Webuild Hits 1 Million Cubic Meter Concrete Milestone at NEOM’s Trojena Dam
The massive infrastructure project in the Saudi mountains reaches a key volume target, concealing a subterranean hospitality complex beneath its intended water surface.
Italian construction giant Webuild has announced a significant milestone in the development of NEOM, reporting the placement of one million cubic meters of concrete for the dam at the Trojena mountain resort. This achievement marks a major step forward in creating the 2.8-kilometer-long artificial freshwater lake that forms the centerpiece of the high-altitude destination currently under development in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
The dam is a critical component of the foundational infrastructure required to realize Trojena’s vision as a year-round mountain destination offering outdoor skiing and adventure sports. The creation of such a large water body in an arid, rugged environment requires substantial engineering feats, signaling the scale of construction currently underway across the various developments within the NEOM giga-project.
Beyond its primary function of water retention and management, the dam structure itself is designed to house a concealed architectural feature known as “The Bow.” Embedded beneath the intended surface of the future lake and integrated into the dam’s engineering, this subterranean space represents a complex fusion of heavy civil engineering and high-end hospitality design.
The detailed program for The Bow includes a luxury hotel, private residential areas, and a selection of dining venues, all situated below the waterline. The architectural design aims to provide unique subterranean views and immersive experiences for guests, utilizing the surrounding environment in novel ways. Additionally, the facility will include a large-scale hall dedicated to hosting conferences and major events, positioning the site as a hub for business tourism alongside leisure activities.
Reaching the one-million-cubic-meter mark highlights the immense volume of building materials required for the project. Pouring concrete at this scale in a remote, high-altitude mountainous terrain involves complex logistics and specialized technical solutions to ensure structural integrity under significant anticipated hydrostatic pressure.
ArchUp Perspective
The concept of “The Bow” challenges conventional approaches to large-scale infrastructure. Usually purely utilitarian, here the dam is activated as a habitable, multi-functional space. For future visitors, this creates a novel spatial experience—dwelling within the very walls that hold back a massive body of water, blurring the lines between structural engineering and immersive interior design. It represents a shift towards integrating massive utility structures with human-centric programming.
As Webuild continues the intensive construction phase, the physical form of Trojena is beginning to emerge from the landscape. The completion of the dam and its integrated architectural elements will be pivotal for the planned opening of the resort, which is slated to host major international sporting competitions in the coming years, further emphasizing the push for progress in developing these new cities and destinations.
✦ ArchUp Editorial Insight
The article documents Webuild’s milestone of pouring one million cubic meters of concrete for the Trojena Dam, a massive civil engineering feat creating a 2.8-kilometer artificial lake. The project represents a specific type of contemporary architecture where a monumental infrastructural monolith is used to conceal the subterranean “The Bow” hotel complex beneath the water’s surface. The core critique addresses the environmental and material pragmatism: whether the architectural ambition of an underwater luxury destination justifies the immense concrete volume and the ecological cost of maintaining a permanent water body in a harsh, arid mountain context, leaving long-term sustainability projections fraught. Nevertheless, the scheme fundamentally challenges the conventional dichotomy between utilitarian structures and high-end human programming, powerfully reinforcing NEOM’s vision of transcending traditional construction limits.
