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38Diriyah, Saudi Arabia · Speirs Major

Torchlight for a mud-brick city

At-Turaif, the first capital of the Saudi state, is lit in one exact shade of gold, as if by flickering torches.

Dazzle Digest desk · from Speirs Major’s project page

At-Turaif’s earth-coloured walls become a landscape of depth and shadow.
At-Turaif, DiriyahSuccessive mud-brick walls emerge from the dark in graded gold.Photo: Allan Toft / Martin Professional / Speirs Major Light Architecture

At-Turaif, a UNESCO World Heritage site, was the first capital of the Saudi state and dates from the 15th century1. It sits on raised ground at the edge of the ad-Dir’iyah oasis and holds the remains of many palaces and an urban settlement1.

The city feels almost as if it has evolved from the earth rather than been constructed.

Speirs Major, on At-Turaif

Speirs Major’s design uses light to tell the site’s stories1. It animates the subtle tonal variations of the natural materials so that they feel lit by flickering torchlight, and it chose one exact shade of golden light to let the mud-brick walls glow naturally1.

Palaces and walls in the same gold, with palms in the foreground.
At-Turaif · across the sitePalaces and walls in the same gold, with palms in the foreground.Photo: Speirs Major
The settlement from above: the lit walls trace the plan of the old city.
At-Turaif · from aboveThe settlement from above: the lit walls trace the plan of the old city.Photo: Speirs Major

Seen from across the wadi

Scale was the other problem. From its raised position, the site is the main focal point in the landscape when seen from the developing Diriyah Gate across Wadi Hanifah, and the studio drew on its experience of city light master planning to manage it1.

From the project

The studio cites its earlier work on other exceptional sites, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi and the Dom Tower in Utrecht1.

Its project page does not publish a colour temperature for At-Turaif, which is why the site does not appear in this chapter’s chart.

At a glance

  • A 15th-century capital and UNESCO World Heritage site.
  • One exact shade of gold, animated to feel like torchlight.
  • Designed to be seen from across Wadi Hanifah.

Sources

Every fact on this page comes from these public pages. Open the original to check it, or to see more of the project.

  1. Speirs MajorSpeirs Major — At-TuraifUndated page · checked 2026-09-28
Next · p.39A farm from 1782, lit at 2700KIn Piedmont, a farm built in 1782 gets the same warmth, at 2700K.

Chapter 06 · Old walls, warm lightRead it in the issue →

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Leave some dark.

This story is from the October 2026 Toronto issue of Dazzle Digest, a free monthly magazine about lighting and life after dark.

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Dazzle Digest is an independent magazine. Stories are written by the Dazzle Digest desk from the public pages linked under each one; photographs belong to the credited studios, makers and photographers and remain under rights review. No brand, studio or manufacturer in these pages is a sponsor.