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The World's Most Luxurious Rail Station in Saudi Arabia The world's most luxurious rail station that the King of Saudi Arabia has ordered to be built in just four years Commuters on London Underground will no doubt cast an envious eye at these pictures of what will shortly become the world's most luxurious metro system. Looking more like the inside of five-star hotel, the proposed network, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will boast a space age design featuring marbled walkways, gold-plated walls and, naturally in one of the hottest places on earth, air conditioning. The facade will apparently be designed to let in light while keeping out the harsh desert sun, while the overall shape is meant to recall the country's wind-blown sand dunes. Amazingly, the new six-line network has been ordered to be completed by the ruling King Abdullah in just four years - the amount of time it took builders in New York to renovate just one station. What will frustrate weary London commuters even more is that the main feature of the new system, a three-way interchange at the city's busiest station, has been designed by half-British architect Zaha Hadid, who has been behind a string of developments around the world. The London-based designer, who is half-Iraqi, was the brains behind developments in the Capital's Hoxton Square and Eaton Place, as well as international projects in cities including New York, Singapore and Dubai. The 20,434m² proposal at first glance looks something like a cruise ship spread over four public floors and will include two levels of underground car parking. The project will have four public floors with six platforms, while the walls and roof of the building will appear as a series of undulating waves interspersed with curved Mashrabiya screens. Zaha describes it as "a three-dimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sine-waves". The air-conditioned building will feature glass 'train pipes' similar to the stations on the Jubilee Line in London. A network of pedestrian pathways will snake through the building, designed to minimise congestion, plus it will be linked to the surrounding district by pathways and skybridges and create a 'dynamic, multi-functional public space'. Passengers will be able to access the city's monorail network via new bridge. The the urban fabric is set to become a prime area for distinct architectural projects, while this project is set to complete in 2017. The King Abdullah Financial District (KAFD) Metro Station will serve as a key interchange on the new Riyadh Metro network for Line 1, as well as the terminus of Line 4 (for passengers to the airport) and Line 6. The local monorail can also be accessed from the station via a skybridge. With six platforms over four public floors and two levels of underground car parking, the KAFD Metro Station will be integrated within the urban context of the financial district, responding to the functional requirements of a multimodal transport centre and the district's future vision. The project extends beyond the simple station typology to emphasise the building's importance as a dynamic, multi-functional public space; not only an intermediate place perceived through quick transitions, but also a dramatic public space for the city. Royalty Free Music: Music: Sikos - Aout Main Character License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/