meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

Diriyah awards multibillion-riyal opera house deal

9 April 2025

 

Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

Saudi gigaproject developer Diriyah Company has awarded an estimated SR5bn ($1.3bn) construction deal to build the Royal Diriyah Opera House project in Diriyah.

The contract has been awarded to the joint venture of local firm El-Seif Engineering & Contracting, Beijing headquartered China State Construction Engineering Corporation and Qatari firm Midmac Contracting.

The opera house will be built by Diriyah Company and operated by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City.

In March, MEED exclusively reported that Diriyah Company was preparing to award the contract, with the deal likely to be finalised by the end of March.

The project will cover an area of 46,000 square metres and include four venues: a 2,000-seater opera theatre, a 450-seater adaptable theatre, a 450-seater multipurpose theatre and a 450-seater rooftop amphitheatre.

The development also includes spaces for a services pavilion and retail facilities.

The scheme is part of the second phase of the Diriyah Gate project and is expected to be completed by 2028.

The developer launched the project during Diriyah Company’s Bashayer 2023 event.

In August last year, MEED exclusively reported that the architects had completed the design development work for the Royal Diriyah Opera House project.

Oslo-headquartered firm Snohetta leads the project's architectural design.

Other firms supporting the development of the project include UK-based firms Plan A Consultants, Arup, Buro Happold, Tricon, Spec Studio and Fractal Landscape; US-based JLL; Germany-headquartered Schlaich Bergermann Partner and Transsolar; UAE-based Penguin Cube and Evergreen Adcon; and Saudi Arabia's Syn Architects, Saudi Diyar and Maha Mullah.

Diriyah gigaproject

The Diriyah masterplan envisages the city as a cultural and lifestyle tourism destination. Located northwest of Riyadh’s city centre, it will cover 14 square kilometres and combine 300 years of history, culture and heritage with hospitality facilities.

The company awarded several significant contracts last year, including three contracts worth over SR21bn ($5.5bn). These included an estimated $2bn contract awarded to a joint venture of El-Seif Engineering & Contracting and China State to build the North Cultural District.

In late July, Diriyah also awarded a $2.1bn package to a joint venture of local contractor Albawani and Qatar’s Urbacon to construct assets in the Wadi Safar district of the gigaproject.

In December, MEED reported that Diriyah Company had awarded an estimated SR5.8bn ($1.5bn) contract to local firm Nesma & Partners for its Jabal Al-Qurain Avenue cultural district, located in the northern district of the Diriyah Gate project.

Once complete, Diriyah will have the capacity to house 100,000 residents and visitors.

GlobalData expects the Saudi construction industry to record an annual average growth rate of 5.2% in 2025-28, supported by investments in transport, electricity, housing and tourism infrastructure projects, as well as the $850bn-plus gigaprojects programme.

The infrastructure construction sector was expected to grow by 5.2% in 2024 before registering an average annual growth rate of 6% in 2025-28, supported by government investments in rail, dams and road infrastructure projects.

Hear directly from the gigaproject owners at the biggest construction event—The Saudi Giga Projects 2025 Summit, happening in Riyadh from 12-14 May 2025. Click here to know more

MEED’s April 2025 report on Saudi Arabia includes:

> GOVERNMENT: Riyadh takes the diplomatic initiative
> ECONOMY: Saudi Arabia’s non-oil economy forges onward
> BANKING: Saudi banks work to keep pace with credit expansion
> UPSTREAM: Saudi oil and gas spending to surpass 2024 level
> DOWNSTREAM: Aramco’s recalibrated chemical goals reflect realism
> POWER: Saudi power sector enters busiest year
> WATER: Saudi water contracts set another annual record
> CONSTRUCTION: Reprioritisation underpins Saudi construction
> TRANSPORT: Riyadh pushes ahead with infrastructure development
> DATABANK: Saudi Arabia’s growth trend heads up

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/13648901/main.jpeg
Yasir Iqbal

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Riyadh tenders Al-Zulfi passenger railway station

    22 October 2025

    Saudi Arabia Railways (SAR) has tendered a design-and-build contract for the construction of a passenger railway station in the Zulfi governorate, located 260 kilometres northwest of Riyadh.

    The station in Al-Zulfi will serve SAR’s North Railway line.

    According to the tender notice published on SAR’s website, the scope includes the construction of the station building, firefighting facilities, track works, signalling and telecommunication systems, utilities, access roads, parking, landscaping and other associated works.

    SAR has set 4 December as the deadline for firms to submit their bids.

    The passenger section of the North Railway – formerly known as the North-South Railway – extends over 1,250 kilometres.

    The line originates in Riyadh and runs northwest to Al-Haditha, near the Jordanian border, passing through Majmaah, Qassim, Hail, Jouf and Qurayyat.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14921216/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Procurement begins for $372m Rixos Alkhobar resort

    22 October 2025

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Arabia’s Tourism Development Fund and US-based investment firm FTG International Group have invited companies to prequalify for a contract to develop a mixed-use resort at Half Moon Beach in Alkhobar, in the kingdom’s Eastern Region.

    “The prequalification process is ongoing and the project is likely to be tendered in a few weeks,” sources close to the project told MEED.

    The estimated SR1.4bn ($372m) project will cover an area of approximately 262,000 square metres.

    It will comprise 400 hotel units and 41 residential villas.

    The resort will operate under the Rixos brand and be fully managed by French hospitality firm Accor.

    UK-based analytics firm GlobalData expects Saudi Arabia’s construction industry to grow by 4% in real terms in 2025, driven by investments in housing, energy and transport infrastructure.

    The commercial construction sector is projected to grow by 3.7% in real terms in 2025 and maintain an average annual growth rate of 3.7% from 2026 to 2029. This is supported by Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, which aims to attract 150 million tourists annually and add 320,000 hotel rooms by 2030.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14920903/main.png
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi Arabia plans Mecca transit-oriented development

    22 October 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Saudi Railway Company (SAR) has signed an agreement with local investment firm Riyad Capital to establish a real estate fund to develop a mixed-use, transit-oriented project in Mecca.

    The project will span more than 90,000 square metres in the Al-Rusifah district, near the Haramain high-speed railway station in Mecca.

    The development is estimated to cost more than SR6bn ($1.6bn).

    Riyad Capital operates through four business lines: asset and wealth management, brokerage, corporate investment banking and securities services.

    In an official statement, the company said its real-estate portfolio spans three continents and is valued at more than $6bn.

    UK-based analytics firm GlobalData expects Saudi Arabia's construction industry to grow by 4% in real terms in 2025, supported by investments in the housing, energy and transport infrastructure sectors.

    The commercial sector is estimated to grow by 3.7% in real terms in 2025 and to register an average annual growth of 3.7% from 2026 to 2029, supported by the government’s Vision 2030 plan. Under that plan, the government aims to attract 150 million tourists annually and add 320,000 hotel rooms by 2030.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14920539/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Petrojet consortium wins $1.1bn oil contract in Algeria

    22 October 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    A consortium of Egypt’s Petrojet and Italy’s Arkad has been awarded a $1.087bn contract for the second phase of the Hassi Bir Rekaiz oil field development project in Algeria.

    The consortium is led by Petrojet and the client is Groupement HBR, a joint venture of Algeria’s national oil and gas company Sonatrach and Thailand’s PTTEP.

    The scope of work includes the construction of a central processing facility with a capacity of 31,500 barrels a day (b/d), along with associated facilities and pipeline networks extending over 217 kilometres.

    It also includes the construction of a power distribution station and storage tanks.

    In a statement, Petrojet said: “This award represents a significant step forward in strengthening Petrojet’s presence in the Algerian market and reaffirms its position as a leading regional [engineering, procurement and construction] EPC contractor delivering integrated, world-class energy projects.”

    Groupement HBR, which operates the Hassi Bir Rekaiz oil and gas concession, tendered the design contract for the second phase of the field development project in August 2023.

    HBR started production from phase one of the project in June 2022.

    China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation executed EPC work on the first phase of the field development project. The contract was signed in 2020, with a value of $116m.

    The production target for phase one was 13,000 b/d of oil.

    The project site, in the eastern part of Algeria, contains blocks 443a, 424a, 414ext and 415ext.

    PTTEP and its partners found oil and gas in 10 out of 11 exploration wells drilled in the 1,916-square-kilometre area between 2013 and 2016.

    Algeria oil and gas sector

    Project activity in Algeria’s energy, industrial and manufacturing sectors is steadily building as the country focuses on a vertically integrated strategy that leverages the exploitation of its natural resources.

    In July, Sonatrach and Italian energy company Eni signed a production-sharing hydrocarbons contract estimated to be worth $1.35bn.

    The contract covers the exploration and exploitation of the Zemoul El-Kebir concession area, located in the Berkine Basin, approximately 300km east of Hassi Messaoud.

    The deal with Eni is the latest of several high-profile agreements that Sonatrach has announced with international oil and gas companies.

    In June, Algeria awarded five out of the six oil and gas exploration licences it offered during its 2024 bidding round, a move viewed as a success by stakeholders in the country’s energy sector.

    The companies that were awarded blocks included France’s TotalEnergies, state-owned QatarEnergy, Eni and PTTEP.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14920390/main3739.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Contractors prepare Riyadh Expo infrastructure bids

    21 October 2025

     

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Sixteen firms have been invited to bid for the contract to undertake the initial infrastructure works at the Expo 2030 Riyadh site.

    Saudi Arabia’s Expo 2030 Riyadh Company (ERC), tasked with delivering the Expo 2030 Riyadh venue, floated the tender for the project’s initial infrastructure works in September, as MEED reported.

    The firms invited to bid include:

    • Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting (local)
    • Hassan Allam Construction (Egypt)
    • El-Seif Engineering Contracting (local)
    • Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting (local)
    • Kolin Construction (Turkiye)
    • Al-Yamama Trading & Contracting Company (local)
    • Saudi Pan Kingdom (local)
    • Unimac (local)
    • Mapa Insaat (Turkiye)
    • Yuksel Insaat (Turkiye)
    • IC Ictas / Al-Rashid Trading & Contracting (Turkiye/local)
    • Mota-Engil / Albawani (Portugal/local)
    • Almabani / FCC Construction (local/Spain)

    The overall infrastructure works – covering the construction of main utilities and civil works at Expo 2030 Riyadh – will be split into three packages:

    • Lot 1 covers the main utilities corridor
    • Lot 2 includes the northern cluster of the nature corridor
    • Lot 3 comprises the southern cluster of the nature corridor

    ERC issued the tender for infrastructure package Lot 1 on 21 September and has set deadlines of 26 October and 9 November for submission of technical and commercial bids, respectively.

    ERC is expected to award the contract for the Riyadh Expo infrastructure package in December.

    MEED previously reported that ERC was expected to issue the tender for some of the infrastructure packages in September.

    In July, US-based engineering firm Bechtel Corporation announced it had won the project management consultancy deal for the delivery of the Expo 2030 Riyadh masterplan construction works.

    The masterplan encompasses an area of 6 square kilometres, making it one of the largest sites designated for a World Expo event. Situated to the north of the Saudi capital, the site will be located near the future King Salman International airport, providing direct access to various landmarks within Riyadh.

    Countries participating in Expo 2030 Riyadh will have the option to construct permanent pavilions. This initiative is expected to create opportunities for business and investment growth in the region.

    The expo is forecast to attract more than 40 million visitors.

    The Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth vehicle, launched ERC in June as a wholly owned subsidiary to build and operate facilities for Expo 2030.

    In a statement, the PIF said: “During its construction phases, Expo 2030 Riyadh and its legacy are projected to contribute around $64bn to Saudi GDP and generate approximately 171,000 direct and indirect jobs. Once operational, it is expected to contribute approximately $5.6bn to GDP.”

    READ THE OCTOBER 2025 MEED BUSINESS REVIEW – click here to view PDF

    Private sector takes on expanded role; Riyadh shifts towards strategic expenditure; MEED’s 2025 power developer ranking

    Distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the October 2025 edition of MEED Business Review includes:

    > AGENDA 1: A new dawn for PPPs
    To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click here
    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14912102/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal