The Eyrie
AlUla, Hegra
2021-
Won in international competition, The Eyrie serves as visitors’ lodgings for the UNESCO World Heritage site AlUla.
The project site is one of the thousands of red sandstone mountains adjacent Hegra. Rather than crowd the feet of the mountain, the lodgings are instead perched in the saddle of the mountain’s shoulders, partially carved into its edge. At this concealed vantage point the expansive views across the landscape are extraordinary, and the primacy of the mountain is respected. This approach controls what is hidden and what is revealed, and seeks to develop a dialogue with the rock, both as a mass form and a material surface.
The plan is arranged such that different rooms open to the varying elevations of the mountain. It is a two-storey structure with living and accommodation on the lower level and a large, communal roof terrace on the upper level. Circulation is via “scoops” in the sandstone, with direct access to ground via a stair and elevator. In one part of the project is a bathing grotto, carved as an organic void form from the rock interior. An oculus at the top admits light which filters down to an ethereal series of shallow bathing pools in the floor.
The design takes advantage of the temperature modulation offered by the thermal mass of the sandstone mountain and the exposed concrete superstructure. Ground floor and roof slabs are supported by 250mm diameter concrete columns at the perimeter and distributed in the interior. The concrete structure is braced laterally by the sandstone.
The Royal Commission for AlUla
Malcom Reading Consultants
Besley & Spresser
Make ModelsClient
Competition
Architecture
Model and Photography