JABAL AL KA'ABA

Located adjacent to the Grand Mosque in Makkah, the most important Islamic religious site, this 5,500 key, five-star hotel is planned as an expansion to an existing 1,800 key hotel. The hotel is designed to comfortably accommodate nearly 30,000 guests – the highest occupancy of any hotel in the world – during annual Hajj and Ramadan pilgrimages.

The five new towers feature striking massing, shaping outdoor public areas while splaying outward in a dramatic east-west orientation. They are joined by contiguous lower podium levels featuring grand lobbies, a wide variety of restaurants and prayer halls all planned around picturesque and beautifully landscaped terraces. The contemporary design is inspired by Islamic and Moorish traditions as found throughout the region and particularly as reflected in Andalusian and local Hijazi architecture. This influence is carried across the project informing the landscape design, architectural elements and interior design with traditional forms, patterns and materials.