Desert Settlement
Wadi Maya
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Client
Private operator
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
The project
A twelve-house settlement in a wadi near AlUla, each house dug into the gravel bank it stands on, their courtyards held between low walls of rammed earth and palm-thatch shades.
Discipline
Desert Settlement
Location
AlUla, Saudi Arabia
Year
2026
Area
6,400 m²
01·The brief
A village, not a resort
An operator asked for twelve houses in a wadi north of AlUla — explicitly not a resort: no reception building, no central plant, no lit signage. Guests are met at the wadi mouth and walk in. The settlement was to read from the rim as a geological event, not a development.
02·The approach
Houses dug into the gravel
Each house is excavated into its bank and faced in rammed earth cast from the wadi's own gravel; roofs are palm-log and thatch shades over shaded courts. Interiors stay cool through thermal mass, and every court frames one deliberate view of the wadi walls.
03·The result
Opening in 2026
The settlement completes in 2026 and takes its first guests in the autumn. The wadi floor and its grasses are protected by the brief itself. Published with the operator's consent.
Scope of work
01Architecture
02Hospitality planning
03Earth construction
04Interior architecture
05Shade and courtyard design
06Landscape reinstatement
