosques spread throughout the KAFD.[4] Also, every building will have footbridges that will connect one building to another. That will make traveling through buildings easy.[5] Further, the monorail train that will travel through the whole district.[6]

Space and capacity change

The King Abdullah Financial District will span an area of 1.6 million square meters that consists of 34 towers in total. The KAFD will cover over 3 million square meters of space for different purposes such as residential, parking, and office spaces. KAFD will house 12,000 residents and in addition, it will have 62,000 parking spaces.[7]

Banks and headquarters change

The King Abdullah Financial District will have the headquarters of the Capital Market Authority (CMA) and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadwul).[8] Added to that, the KAFD will also accommodate a financial academy, and a number of banks, companies and other financial institutions.[1]

Architecture and design change

Bombardier Inc has been given a SR904- million ($241-million) contract to build a monorail system for the King Abdullah Financial District.[9] KAFD’s architecture is designed and is being supervised by Henning Larsen Architects.[10] Moreover, Zaha Hadid Architects will design the KAFD’s metro station.[11]

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 “King Abdullah Financial District Hotel, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia” Archived 2016-07-05 at the Wayback Machine, Hotelmanagement-network.com, accessed October 5, 2014
  2. “KAFD projects left hanging due to manpower shortage”, Rodolfo Estimo, ArabNews, July 23, 2014, accessed October 2, 2014
  3. ”Attraction Zones” Archived 2014-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, KAFD.com.sa, accessed October 4, 2014
  4. “Mosques” Archived 2014-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, KAFD.com.sa, accessed October 4, 2014
  5. “Footbridges” Archived 2014-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, KAFD.com.sa, accessed October 4, 2014
  6. “Monorail” Archived 2014-04-04 at the Wayback Machine, KAFD.com.sa, accessed October 4, 2014
  7. “KAFD projects left hanging due to manpower shortage”, Estimo, ArabNews
  8. “Riyadh King Abdullah Financial District”, Meed, accessed October 5, 2014
  9. “Bombardier wins Saudi deal”, TheStar, May 31, 2010, accessed September 28, 2014
  10. “King Abdullah Financial District” Archived 2014-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, Henninglarsen, accessed September 30, 2014
  11. “King Abdullah Financial District Metro Station by Zaha Hadid Architects” Archived 2013-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, Miguel Rus, ILikeArchitecture, accessed October 1, 2014