Diriyah Company awards $1.4 billion contract for Kingdom’s largest opera house
Saudi Gazette reportRIYADH —
Diriyah Company has signed a SR5.1 billion ($1.4 billion) joint venture contract to develop the iconic Royal Diriyah Opera House.The agreement was signed with El Seif Engineering Contracting Co. Ltd. (ESEC), Midmac Construction Co. Ltd., and China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. (CSCEC), the world’s largest construction firm.
Designed by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta Oslo AS, the Royal Diriyah Opera House will be Saudi Arabia’s largest performance venue with a 2,000-seat main theatre.
The project will also feature a studio theater, a rooftop amphitheater, and multipurpose halls, bringing total capacity to approximately 3,100 seats.
The opera house — managed by the Royal Commission for Riyadh City — will serve as Diriyah’s premier performing arts center and a cultural landmark, blending contemporary Najdi architecture with sustainability principles such as natural ventilation, water conservation, and thermal efficiency.
The development is part of Diriyah Company’s dynamic 2025 rollout, which has also seen the launch of the Media and Innovation District and the awarding of a SR426.3 million ($113.6 million) architecture and design contract to Omrania for projects along Diriyah’s main avenue.
Several international experts have been tapped for the project, including Schlaich Bergermann Partner (structures and facades), Buro Happold and Saudi Diyar (MEP works), Theatre Projects (theatre and acoustics), JLL (cost consultancy), and Plan A (design management).
“The Royal Diriyah Opera House will be a landmark asset at Diriyah that will support Diriyah’s growing global role in shaping Saudi Arabia's artistic and cultural future,” said Diriyah Company Group CEO Jerry Inzerillo. “This architectural masterpiece will bring people together in one of the world’s greatest gathering places to experience unforgettable performances.”
The opera house is a cornerstone of Diriyah’s transformation into a cultural capital. The broader Diriyah project — one of the Public Investment Fund’s flagship initiatives — is expected to generate 178,000 jobs, house 100,000 residents, attract 50 million annual visits, and contribute SR70 billion ($18.6 billion) to Saudi GDP.
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