Al Khobar Waterfront is located on Amir Turki Street in the public parks of the Prime Corniche area of Al Khobar, a vibrant commercial district, surrounded by five star hotels, restaurants and shopping centers. Defining a new dimension in tourism and recreational services, it is the first mixed leisure entertainment and recreational development in the oil rich Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, providing over 1 million sq ft of mixed-use space and comprise the following components: A Shopping Center in front of a Traditional Souk , a Sports Complex , and a Marina & Club located near the waterfront.

While the project’s three components provided a unique blend of activities that appealed to a wide tar¬get audience, the challenge for KABC was to create a one-of-a-kind destination that is more than the sum of its anchors. In order to create a profitable leisure des¬tination that effectively draws patrons from a vari¬ety of overlapping markets during different hours of the day it is vital to create a synergistic interaction between all three components within a stimulating pedestrian environment. This results in the creation of a unique customer experience and establishes a sense of place that capitalized on the unique context and creates creating viable connections.

The landscape design is woven into the program and becomes a connective element that merges the three components into one memorable destination. The inspiration for the landscape design is based on the complex organizational patterns of Islamic art, which are particularly well expressed in the art forms of calligraphy and geometry. When seen from above, people will read the calligraphy as an emblem, while at ground level, the pedestrian will discover a multitude of interlinked Arabic references and meanings.