Building work on the project – which was backed by crown prince Mohammed bin Salman and his stalling Saudi 2030 redevelopment drive to diversify the oil rich Middle East kingdom – began in October 2023, eight months after the AJ revealed AtkinsRéalis’s (then Atkins) role on the major project.

AtkinsRéalis was originally named masterplanner and winner of an international architecture competition to design a new downtown district for Saudi Arabia’s capital. However, last November AECOM and engineering and consultancy giant Jacobs were appointed to deliver detailed design for the scheme.

But, just two months later, construction of the planned 2 million m2 tower has been halted, Reuters reported on Tuesday (27 January), citing sources close to with the project. The same report said ‘work beyond soil excavation and pilings [had been] suspended’ on the main landmark building, though work on a surrounding residential-led development – by a team including KPF – is ongoing.

According to a source familiar with the region, AtkinsRéalis’s gigantic cube vision will be redesigned as a development on a scale more in keeping with downtown Riydah, which is heavily residential.

On Monday (26 January), the AJ reported that another Saudi mega-project, Neom’s Trojena ski resort, was being scaled down due to ballooning costs. The scheme includes elements designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Aedas. The mountain winter sports venue, which is under construction in the Saudi desert, was due to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

A statement from the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia said the decision reflected ‘a shared strategic commitment to the long-term and sustainable development of winter sports in Saudi Arabia’ but provided no further details.

Zaha Hadid Architects has been working on the scheme, now postponed to an unspecified future date, with German studio LAVA and Aedas. Trojena, as one of several regions of Neom, included plans for a 330m-tall skyscraper,  year-round skiing, including on synthetic slopes, shops, restaurants, luxury mansions, apartments and luxury hotels, including serviced flats.

The Mukaab, in comparison, was unveiled with features including a central cube structure measuring 400m by 400m overlooking north-west Riyadh, with housing offices, residential and entertainment spaces.

The scale of the proposed building would make it among the world’s tallest structures and, according to its developers, the largest ‘inner-city building in the world’.

Meanwhile, the Murabba development company said the wider 19 million m2 development would create a new ‘15-minute’ downtown for the Saudi capital, and include a museum, a university, theatres, 100,000 new homes, 9,000 hotel rooms, 980,000m2 of shops and 1.4 million m2 of office space.

Previously, expected to be completed by 2030, Reuters reported that the anticipated deadline for completing the wider Murabba district has now been extended to 2040.

Delays and cost overruns have also hit The Line – the flagship region at the heart of Neom first unveiled in 2021 – which the Financial Times reported on Sunday (25 January) would be ‘significantly downscaled’ from its original 170km-long vision and ‘redesigned’.

The mirror-walled linear city’s roughly 2.5km-long first and, perhaps, only phase – overseen by Gensler – had been earmarked for completion in 2030. However, the AJ previously reported that there had been a delay to the announcement of the architects behind the vertical villages, which was due to be announced in September last year.

The FT said that sources briefed on the issue said planned changes to The Line show a willingness to adapt to new realities and a year-long review of its plans would conclude in around two months’ time.

Neom told the FT it was ‘always looking at how to phase and prioritise our initiatives so that they align with national objectives and create long-term value’.

The news follows months of reports that work in Saudi Arabia had been drying up. In November, an architect at a London-based practice told the AJ: ‘Saudi has been slowing down for months now. It is a recalibration of priorities away from batshit projects like Neom towards sports and events [venues] like Qiddiya’ [the entertainment and leisure masterplan, where Populous is working on an e-sports arena and football stadium].

Last week, Gensler Europe’s financial results revealed its Middle East work fell by a fifth in the year to 31 March 2025. The practice, which was named on The Line in November 2024, said a it had entered into a ‘substantial confidential contract’ in the Middle East worth £216 million overall, but the deal only made it £9 million in the period covered by its accounts.

It said that work on the ‘confidential project’ was expected to continue, although ‘its progression remains subject to further client approval’.

Aecom, AtkinsRéalis, Jacobs, and the Murabba development company have been contacted for comment.

The Mukaab