The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind the world’s most ambitious regenerative tourism project, has awarded the contract for the final designs of the Coastal Village community centre within its ambitious Red Sea Project, to a Saudi joint venture of Talal Kurdi Consultants (TKC) and Focal Building Solutions (FBS).

The contract was awarded after a competitive tendering process, which saw  other Saudi boutique architectural firms including Clear Studios, M3N Design + Architecture, and M Suqer & M Albahkali Engineering Consulting Company on the shortlist, demonstrating the strong interest from the Saudi private sector to be a part of key Vision 2030 projects.

The state-of-the-art community centre was designed by Naif Alghanamm from King Saud University, the winner of TRSDC’s Ecotecture Design Competition.  As part of its efforts to engage young talent from within the kingdom, TRSDC had invited Saudi’s brightest architecture students to submit designs for the centre. The Ecotecture Design Competition received over 600 entries.

Coastal Village

The selection of the Saudi JV showcases TRSDC’s commitment to supporting local businesses and strengthening the Saudi economy, says a top official.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with TKC and FBS on this venture. The Coastal Village is a central hub for employees to live, work and relax and the community centre will be an integral part of providing a vibrant neighbourhood for residents, their family members and visitors,” remarks its CEO John Pagano. “We were impressed by the high quality of the offered tender which showed a profound understanding of the local culture and met TRSDC’s exacting standards, particularly in the area of sustainability.”

TKC Executive Director Tarek Talal Kurdi says: “TRSDC’s high standards encouraged and motivated us to showcase the advanced abilities that we as a Saudi firm possess. Following TRSDC’s vision and utilising our passion for design and innovation, we believe that this project will introduce a new inspiring visual, physical and lifestyle experience.”

FBS Founder and General Manager of FBS also comments: “This project is very special to us as it falls in the western region along the Red Sea Coast where our head office is located. We feel proud to be part of the development happening in this part of Saudi Arabia, where we have a deep understanding of the culture and the hidden treasures located there.”

Meanwhile, TRSDC has become the first asset owner in the world to achieve the prestigious BIM Project Kitemark for its digital project delivery and adoption of building information modelling (BIM) aligned to ISO19650.

 ISO 19650, awarded by the British Standards Institution (BSI), is the series of international standards for the effective management of information throughout the delivery and operational phase of construction.

TRSDC says it has been awarded the BIM Project Kitemark for its excellence in information management, which enables the company to embed best practice throughout its organisation.

 “This certification is a remarkable achievement and demonstrates how serious we are about setting new standards throughout the design, construction and operations of our destinations,” states Pagano. “This way of working is an increasingly important part of the global design and construction marketplace, and we look forward to sharing our knowledge with other projects around the world.”

 BSI, the business improvement company which produces technical standards on a wide range of services and supplies certification and standards-related services to businesses, conducted a thorough audit on TRSDC’s approach to digital project delivery.

 Susan Taylor Martin, the Chief Executive at BSI, says: “We are delighted to have worked with TRSDC on its adoption of international standards and specifically it’s market-leading BIM implementation. This key achievement represents an important milestone as the world’s first BIM Project Kitemark to be achieved by an asset owner.”

 TRSDC has used BIM since the inception of the company in 2018, and has been developing its digital project delivery services ever since.

Upon completion in 2030, The Red Sea Project will comprise 50 resorts, offering up to 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites. The destination will also include luxury marinas, golf courses, entertainment and leisure facilities (see also Real Estate, Page 75).