A Museum and Park Project Navigates Faith, Tourism and Urban Change in Islam’s Second Holiest City

Now open to the public, As Safiyyah Museum & Park by X Architects proposes a carefully calibrated architectural response within the highly sensitive context of Medina, home to Islam’s second holiest site. Positioned just south of Al Masjid an Nabawi and aligned with the historic Bab Al Salam gate, the 20,000-square-metre complex occupies a former palm garden at the threshold between the mosque’s sacred perimeter and the rapidly developing commercial city beyond.

©Fernando Guerra

©Fernando Guerra

Medina has long welcomed millions of pilgrims each year, but recent reforms under Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 — including the introduction of tourist visas for non-Muslims in parts of the city — have accelerated its transformation into a broader global destination. Around the Prophet’s Mosque, large-scale, tourism-driven developments have intensified. Against this backdrop, X Architects sought to avoid both monumental competition with the mosque and the generic language of retail-led urbanism.

©Fernando Guerra

©Fernando Guerra

Rather than presenting a singular iconic object, the project is conceived as a sequence of walls, gardens and rooms that mediate between sacred and everyday realms. A thick perimeter wall shields the site from surrounding traffic while recalling the enclosure of Medina’s historic core. Inside, a stepped landscape of planters, courtyards and water basins reconstructs the micro-topography of the former grove, creating shaded, contemplative spaces that temper the pressures of mass pilgrimage and tourism.

©Fernando Guerra

©Fernando Guerra

Materially, the scheme draws from Medina’s volcanic geology. Basalt sourced from surrounding lava fields defines the facades, floors and interior walls, forming a dark, textured envelope articulated with recesses and protrusions that deepen shadow and enhance thermal mass. In a city increasingly marked by glazed high-rise construction, the use of basalt signals a contemporary expression rooted in climate, landscape and memory. Water features referencing a historic well, along with palm-planted terraces, reinterpret the oasis as an environmental and social device rather than decorative imagery.

©Fernando Guerra

At the heart of the complex lies a museum structured around “The Story of Creation” in Islamic thought, organised into five thematic chapters spanning pre-creation to ultimate justice and mercy. Architectural shifts in light, height, acoustics and enclosure guide visitors through a spatial narrative that translates theological concepts into bodily experience, while maintaining restraint from overt scenography.

©Fernando Guerra

Programmatically, the development integrates a public garden, museum, multipurpose hall and commercial spaces including cafés and souvenir shops. By prioritising landscape and narrative over spectacle and frontage, As Safiyyah Museum & Park positions itself as a new civic ground for pilgrims, residents and international visitors — a project that reflects Medina’s evolving global role while respecting the sanctity of its most revered site.

X Architects

X Architects is a critically driven architecture and urban design practice founded in Dubai, working across the Gulf and internationally. The studio has become a leading regional voice known for contextually grounded projects that translate Arab and Gulf cultures, landscapes and histories into contemporary built forms, from large-scale masterplans, mosques and cultural institutions to public realm, housing, and private villas. Founded by Ahmed Al Ali and Farid Esmaeil, the practice combines rigorous research, material and environmental intelligence, and a strong engagement with public realm to create architecture that acts as cultural and environmental infrastructure rather than isolated objects. Its work has received recognition through a number of regional and international awards, reflecting a sustained track record of built projects across the Gulf and beyond.