Design Partners — Kohn Pedersen Fox, AECOM, and Jacobs at The Mukaab

Design Partners: The Firms Building The Mukaab

The Mukaab and New Murabba’s design leadership represents the highest tier of global architecture and engineering capability. Announced at the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, the key partnerships bring decades of experience in mega-scale development to what would be the world’s largest building. The selection of these firms reflects both the technical demands of an unprecedented structure and the credibility requirements of a project seeking to attract international residential buyers, branded residence partners, and hospitality operators.

Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF): Masterplan Architect for Residential Communities

KPF, the global architecture firm headquartered in New York with offices in London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Abu Dhabi, leads the early design stages for the first residential community within New Murabba. Founded in 1976 by A. Eugene Kohn, William Pedersen, and Sheldon Fox, KPF has grown into one of the world’s most accomplished architecture practices, with a portfolio that spans supertall towers, mixed-use districts, cultural institutions, and urban masterplans across six continents.

KPF’s relevance to New Murabba extends beyond brand prestige. The firm’s portfolio includes several of the world’s most significant tall buildings and mixed-use developments that directly inform the challenges and opportunities of Mukaab-district residential design:

Shanghai World Financial Center (492m, 2008): KPF’s design for this iconic Shanghai tower demonstrated the firm’s ability to integrate commercial, hotel, and observation functions within a single supertall structure — a multi-use vertical integration challenge directly relevant to The Mukaab’s residential programming.

International Commerce Centre (484m, Hong Kong, 2010): Located above Kowloon Station, this tower showcases KPF’s expertise in transit-oriented development — connecting tall buildings to transportation infrastructure in the way that New Murabba must connect to the Riyadh Metro.

One Vanderbilt (427m, New York, 2020): Adjacent to Grand Central Terminal in midtown Manhattan, One Vanderbilt demonstrates KPF’s ability to create landmark office towers that respect and enhance their urban context. The firm’s approach to contextual design — creating buildings that acknowledge their surroundings while establishing a distinctive identity — directly informs their approach to the Najdi architectural language at New Murabba.

Lotte World Tower (555m, Seoul, 2017): South Korea’s tallest building, designed by KPF as a mixed-use development combining retail, hotel, offices, and residences. The tower’s residential component provides KPF with direct experience in designing luxury homes within super-scale structures — experience directly transferable to the Mukaab residential program.

Hudson Yards (New York, ongoing): While not a KPF project in its entirety, KPF designed several components of this $25 billion mixed-use development in Manhattan. The firm’s involvement in New York’s largest private development provides perspective on the urban planning, infrastructure integration, and residential delivery challenges that mega-developments present.

For New Murabba, KPF’s role focuses on the first residential community — the Phase 1 neighborhood targeted for delivery by Expo 2030. This community, surrounding The Mukaab but architecturally distinct from the cube itself, must establish a domestic architectural character appropriate for family homes, apartments, and district villas while maintaining visual coherence with the Najdi-inspired design language of the broader development. KPF’s demonstrated ability to create contextually sensitive architecture that draws on local traditions while deploying contemporary design techniques positions the firm to bridge the heritage-to-modernity gap that the Salmani architectural movement demands.

The significance of KPF’s involvement for prospective residential buyers is substantial. KPF-designed residences carry a quality assurance premium based on the firm’s track record of delivering architecturally distinguished, structurally sound, and commercially successful developments. In markets such as New York, Hong Kong, and London, KPF involvement in a residential project signals premium design quality to sophisticated buyers and their advisors.

AECOM: Infrastructure and Engineering at Global Scale

AECOM, appointed alongside Jacobs as Lead Design Consultant for the Mukaab District, brings global infrastructure and mega-project expertise to the engineering challenges of building the world’s largest structure. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, AECOM is one of the world’s largest infrastructure consulting firms, with approximately 50,000 employees operating across 150 countries. The firm’s annual revenue exceeds $14 billion, reflecting the scale of engineering mandates it executes globally.

AECOM’s relevance to The Mukaab derives from its extensive portfolio of projects at scales that approach (though none match) the ambition of the 400-meter cube:

London 2012 Olympics: AECOM served as the design and project management partner for the Olympic Park, delivering the masterplan, venues, and infrastructure for the games on time and within budget. The Olympics required integrating multiple building types — stadia, aquatics centers, athlete villages, transport hubs — within a constrained timeline and under intense public scrutiny. This experience in large-scale, deadline-driven, mixed-use delivery directly informs AECOM’s approach to New Murabba’s phased timeline targeting Expo 2030.

Hong Kong International Airport Expansion: AECOM’s involvement in one of Asia’s largest infrastructure projects demonstrates capability in managing complex construction in challenging geological and logistical conditions — conditions that parallel the Riyadh excavation campaign requiring removal of over 10 million cubic meters of earth.

Saudi Vision 2030 Projects: AECOM has active engagements across multiple Saudi giga-projects, providing the firm with deep familiarity with the regulatory environment, construction supply chains, labor markets, and client expectations specific to the Kingdom. This Saudi-specific experience reduces execution risk compared to firms new to the Saudi market.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai Infrastructure: AECOM’s extensive portfolio across the UAE, including involvement in major developments in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, provides experience with the Gulf region’s climate challenges, construction practices, and luxury real estate standards — all directly applicable to The Mukaab.

At The Mukaab, AECOM’s responsibilities encompass structural engineering oversight for the four-corner-anchor structural system, smart building technology integration across two million square meters of floor space, sustainability engineering targeting LEED Gold and WELL Building Standard certifications, district infrastructure design supporting the fifteen-minute city concept, and coordination of the building’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems at a scale that no single building has attempted.

Jacobs: Complex Systems Engineering and Technology Integration

Jacobs, appointed alongside AECOM as Lead Design Consultant for the Mukaab District, brings engineering expertise in complex structural systems, sustainability engineering, and smart building technology integration. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Jacobs employs approximately 60,000 people across 40 countries, with annual revenue exceeding $16 billion. The firm’s portfolio spans critical infrastructure, defense, technology, environmental services, and advanced engineering — providing the technical depth required for a structure of The Mukaab’s unprecedented complexity.

Jacobs’ engineering capabilities relevant to The Mukaab include:

Complex Structural Systems: Jacobs’ experience in engineering structures that must withstand extreme loads — from bridges and tunnels to defense installations and nuclear facilities — provides the analytical framework for addressing The Mukaab’s load-bearing challenges. The four-corner-anchor system, managing dead loads and wind forces at scales exceeding any existing building, requires structural engineering at the frontier of the discipline.

Smart Building Technology: Jacobs’ technology practice includes experience in designing and integrating intelligent building management systems, IoT networks, digital twin platforms, and AI-driven operational systems. At The Mukaab, these capabilities support the smart building technology infrastructure — the AI-managed climate control, the building-wide sensor network, the digital twin management platform, and the connectivity systems serving thousands of residential units.

Sustainability Engineering: Jacobs’ environmental engineering practice informs the sustainability strategy targeting net zero operations by 2060. The firm’s experience in renewable energy integration, water management, waste systems, and green building certification supports The Mukaab’s pursuit of LEED Gold, Estidama, and WELL Building Standard certifications.

Immersive Technology Integration: The holographic dome, VR screens on exterior walls, and augmented reality systems that define The Mukaab’s immersive experience require engineering integration at the intersection of construction, technology, and entertainment. Jacobs’ technology practice provides the systems engineering capability to integrate these technologies into a building’s structural and MEP systems.

The Partnership Synergy: How These Firms Work Together

The combination of KPF’s architectural vision, AECOM’s infrastructure engineering, and Jacobs’ complex systems expertise creates a triangulated design capability that addresses The Mukaab’s three fundamental challenges: creating architecture that is culturally resonant and aesthetically compelling (KPF), engineering a structure that is physically possible and operationally manageable (AECOM), and integrating the technology systems that deliver the immersive living experience (Jacobs).

This triangulated approach mirrors the design team structures used on other globally significant projects. The Burj Khalifa, for example, required the collaboration of architect Adrian Smith (then of SOM), structural engineer Bill Baker, and MEP consultant Hyder Consulting to address the tower’s architectural, structural, and systems challenges respectively. The Mukaab’s challenges are categorically greater — a cube rather than a tower, two million square meters rather than 300,000 — and require design partners of corresponding capability.

Implications for Residential Value

For prospective residential buyers and investors, the quality of the design partnership has direct implications for property value. In global luxury real estate markets, architect and design firm reputation contributes measurably to pricing. KPF-designed residences in New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul command premiums over comparable buildings by less-recognized firms. AECOM and Jacobs’ involvement as lead consultants provides engineering credibility that supports buyer confidence in structural integrity, building performance, and long-term operational quality.

The design partnership also affects the branded residence program. Luxury hospitality brands — whether from automotive, fashion, jewellery, or wellness categories — evaluate the architectural and engineering credentials of developments before committing their brand names to residential products. The presence of KPF, AECOM, and Jacobs as design partners significantly strengthens New Murabba Development Company’s position in branded partnership negotiations.

Risk Factors in the Design Partnership

While the caliber of the design team is exceptional, several risk factors warrant consideration. First, projects of this duration — potentially spanning 15 to 20 years from announcement to completion — may experience turnover in key design personnel. The architects and engineers who conceptualized the original design may not be the same individuals overseeing later phases of construction. Institutional design consistency depends on the firms’ quality management systems rather than individual continuity.

Second, the unprecedented scale of The Mukaab means that design solutions must be developed and tested as the project progresses — the design is not fully resolved at the outset but evolves through detailed engineering analysis, prototype testing, and construction-phase adaptation. This iterative process is standard for complex buildings but introduces the possibility that design modifications during construction could alter specifications from those published during the marketing phase.

Third, the January 2026 construction suspension creates a hiatus in design development. While AECOM and Jacobs continue to develop detailed engineering solutions for the district infrastructure, the above-ground engineering for The Mukaab cube is effectively paused. When construction resumes, the design team will need to re-engage with the engineering challenges, potentially incorporating new technologies, materials, or code requirements that have emerged during the hiatus period.

Fourth, the coordination between three major firms — KPF, AECOM, and Jacobs — operating across different time zones with different organizational cultures requires robust project management infrastructure. New Murabba Development Company’s ability to manage this multi-firm design process effectively is a critical success factor that depends on the developer’s own organizational capability rather than on the design firms’ individual excellence.

Despite these risks, the fundamental conclusion remains: the design partnership assembled for The Mukaab and New Murabba represents the highest tier of global capability, providing prospective buyers with credible assurance of design and engineering quality. No private developer assembling a design team from scratch could attract firms of this caliber without the sovereign credibility and project ambition that PIF provides. The design partnership is, in itself, a form of quality assurance that supports premium pricing and buyer confidence across all residential typologies — from smart studios to sky villas, and across both Mukaab-interior and surrounding district locations.

For the construction progress under these teams’ guidance, see our progress section. For investment implications of design quality, see our Investment vertical.