Locomotora eléctrica para el transporte del mineral

Al Nakheel was selected as part of this study because it represents a classic mall typology;

that is, a pod development that can be described as free-standing boxes cut off from their immediate urban environment. Its location, in the northern part of the city, constitutes another criterion for its selection. Moreover, the selection was based on the findings of the pilot study as it was revealed that it aims to present itself as an upscale themed mall which attracts regional as well as local customers. Al Nakheel Mall was selected on the assumption that it has increasing economic capital and symbolic value. It was also selected based on the assumption that its customers hold less conservative social values as opposed to malls located in the eastern and southern parts of the city.

Al Nakheel Mall is one of the most visited and prominent malls in Riyadh. It is situated in al Mughrizat district at the crossroads between Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road and Uthman Ibn Affan Road in a readily accessible area of the northern part of the city (fig. 2). Its dimensions and external architectural design function to visually attract oncoming car drivers, while the parking space located in the area at the junction of the main road axis offsets its curved main façade, increasing the mall’s visibility and allowing drivers passing by to contemplate its design for a longer period of time. Moreover, the mall today — including its parking space — is bordered by deserted urban lots (fig. 4).

Consequently, the open space around the mall plays a major role in increasing its visibility to oncoming traffic, an aspect which the developers have strategically exploited to increase the visual presence of the mall.

At the urban level, Al Nakheel Mall benefits significantly from being located on two principal commercial axes which cause the mall to remain coherent with its surrounding activities and architectural typologies. Furthermore, these axes provide strong links to the primary northwest-southeast commercial axis of the city and cause the mall to be in continuation with the city’s commercial spatial logic. As part of two commercial strips (fig.12) ‚ namely, Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road and Uthman Ibn Affan Road — the mall benefits from high visibility and ease of access by car (fig. 8, 9, 10). On

the other hand, pedestrian access to the mall is non-existent (fig. 11). The reason behind the lack of pedestrian access stems from the fact that the mall is located on fast traffic circulation axes that do not provide for non-vehicular circulation. As a result, the mall has been primarily designed to attract visitors travelling to and accessing the mall by car (fig. 8, 9, 10).

The external mass of the mall can be abstracted to an isosceles triangle shape, with the two equal sides each facing Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road and Uthman Ibn Affan Road consecutively, while its main curved façade faces the junction of these two roads. At the angle between the two equal sides, an elevated box signals the area of the mall that houses its second floor — in which the food court and the theme park are both located. Similarly, at the two angles between each of the equal sides and the main façade, the curve is broken first by lines parallel to the equal sides and then further by a geometrical design to reinforce the visual signal to oncoming traffic and announce the gates leading to the interior space of the mall (fig. 5). Moreover, the strong signal of the gates facilitates orientation towards and from the ample parking space surrounding the mall. The facade is marked by five gates that provide access to the mall’s interior space. The main gate is located at the central point of the curved façade facing the crucial junction of the main roads, while two gates are distributed at each end of the curved

façade, with two extra secondary gates located on each of the equal sides of the triangular mall (fig. 11). Each rectangular gate is signalled by blue panels that encircle an irregular mesh geometric design and is further divided into three rectangular blue entrances that comprise three-quarters of its width. The main gate is bordered by four screens, two on each side, while two extra screens are placed adjacent to each of the secondary gates located on the main façade (fig. 6). At the level of these screens, the external envelope of the facade is reduced by a quarter of its height, reinforcing the architectural signal of the screens — which as a result become highly visible from the main roads and function as additional signals that attract more customers to the mall. These screens display the horse logo of Arabian Centres — the owners of the mall — and occasionally display announcements such as promotional offers during the month of Ramadan.

Figure 7: Al Nakheel Mall is well-integrated at the city level as it is located on two an important commercial axis: Uthman Ibn Affan Road; and Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road which is directly linked to the city’s primary NW-SE axis (source: Author).

Imam Saud Ibn

Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road

Al Nakheel Mall Uthman Ibn

Affan Road Primary Northwest-Southeast commercial axis

(King Fahad Road + Olaya Street)

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Case Study Analysis

Figure 8: Al Nakheel Mall viewed from Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road; direction towards E.

(source: Author).

Figure 9: Al Nakheel Mall viewed from Uthman Ibn Affan Road; direction towards N. (source: Author). Figure 10: Al Nakheel Mall viewed from Imam Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz Ibn Mohammed Road; direction towards W. (source: Author).

Figure 11: Distribution of gates and parking space in Al Nakheel Mall (source: Author).

Main gate Car park Car access

Car access

Car park

Car park Car park

Car park Gate

Gate

Gate Gate

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Case Study Analysis

0

100m 100m 200m 300m 400m 500m

1:10000

Al Nakheel Mall Residential Mosque Offices Administrative

Figure 13: Distribution of gates and filtration zones in Al Nakheel Mall (source: Author).

Filtration Zone: Security checkpoints are placed in these areas to filter out undesired customers such as young men with ‘inappropriate’ haircuts.

Gate: regulated access Enclosure

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Case Study Analysis