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| Jeddah 'Wellness' project reaches key milestone  The Atkins-designed Prince Sultan Cultural Centre, a large-scale mixed-use masterplanning project which will provide housing for 15,000 people in Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has been officially inaugurated, marking an important milestone in its ongoing development.Located in Obhur, north of Jeddah City, the masterplan for the project has been designed to stimulate 'social wellness', encouraging involvement from the whole community to promote physical and mental wellbeing. From any location within the development people will be less than a five minute walk from green open space. Atkins' design director, Janus Rostock, said: "We've developed a set of criteria to assess the plan against our 'wellness concept' and every element within the masterplan has to meet these. What we end up with is a city within the city of Jeddah – a fully self-sustaining mixed-use development which supports a vibrant community and healthy, active lifestyles. "This represents a step change in how mixed-use masterplans are designed in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and beyond. Our client has a very clear and determined vision of what they want to achieve and the result will be an exemplar project for the whole region." Atkins' masterplan incorporates all the components needed for a strong community: residential, culture, healthcare, education, retail, commercial offices, exhibition and hospitality space and an integrated public realm network. At the centre will be a stunning cultural centre which celebrates Arabia past, present and future. Construction of the project is set to begin later this year. As well as the inauguration, which was led by Prince Khalid Al-Faisal, the Saudi minister of education and Prince Mishaal bin Abdullah, the new Governor of Makkah Province, the centre also received the Commercial and Mixed-Use Award at the Cityscape Jeddah Awards this week. The awards are the leading real estate event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and highlight iconic architecture and innovative development. write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Construction News :: home page |