Heatherwick Studio has unveiled the design for an astrotourism visitor centre set to be built in the remote deserts of north-west Saudi Arabia, near the ancient city of AlUla. Conceived as a hub for dark-sky tourism and celestial research, the destination will bring together scientists and visitors in a shared space of exploration and discovery. Named AlUla Manara, the centre is in an area recently selected as one of the first Dark Sky Parks in the region. The design for the centre and its broader masterplan was selected by the Royal Commission for AlUla following an international design competition.
Design Inspiration
The studio’s vision takes inspiration from the dramatic spiralling forms commonly observed in space—from galaxies to planetary rings and twisting collections of stars and gas—and the same beautiful, mathematical patterns that are also found on Earth in plants, prehistoric fossils and shells. The main visitor centre is made up of a series of tubular forms, clad in textured stone that nods to the sandstone mountains of AlUla’s environment, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Inside, the building will include a wide variety of exhibition spaces with immersive displays and galleries, a planetarium, a restaurant and a rooftop observation deck. Uniquely for a visitor attraction of this type, pioneering, real-time research will also be taking place elsewhere in the building, with guests offered a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the science taking place in the centre’s cutting-edge facilities.
Designed to adapt to varying light conditions, the building will feature shading devices embedded in each of the tubes. These will manage sunlight during the day and preserve dark-sky visibility at night. Operable windows will allow the structure to respond to changing desert weather conditions, improving energy efficiency and protecting the building from the elements, while offering striking viewpoints of the surrounding environment and the skies above.
Science and Stargazing
Stuart Wood, Executive Partner and Group Leader at Heatherwick Studio, described the project as a radical reimagining of typical astrotourism destinations. “Space observatories are often remote, sterile places, technical outposts that feel distant from the public,” he shares. “We saw an opportunity to dissolve those barriers and create a place where visitors can step inside the wonder of the cosmos: an environment that is both immersive and inspiring, standing alongside the most advanced science of our time.”
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The wider masterplan, which connects with nearby hiking trails, will also include on-site accommodation, a stargazing lodge, as well as remote pods from which visitors can take in the night sky. Several new world-class telescopes will be built close to the visitor centre, allowing a growing community of scientists and astronomers the opportunity to make the most of some of the clearest and darkest skies in the world and observe certain celestial phenomena before they can be seen anywhere else on Earth.
AlUla Manara is imagined as a global centre for knowledge exchange and a one-of-a-kind opportunity for public engagement with science and astronomy, while contributing to Saudi Arabia’s growing significance in the world of space research.
