KFUPM
SMART VILLAS
CLIENT
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM)
PROJECT LOCATION
Dhahran, KSA
PROJECT TYPE
Residential
SERVICES PROVIDED
Multi-discipline design engineering services, Rendering and animation
King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals appointed HCO to provide comprehensive design services for a housing development of approximately 200 villas using pre-fabricated construction techniques, together with an iconic community mosque and public space. The development is the university’s long-term housing stock, so the brief looked past delivery to how the campus community would use it for decades.
During the pre-concept and masterplanning stage, an urban plan was envisioned that would encourage interaction between residents, with widened pavements, landscaped cross-walks, a jogging path and dedicated spaces for people to gather. The mosque and public space anchor that plan, giving the development a civic centre rather than a collection of plots.
The site’s defining constraint was that it was already occupied. This being a current residential site with occupants present, the greatest challenge was to strategise the proposals for development in phases, meeting the client’s logistical plan while keeping existing residents housed throughout. Pre-fabricated construction supports that, because shorter and more predictable on-site periods reduce the disruption each phase imposes on the people living around it.
The project’s other distinguishing feature is the integration of smart technology throughout, as the university looks to futureproof its assets. It is a decision that treats the housing stock as long-term infrastructure rather than a one-off build.
HCO to confirm: construction status and the phasing programme to date, the site area and total built-up area, and what the smart technology integration comprises at a level we can publish.
Villas
Community mosque
Architecture - Engineering - Project Management
