Solitaire, known as the jewel of Riyadh, is a 65,000m2 retail mall, made up of a number of pavilions.

The design lead by the international architects Benoy, encompasses two basements, ground floor and first floor retail spaces. The modern design allows for internal areas to be extended to the plot boundary and use of a fully developed boulevard plaza space.

WME was appointed for full engineering delivery of the project.

Challenges within the utility network were negotiating with the authorities on diversities and back up requirements which are very onerous in the region and would lead to huge space and cost implications that may have made the project unviable without a full understanding and logic. The proposed structural design of the primary structure consists of in-situ reinforced concrete columns supporting concrete slabs. Long span steel trusses are provided in the family entertainment area where column-free areas up to 30m are required.

One of the main architectural features is the external canopy that spans up to 40m over the external plaza, rooftop garden and food and beverage areas. The canopy is a lightweight steel space frame structure supporting an Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) fabric. The canopy is supported on the retail building blocks either side of the plaza with additional feature “tree columns’ located in the central plaza.