Work / Retail & Mixed-Use
Thumama Shopping Mall
A low-rise, open-format retail and mixed-use complex proposed for Riyadh, organised around a landscaped outdoor plaza with a warm, pedestrian-scaled character.
- Location
- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- Our role
- Conceptual design
- Plot area
- 64,842 m²
- Built-up area
- 29,600 m²
- Status
- concept
About this project
The concept arranges retail, restaurant, and office uses in a series of two-storey pavilion blocks that frame a generous central plaza. Cantilevered canopies with dark soffits and warm timber-toned vertical cladding give the façades a measured visual weight, while ground-floor glazing keeps the boundary between interior and plaza legible. A circular covered gathering structure at the heart of the scheme anchors pedestrian movement across the 29,600 m² built area.
The outdoor plaza is designed as the primary social space, shaded by mature palms, timber pergola structures, and a field of large striped umbrellas that collectively mediate Riyadh's intense sun load without enclosing the space. The approach treats shade as architectural infrastructure rather than afterthought — a considered response to the city's arid climate and the cultural preference for outdoor evening activity during cooler months.
Pioneer Landmarks contributed the conceptual design across the full 64,842 m² plot, defining massing, programme distribution, façade language, and landscape strategy. The scheme proposes a mixed-use typology that extends beyond conventional mall formats, integrating office accommodation above the retail ground plane and positioning the project as a neighbourhood-scale destination rather than a single-tenant anchor.
Every view
More in Retail & Mixed-Use
Considering a project like this?
Start a conversation