Coral Nursery, NEOM

Saudi Arabia

The Coral Nursery project in NEOM redefines marine ecosystem restoration through the development of the world’s largest land-based coral nursery, designed in collaboration with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) as part of its global reef restoration initiative. From early stages, IDOM has supported site selection, alternative analysis, and the full design of the facility.

Beyond its scientific and technological ambition, the project is conceived from a landscape perspective as a highly integrated intervention within the coastal environment, where architecture and infrastructure dissolve into the terrain, approaching the condition of land art. Rather than an isolated object, the facility is understood as an extension of the landscape, where form, materiality, and scale resonate with the Red Sea context.

At its core, the system is designed to produce approximately 200,000 coral fragments annually, scalable up to 400,000, through advanced propagation techniques and resilient life support systems. Yet the design goes beyond functionality, embedding volumetric and topographical strategies that minimize visual impact while enhancing environmental integration.

The Coral Farm Building is conceived as a partially embedded structure, seamlessly connected to the ground plane and extended through dedicated marine infrastructure, including a jetty and intake/outfall systems, that link the land-based facility to the sea. This land–water continuity reinforces the perception of the project as a hybrid between landscape and infrastructure.

The development is structured in phases, including a pilot facility operational since 2024 and a main nursery currently under construction, consolidating the project as a global benchmark in coral restoration.

Landscaping