1364 Lifestyle Center

Overview

Opportunity

Solution

Impact

Team

Located in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, 1364 Lifestyle Center sets a new benchmark for retail and lifestyle, with sculpted architecture creating exceptional experiences at every turn.

Location

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Client

Unified Real Estate Development

Expertise

[FPO] Mixed Use [FPO] Retail Centers Retail & Consumer Experience

Opportunity

As Riyadh’s population surges, mixed-use developments face a delicate balancing act: serving increasingly diverse audiences while honoring regional identity and raising the bar on sustainability.

For the 1364 Lifestyle Center, that balancing act carried real weight. Set within Riyadh’s established urban fabric, the development needed to serve a fast-growing community of young professionals, families, and visitors while moving beyond the enclosed, large-scale mall model that has long defined the region. It also had to capture the existing essence of the city while meeting rising expectations for outdoor comfort and sustainability, all on a single, highly visible site.

Why This Matters

01
Reimagining Riyadh’s Retail Experience
Rather than relying on a traditional enclosed mall typology, the project organizes a mix of uses around outdoor public spaces designed to support movement and social interaction.
02
Celebrating Local Identity
The design proves contemporary development can reinforce Riyadh's cultural heritage, blending Salmani architectural influences with modern placemaking to create a destination rooted in its context.
03
Advancing Sustainable Urbanism
1364 shows large‑scale retail can reduce reliance on energy‑intensive enclosed environments, using passive cooling, shaded public spaces, local materials, and stronger connections to nature.

FPO Quote

Solution

The design lets the land lead, with free-standing forms following the site’s natural slopes to preserve cultural identity and strengthen connections to the landscape.

The design draws inspiration from Riyadh’s landscape, with free-standing curvilinear forms shaped by water, wind, and time that follow the site’s natural slopes to minimize environmental impact and reinforce a sense of place. Salmani architectural principles guide the materiality, proportions, and relationship to the public realm, creating a contemporary expression of local identity. Native planting, including palm trees, strengthens this connection, while water features, shading elements, and landscaping provide climatic comfort. Generous outdoor spaces reduce reliance on mechanical cooling, advancing cultural authenticity and long-term environmental sustainability.

From brief to build: how a mixed-use lifestyle destination evolved into a vibrant, people-centric community hub through integrated design, placemaking, and experience-driven planning.

Building on the vision of creating a vibrant community destination, the design of 1364 Lifestyle Center balances retail, dining, entertainment, and public realm experiences within a cohesive and highly walkable environment. The strategy focused on enhancing connectivity, comfort, and flexibility while establishing a distinctive sense of place that reflects contemporary lifestyles. Through a collaborative and iterative process, the team translated the client’s ambitions into an integrated design solution, carefully coordinating planning, architecture, and user experience considerations to maximize long-term value.

Impact

By trading enclosure for open-air design, 1364 proves a cooler, more inclusive, regionally rooted lifestyle destination can adapt as Riyadh keeps growing.

Recognized as Design Middle East’s 2024 Retail Project of the Year, it signaled a regional shift toward open, climate-responsive, community-first design.

What Changed Because of This

01
Environmental Performance
Open-air courtyards and shaded, landscaped public realm reduce reliance on costly mechanical cooling, encouraging physical connection to the outdoors year-round despite Riyadh’s demanding climate.
02
Community Experience
A free-flowing courtyard opening in every direction invites diverse visitors, including families, professionals, and residents, to gather and move freely through a genuinely public destination.
03
Industry Recognition
Design Middle East's KSA Awards named 1364 the 2024 Retail Project of the Year, validating its open, regionally reflective approach to mixed-use design.

It’s a lifestyle center that captures Saudi Arabia’s breathtaking cultural shift through undulating strata landscape forms, blending heritage with an open, inclusive, and vibrant community courtyard.

Recognition

01

Gulf News

Gensler Co-Managing Director Todd Pilgreen shared insights into the future of retail destinations, emphasizing community, sustainability, and experience-driven development..

02

Design Middle East

1364 Lifestyle Center was named Retail Project of the Year at the 2024 Design Middle East Awards KSA.

03

Fact Magazine

1364 was spotlighted as a premier lifestyle destination in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, with a focus on its dining, retail, and community experience.

Team

Project Leadership

Raj Patel

Raj Patel is a registered architect whose experience across cultures shapes his design approach. He blends traditional and modern architecture to create contemporary designs that respond to their cultural and contextual settings.

[FPO] Ryan Waltke

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FAQ

01

Where is 1364 Lifestyle Center located?

It sits adjacent to the eastern gate of the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a vibrant district home to foreign diplomatic missions, residential areas, and retail.

02

Who designed the project?

Gensler served as design architect and lead consultant, drawing on its Middle East studios, global mixed-use, and retail expertise.

03

What is the design concept?

Inspired by the natural rock strata surrounding Riyadh, six free-standing, curvilinear forms shape a central pedestrian spine, evoking a landscape sculpted by wind and water.

04

What can visitors experience there?

A mix of retail, food and beverage, cinema, bowling, and workplace, arranged around an open-air courtyard with shaded seating, water features, and event spaces.

05

How does the design respond to Riyadh’s climate?

Its open, outward-facing courtyard, shading, and landscaping reduce reliance on costly mechanical cooling, encouraging visitors to connect with the outdoor environment year-round.

06

How does the project benefit the city?

It offers Riyadh an open, inclusive, regionally reflective destination that adapts to a growing, diversifying population, recognized as Design Middle East’s 2024 Retail Project of the Year.

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Related Expertise

Mixed Use Retail Centers Retail & Consumer Experience

Located in Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, 1364 Lifestyle Center sets a new benchmark for retail and lifestyle, with sculpted architecture creating exceptional experiences at every turn.

As Riyadh’s population surges, mixed-use developments face a delicate balancing act: serving increasingly diverse audiences while honoring regional identity and raising the bar on sustainability.

Why This Matters

The design lets the land lead, with free-standing forms following the site’s natural slopes to preserve cultural identity and strengthen connections to the landscape.

From brief to build: how a mixed-use lifestyle destination evolved into a vibrant, people-centric community hub through integrated design, placemaking, and experience-driven planning.

By trading enclosure for open-air design, 1364 proves a cooler, more inclusive, regionally rooted lifestyle destination can adapt as Riyadh keeps growing.

What Changed Because of This