Public plaza with large tensile shade canopies on slender masts over a stone desert library at dusk in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia

Desert Library, Saudi Arabia

A library competition in Sakaka takes its form from the palm groves of a desert oasis. AMPOPS raised a row of slender structural trunks that lift a tensile canopy overhead, throwing shade the way palm fronds do. The building answers the desert, tuned to sun, wind, and water scarcity through passive and active strategies. Calibrated apertures and a central light well soften the sun and carry steady daylight into the reading rooms. Facade modules shift with the sun angle on each elevation, and a planted courtyard cools the air for gathering.

Library courtyard atrium with full-height glazing, interior trees, and white staircases beneath skylights in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Dusk elevation of a desert library under tensile shade canopies beside a domed mosque in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Diagram of stone modular facade panels with apertures oriented to the sun path for a desert library in Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
Diagram of an elevator shaft with integrated phytoremediation and atmospheric water-harvesting modules for a Sakaka library
Diagram of a solar light tube capturing daylight and diffusing it below grade in a Sakaka, Saudi Arabia desert library
Diagram of a desert library showing tensile canopy, floor plates, courtyard, and existing ground floor in Sakaka
Location:
Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
AMPOPS Team:
Yee Lin, Dya, Wei Li
Role:
Conceptual Development
Typology:
Educational