Middle East
Hassan Allam and Albawani win Diriyah's $490m museum
By Staff Writer | 24 July 2026
Diriyah Company has awarded a $490m contract to build the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art, one of the flagship cultural projects rising on the edge of Riyadh.
The contract, worth about SAR 1.84bn, went to a joint venture of Hassan Allam Construction Saudi and Albawani, signed at a ceremony in Riyadh.
The museum, known as SAMoCA, is a flagship of the Museums Commission, intended to document, research and show Saudi modern and contemporary art.
The signing was attended by Jerry Inzerillo, group chief executive of Diriyah Company, alongside Hassan Allam, chief executive of Hassan Allam Holding, and Fakher Al-Shawaf, group chief executive of Albawani Holding.
The Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art will provide Saudi and international artists with a truly world-class platform, one that invites global voices to engage with the Kingdom as it is today.
Jerry Inzerillo, group chief executive, Diriyah Company
Part of a wider build-out
Diriyah is one of the Public Investment Fund's giga-projects, turning the historic area on the north-western edge of Riyadh into a mixed-use cultural and residential district built in the traditional Najdi style. The museum sits within that programme.
Beyond the giga-projects
The award is a reminder that the Saudi pipeline is not only giga-scale infrastructure but also complex, architecturally demanding buildings delivered by joint ventures of regional contractors.
Cultural buildings reward careful delivery: bespoke design, specialist finishes and high quality standards, which put a premium on clear scope, sound valuation of variations and disciplined records.
For the contractors involved, a flagship museum is both a showcase and a test of delivery on one of the Kingdom's most watched sites.