Wa’alia Environmental Park is a landscaped oasis in the northern desert of Saudi Arabia. It is a 4.5-kilometre linear ecological park forming one of the main public landscapes of Wa’ad Al Shamal.
Engicon was commissioned as sub-consultant to provide the full masterplan, landscape architecture, and infrastructure design for the park, carrying the project from concept masterplan through detailed design and Issued-for-Construction (IFC) documentation.
Praxis, Architects & Urban Designers—an Engicon-affiliated architectural and urban design practice—collaborated on the project’s architectural and urban design components.
Context and Site
The park runs along the eastern edge of Wa’ad Al Shamal, in the Northern Borders region, with the planned industrial city on one side and open desert extending toward Waela Mountain on the other. At roughly 300 metres wide and 4,500 metres long, it acts less as a conventional city park and more as a continuous green corridor at the threshold between urban development and natural terrain.
The location gives the park a dual role. For residents and workers, it offers a landscape with places to walk, cycle, play, and gather. At the same time, it is conceived as an ecological connector, linking the surrounding landscapes of Um Wu’al in the north and Harrat Al Haram in the south. The design uses this linear form to strengthen biodiversity, offer habitat for local fauna and migratory birds, and improve the microclimate along the city’s desert-facing edge.
Design Vision: Ecological Park at the City Edge
Rather than an ornamental green space, Wa’alia is planned as an environmental park where landscape, ecology, and public use are treated together.
The park is organized as a sequence of pockets and open stretches along a continuous spine, so that visitors experience changes in character without losing a clear sense of direction or connection to the surrounding landscape.
Three ideas structure the design:
- Ecological corridor: indigenous and climate-adapted planting is grouped to reflect local plant communities, creating continuous habitat and supporting biodiversity.
- Everyday park: paths, plazas, and gathering areas are arranged to support walking, cycling, sports, and family use throughout the day.
- Cooling spine: shade, planting, and water features work together to moderate heat and create more comfortable microclimates at the urban edge.
Within this framework, the park keeps long views towards Waela Mountain and the desert horizon, so the presence of the wider landscape remains visible even as the city grows.
Landscape and Public Realm
The planting strategy relies primarily on native and adaptive species that are already suited to the climate of Saudi Arabia’s Northern Borders region. Shade trees, shrubs, and groundcovers (shade trees, shrubs, and low plants) define paths, resting areas, and activity zones, while leaving portions of the corridor more open and closely aligned with the existing desert character. Seasonal colour and texture are used to mark key nodes without overwhelming the underlying landscape.
A series of ponds and water channels are introduced along the park, aligned as far as possible with existing drainage lines. These elements provide small but effective micro-habitats, support riparian planting, and contribute to local cooling. In combination with shaded paths, clustered groves, and modest landform interventions, they help reduce exposure to heat and wind, making the park more usable across different times of day and seasons.
Functionally, the park alternates between more active and quieter zones:
- Active zones with jogging and cycling routes, multi-use courts, and adjacent seating.
- Family areas with shaded play spaces, small pavilions, and picnic pockets embedded in planting.
- Quieter stretches focused on walking, sitting, and viewing, with minimal built elements and stronger emphasis on the larger desert setting.
Built structures, including canopies, kiosks, and small service buildings, are kept low, light, and integrated into planting rather than standing as dominant objects. The overall reading remains landscape-first.
Integrating Landscape and Infrastructure
The Engicon-Praxis collaborative role brings landscape architecture and infrastructure design into one coordinated framework. Roads and access points are planned to connect the park to surrounding districts without fragmenting the corridor. Potable water, irrigation, drainage, power, lighting, and telecom networks are laid out in parallel with paths and planting zones, so that service corridors support the spatial structure instead of cutting across it.
Hydrology and stormwater management complement the concept instead of being treated as a separate layer. Surface water flows are used, where feasible, to recharge ponds and channels, allowing stormwater to shape parts of the landscape. This approach reduces the load on conventional drainage systems and reinforces the ecological character of the park.
Scope and Reference Value
Our role covers the full consultancy cycle for Wa’alia Environmental Park:
- Baseline site visits, site assessment, and design-basis reporting
- Concept master planning and infrastructure studies
- Detailed masterplan and infrastructure design with coordinated drawings and Bills of Quantities
- Issued-for-Construction and tender packages for roads, utilities, and associated facilities
As Wa’ad Al Shamal continues to develop toward its long-term horizon, the park will offer residents and workers a daily escape, a cooling and planting infrastructure for the city, and a connective ecological corridor for the wider desert environment.
The project demonstrates how our design philosophy at the urban fringe can turn a simple buffer strip into a working piece of urban nature—one that quietly improves livability, strengthens biodiversity, and offers a grounded reference for future developments where city and landscape meet.
