UK practice Heatherwick Studio has unveiled designs for AlUla Manara, a textured-stone, stargazing visitor and research centre in Saudi Arabia.
Set to be built in the Saudi Arabian desert near the AlUla UNESCO World Heritage Site, the building will be built to take advantage of the visibility of stars in the region.
It is planned as both a visitor centre for people coming to the region to see the stars and as a base for scientists researching space.
"The AlUla Manara visitor centre will place experiential learning at the heart of world-class science, igniting curiosity and inspiring generations of stargazers and scientists to come," said Heatherwick Studio executive partner Stuart Wood.
"Space observatories are often remote, sterile places – technical outposts that feel distant from the public," he continued.
"We saw an opportunity to dissolve those barriers and create a place where visitors can step inside the wonder of the cosmos: an environment that is both immersive and inspiring, standing alongside the most advanced science of our time."
Constructed from textured stone, the visitor centre will occupy a stack of tubular forms that terminate in glazed opening to give views of the stars and surrounding desert landscape.
According to the studio, the form and materiality were informed by the surrounding sandstone mountains and wider universe.
"Our design draws from the dramatic spiralling geometries that shape both the solar system above us and the natural world around us," Wood said.
"Three interlocking telescope-like formations reach skywards while remaining rooted in the desert landscape – embodying a dialogue between earth and universe."
Along with the visitor centre and space for scientists, the building will contain a planetarium, restaurant and rooftop observation deck.
It forms part of a wider masterplan for the site, which will see the construction of several "world-class telescopes" and have on-site accommodation, a stargazing lodge and "remote pods" for visitors to observe the night sky.
Founded by designer Thomas Heatherwick, Heatherwick Studio has designed numerous cultural buildings across the world. Also in Saudi Arabia, it is converting a former desalination plant by the Red Sea into a museum.
The visualisations are courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.