Riyadh's New Architectural Identity: Reading the Salmani and Contemporary Najdi Styles

A detailed reference on the Salmani style: its Najdi roots, its five core elements, how it differs from Hijazi and Asiri, applied examples in Diriyah, Roshn, and Masar, and common implementation pitfalls in the private sector.

From the Traditional Style to the Salmani Style

Traditional Najdi architecture was born of climatic necessity and available material: thick mud walls (40–60 cm) for thermal insulation, small openings to protect against the sun, and triangular geometric ornaments (maraqib and crests) that broke the monotony of the wall and signalled pride and status.

This language was not a purely aesthetic choice; it was a rational response to difficult conditions. Mud was free, the thick wall cooled the house by ten degrees in summer, and the small openings kept out sand and sun. Beauty arrived as a by-product of intelligence.

When the King Salman Charter for Architecture and Urbanism was formally adopted in 2022 as Riyadh's architectural identity, it was not a replica of the past but a contemporary re-reading of its vocabulary: volumes remain horizontal and strong, but executed in modern materials (engineered stone, coloured concrete, GFRC), and ornament is reduced to considered signals rather than covering whole surfaces.

The result is an architecture that can be repeated at urban scale while preserving the spirit of place without lapsing into staged historical décor. This balance is what distinguishes the Salmani style from earlier attempts to imitate heritage.

Historical Roots: Diriyah, Hail, Sudair

The Najdi style is not a single language but a family of related styles. Diriyah was the capital of the First Saudi State (1744–1818), and its architecture represents the apex of Najdi development: Salwa Palace with its multiple courtyards, the At-Turaif quarter with its mosque and market, and watchtowers on the edges.

Hail (northern Najd) developed a more ornamented style due to its position on trade routes: Al-Qishlah Palace with its coloured windows and carved doors. Sudair and Al-Washm (central Najd) produced the agricultural typology with its wide courtyards and multiple defensive towers.

What unites these schools: the thick mud wall, the internal courtyard (hosh) as the heart of the house, the timber ceiling of athl (tamarisk) trunks, and the maraqib — the triangular crowns on top of walls.

The contemporary Salmani style is distinguished by extracting these shared elements and converting them into a system that can be applied at any scale — from a villa to a tower to a whole district.

The Five Core Elements of the Salmani Style

First: a palette drawn from the Najdi desert — earthy beige, light sand, and dove brown — avoiding bright white and loud colours. The King Salman Charter defines the acceptable shades precisely (in Pantone or NCS).

Second: stepped horizontal massing that re-interprets the traditional murabbaʿ and steps in response to the angle of light. The stepping is not ornament but a tool to reduce heat gain and break down a large volume.

Third: triangular crenellations on the wall crowns, as a symbolic distillation of the old maraqib. The rule: ornament should not exceed 15–20% of the facade height and should be concentrated at the terminations, not in the middle.

Fourth: deep punched openings that create strong shadows and reduce heat gain. The optimal ratio: opening depth at least half its width, so that the facade reads as a three-dimensional play of shadow.

Fifth: use of local limestone (Riyadh stone, Zulfi stone) or its imitation in contemporary materials (GFRC, cast stone, reconstituted stone), and a rejection of fully glazed facades. The glass-to-stone ratio should not exceed 35%.

Anatomy of an Element: The Marqab

The marqab — the triangular crown on Najdi house walls — is not a random ornament but a multi-functional element. Historically it served as sentinel points from rooftop level and as anchors for ropes used to dry laundry or hoist provisions.

Visually, the marqab performs an important aesthetic role: it breaks the harsh horizontal line of the upper wall and lets the building "touch the sky" with a regular rhythm. The traditional spacing rule: the distance between two peaks equals twice the base width.

Contemporary execution mimics the marqab in GFRC (glass-fibre reinforced concrete) cast in pre-made moulds, or in patterned masonry. Modern sizing tends to be smaller than the traditional original (30–50 cm) to suit modern scales.

A common mistake: applying oversized marqabs around the entire building perimeter. The result reads as a wedding cake rather than architecture. The rule: deploy them where they perform a visual function (volume terminations, framing an entrance), not as blanket decoration.

Salmani vs Traditional Najdi vs Hijazi vs Asiri

Traditional Najdi: mud, an enclosed internal courtyard, very small openings, geometric ornament, earthy colours. Suited to rural and heritage villages.

Contemporary Salmani: stone or coloured concrete, partial courtyards or controlled open facades, larger but deep openings, distilled ornament, earthy palette with modern touches. Suited to the new districts of Riyadh and Qassim.

Hijazi (Makkah, Jeddah, Madinah): use of manqabi and coral stone, timber rawashin in earthy or green tones, larger openings for ventilation in the humid climate, Ottoman and Egyptian influences. Suited to projects in the western region and the holy sites.

Asiri (south, Abha, Rijal Almaa): walls of stone bonded with mud, stained-glass coloured windows, sloped roofs due to rainfall, and the colourful internal Al-Qatt Al-Asiri patterns. Should not be transplanted to central cities — the context is different.

Mixing these styles in one building is a common identity mistake in the private sector. Each style is the product of geography, climate, and history; transplanting one beyond its context produces a caricature.

Live Examples: Diriyah, Roshn, Masar, Diyar

The Diriyah project is the gold-standard reference for the luxury Salmani style: use of stabilised earth, athl timber details, and a smart deployment of internal courtyards and shaded passages. Design firms: WATG, Foster + Partners, Gensler.

Roshn (Sedra, Al-Fulwa, Warefa, Al-Manar) applies an "urban" version of the style: a larger scale, lower-cost industrial materials (GFRC, EIFS), but the same vocabulary — producing an unprecedented visual coherence at the scale of whole districts.

Diyar Al-Khuzama and Diyar Al-Aridh present a luxury residential version of the Salmani style in standalone villas, with more flexibility in detailing and sections.

In Makkah, the Masar project offers a different reading that blends the Hijazi style (rawashin, timber balconies) with a contemporary language — covered in detail in a separate article.

Outside these mega-projects, application in the private sector remains uneven: specialist practices deliver outstanding work, while other contractors deliver distorted versions of the language.

The Cost of Salmani Execution vs Standard Modern Architecture

A correct execution of the Salmani style adds 15–25% to facade cost compared with standard modern architecture (a flat ceramic-clad wall) but less than 5% to the overall project cost.

Cost components: GFRC for ornament (SAR 200–400/m²), natural or engineered stone for the facade (SAR 350–700/m²), the opening depth that demands deeper structural design, and the execution precision that requires a trained team.

The return on this added cost: an 8–15% uplift in resale value, faster sales and leasing, and compliance with regulatory requirements (avoiding permit refusal in mandated zones).

Investment takeaway: the Salmani premium is typically recouped at a return of over 100% on the first sale.

Common Implementation Mistakes in the Private Sector

Mistake 1: applying ornament to a modern facade without rethinking the volumes and proportions. The result: a contemporary building with awkwardly stuck-on "Najdi crowns".

Mistake 2: using cheap materials to imitate stone (coloured plastics, poor-grade EIFS). They degrade within five years and turn the building into a liability.

Mistake 3: enlarging openings without increasing their depth. A wide, shallow opening loses its shadow and erases the soul of the language.

Mistake 4: "quasi-Najdi" colours — harsh yellow-beige tones instead of the authentic earthy beige. The King Salman Charter prescribes specific shades for a reason: visual coherence at neighbourhood scale.

Mistake 5: ignoring the interior — a Salmani exterior with a classical French interior dripping in gilded ornament. Architectural language extends inside as well.

Why Architectural Identity Matters to the Investor

Properties that belong to a clear, consistent visual language hold their value longer because they are less exposed to swings in public taste than eclectic designs.

Furthermore, compliance with the Salmani style is now a regulatory requirement in many zones within Riyadh — meaning non-compliant projects face permitting and marketing difficulties.

Initial data from the Royal Commission for Riyadh City indicates that Charter-compliant projects achieve an average sale price 7–12% higher per square metre than comparable non-compliant projects in the same district.

From a long-term value perspective, choosing a unit in a project that respects the identity of place is as much a sound investment decision as it is an aesthetic one.