The Mukaab — Event Venue Analysis for the World’s Largest Planned Building by Volume
The Mukaab is the centerpiece of the New Murabba development in northwest Riyadh’s al-Qirawan district, designed as a 400-meter tall, 400-meter wide cube-shaped structure that would constitute the world’s largest building by volume if completed. At 2 million square meters of interior floor space — equivalent to 22 million square feet and sufficient volume to contain 20 Empire State Buildings — The Mukaab was conceived as more than an architectural landmark. It was designed as an integrated event, entertainment, hospitality, and retail ecosystem with more than 80 entertainment and cultural venues, a multipurpose immersive theater, exhibition centers, interactive spaces, and 10 major attractions distributed throughout a central tower rising to the structure’s ceiling.
The event infrastructure planned for The Mukaab represents a paradigm shift in venue design. Unlike conventional conference centers that occupy dedicated buildings with static floor plans, The Mukaab integrates event spaces within a holographic, digitally-immersive environment where advanced lighting systems, high-end audio, and multi-layered sensory immersion create environments that adapt to each event’s requirements. The building’s technology stack — developed over nine months by Imagination, the global experience design consultancy — includes electrochromic glass that transitions from clear to opaque, retractable projection screens creating four-wall video environments, a media cloud ceiling for wireless content sharing, and a digital forum network connecting all venues internally and externally.
Planned Event Capacity and Facilities
The Mukaab’s event infrastructure spans multiple categories, from intimate corporate boardrooms to arena-scale entertainment venues.
Entertainment and cultural venues. More than 80 venues of varying capacity and configuration are planned throughout the structure. These range from black-box theater spaces suitable for corporate presentations and product launches to large-format entertainment halls designed for concerts, cultural performances, and immersive experiences. The venue count positions The Mukaab as a self-contained events district rather than a single venue — comparable in scope to an entire convention center campus like McCormick Place in Chicago (2.6 million square feet of exhibition space across four buildings) but contained within a single architectural envelope.
Multipurpose immersive theater. The centerpiece event space is a multipurpose immersive theater designed to host performances, conferences, product launches, and experiential events. The theater leverages The Mukaab’s holographic technology infrastructure to create environments that cannot be replicated in traditional venues — environments where walls, ceiling, and floor become projection surfaces, where holographic performers share the stage with live artists, and where spatial audio creates three-dimensional soundscapes that envelop audiences.
Exhibition centers. Dedicated exhibition spaces within The Mukaab are designed to host trade shows, art exhibitions, cultural displays, and brand activations. The exhibition infrastructure benefits from The Mukaab’s integrated logistics systems — freight access, utilities, rigging points, and technology connections that enable rapid setup and teardown cycles comparable to purpose-built convention centers.
Retail mall with event capability. The 300,000 square meter retail offering — comparable to Dubai Mall’s 350,000 square meter gross leasable area — includes spaces designed for brand activations, pop-up events, product launches, and experiential retail programming. The integration of retail and event spaces reflects a global trend toward experiential commerce, where shopping environments double as event venues.
Central observation tower. The internal tower rising to The Mukaab’s ceiling offers panoramic views of the immense internal space and includes observation deck venues suitable for premium corporate events, private dinners, and VIP receptions with views across the entire interior environment.
Rooftop garden. An elevated green space at the top of the structure provides outdoor event capability — a premium venue category increasingly demanded by ESG-conscious corporate clients and incentive travel programs.
Technology Infrastructure
The Mukaab’s technology systems represent the most advanced event technology infrastructure planned for any venue worldwide. The technology stack serves both the building’s permanent experience programming and its event hosting capabilities.
Holographic and digital immersion. The Mukaab combines modern Najdi architecture with cutting-edge holographic technology to create immersive digital experiences throughout the building. The interior was designed as a testament to multi-layered sensory immersion — integrating sight, sound, and touch — where every experience is amplified through advanced entertainment technology. For event organizers, this means venues where holographic presentations replace traditional slide decks, where product launches occur within fully-immersive digital environments, and where conference keynotes are enhanced by environmental storytelling.
Electrochromic glass. Conference rooms and event spaces are clad in electrochromic glass that permits users to switch from clear to opaque glass, controlling natural light and privacy without physical partitions. This technology enables rapid reconfiguration of spaces — a transparent networking area can become an enclosed boardroom in seconds, and a sunlit reception space can transform into a darkened presentation theater.
Media cloud ceiling and digital forum. A media cloud ceiling infrastructure enables wireless content sharing throughout the building, while the digital forum network connects all venues internally and externally. Conference attendees in different spaces can participate in the same session through networked video walls, creating a distributed conference model where capacity is not limited by any single room’s physical dimensions.
Advanced lighting and audio. State-of-the-art lighting systems blend artistry with practicality, integrating with diverse performances and displays. The high-end audio system is designed for the entertainment industry to support visual mediums and shows, ensuring acoustic quality that meets professional production standards across all venue types.
Construction Status and Timeline
As of March 2026, construction of The Mukaab has been suspended following a Saudi government review of Vision 2030 megaprojects announced in January 2026. Reuters reported that work beyond soil excavation and pilings was paused, making The Mukaab the first Riyadh megaproject to be reassessed for feasibility. Prior to the suspension, 40 million cubic meters of material had been excavated and approximately 1,000 of 1,200 construction piles had been installed.
The surrounding New Murabba development continues, with the anticipated completion timeline extended to 2040. Phase 1 targets initial occupancy, while Phases 2A and 2B are scheduled for 2034 and 2035 respectively. The Mukaab’s interior fit-out — including all event venue construction — would follow structural completion.
For the events industry, the suspension creates uncertainty regarding when The Mukaab’s venue inventory will become available. Event planners and conference organizers should monitor New Murabba Development Company announcements for timeline updates, while considering the alternative venue ecosystem that continues to expand rapidly across Riyadh.
Context Within New Murabba
The Mukaab sits within the broader New Murabba district, which adds substantial event infrastructure beyond the cube itself. The district’s 9,000 hotel rooms across 24 planned hotels (6,995 keys by 2040) provide the accommodation base essential for multi-day conferences and exhibitions. The 1.4 million square meters of office space creates a corporate tenant population that generates persistent demand for meeting and event facilities. The 45,000-seat stadium adds a large-format entertainment venue. And the 15-minute walkable design, with 25 percent of land dedicated to parks and plazas, creates outdoor event spaces and pedestrian flows that activate the district as a year-round events destination.
MICE Market Context and Demand Drivers
The Mukaab’s event infrastructure enters a Saudi MICE market valued at USD 3.54 billion in 2026, growing at 9.82 percent CAGR toward a projected USD 5.65 billion by 2031 according to Mordor Intelligence. Conferences account for 39.05 percent of MICE revenue and corporate meetings contribute 36.1 percent, with central Saudi Arabia commanding 47.18 percent of national market share. These figures establish the commercial demand base that The Mukaab’s 80-plus venues would serve upon completion.
The Kingdom’s venue infrastructure has expanded dramatically, with 923 accredited event venues operating nationally and exhibition capacity growing 320 percent since 2018 to reach 300,520 square meters. Riyadh venues operate at 68 percent utilization, indicating strong demand that leaves room for additional capacity. The Events Investment Fund, established in 2023, targets 30 venues by 2030 with ESG standards and global partnerships — a pipeline that The Mukaab would anchor as the most ambitious addition.
Tourism performance provides further demand validation. Saudi Arabia surpassed its original 100 million visitor target seven years ahead of schedule, with H1 2025 recording 60.9 million visitors generating SAR 161.4 billion (USD 43 billion) in spending. The new 2030 target of 150 million visitors, combined with Saudi Arabia’s ranking as the number one country globally for tourism revenue growth in 2024, creates a visitor base that supports The Mukaab’s scale. The Kingdom’s 69 percent growth in international tourist arrivals versus 2019, the highest among G20 nations, further validates the demand trajectory.
International event organizations entering the Saudi market confirm the industry’s confidence. Messe Frankfurt, Koelnmesse, MCH Group, and Oak View Group established operations in 2025, with Comexposium and Honegger confirmed for 2026. New shows including BAUMA Saudi Arabia from Messe Munich and MIPIM Arabia from RX Global reflect global operators’ assessment that Saudi Arabia’s venue capacity can sustain international-caliber programming.
Global Venue Comparisons
The Mukaab’s 2 million square meters of interior floor space places it in a category that transcends conventional venue comparisons. Messe Hannover, the world’s largest convention center, provides 496,000 square meters of indoor exhibition space. China’s Pazhou Complex in Guangzhou offers 504,000 square meters of hall capacity. The National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai provides 400,000 square meters of indoor space. McCormick Place in Chicago, North America’s largest, offers 241,500 square meters of exhibition space across four buildings. The Las Vegas Convention Center provides 269,400 square meters of exhibition space with a 2,376-seat theater and banquet capacity for 11,080 guests.
In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) is the region’s largest at 73,000 square meters, while Dubai World Trade Centre accommodates 30,000 attendees. Expo City Dubai, the legacy venue from Expo 2020, provides integrated exhibition, conference, and cultural facilities but at a fraction of The Mukaab’s planned scale. Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands offers 120,000 square meters of convention space with cutting-edge technology — the closest existing model to The Mukaab’s integrated convention-entertainment-hospitality concept, though at approximately 6 percent of The Mukaab’s floor area.
These comparisons underscore that The Mukaab would not simply be a larger version of existing venues but a fundamentally different facility type — one that combines the exhibition capacity of multiple convention centers with the immersive technology of a theme park and the hospitality infrastructure of a luxury resort district.
Pro-AV and Event Technology Market
The professional audio-visual market in Saudi Arabia reached USD 31.4 million in 2025 and is projected to grow to USD 41.2 million by 2034 at a 3.05 percent CAGR. The Mukaab’s technology infrastructure would represent a significant portion of this market upon completion. The digital signage market is projected at USD 3.4 billion by 2030, with AI-powered displays delivering 25 percent efficiency gains in corporate settings. Cloud-based AV automation is reducing event setup times by 35 percent across Saudi venues, while 5G wireless infrastructure now supports 25,000 simultaneous users at major convention centers globally — a benchmark The Mukaab’s digital forum network would need to exceed given its 80-venue scale.
LED wall technology operating at 5,000 nits brightness has become standard for main stage screens and outdoor festivals, visible under direct stage lighting. Projection mapping has transitioned from novelty to permanent installation status in entertainment and hospitality venues. Spatial audio using Dolby Atmos object-based systems creates the immersive sound environments that The Mukaab’s theater spaces would deploy. These technologies, combined with gesture recognition, motion sensors, and real-time control platforms that orchestrate multiple systems simultaneously, form the technical foundation that The Mukaab’s event operations would require.
Competitive Positioning
The Mukaab’s planned event capabilities position it uniquely in the global venue landscape. No existing venue combines the scale of a major convention center with the immersive technology of a theme park and the hospitality infrastructure of a luxury resort district. The closest comparisons are Expo City Dubai (the legacy venue from Expo 2020), which integrates exhibition space with entertainment venues, and Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, which combines convention space with hotel and entertainment facilities. But The Mukaab’s planned technology infrastructure — particularly its holographic and sensory immersion capabilities — has no direct equivalent among operating venues.
For event organizers evaluating Saudi Arabia’s rapidly expanding venue ecosystem, The Mukaab represents a future-state opportunity that merits tracking. In the near term, events can be programmed at existing Riyadh venues including the KAFD Conference Center, Riyadh Front, Kingdom Arena, and RICEC, with the option to transition programming to New Murabba venues as they become operational.
Data sourced from New Murabba Development Company, Imagination, Atkins, and Saudi government publications. Last updated March 25, 2026.