One of the top medical institutions in the Middle East, the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is adding 176,515 square meters of medical space and 167,225 sq m of landscaped underground parking. A central challenge to the job is to keep the buildings cool in the hot desert climate.
Desert construction is no walk in the park. Riyadh's temperatures can range from -2° C in winter to 44° C in summer. Warm weather lasts from May 14 to September 27, with an average daily high temperature above 38° C. Within a city of seven million people, the campus is located near Riyadh's urban core.