Unlocking Potential
A Saudi-born, international practice, Echo Architecture delivers architecture, interior design and masterplanning, internationally, from studios in London and Riyadh. Over the past 20 years, the practice has become synonymous with the transformation of retail-led destinations in Saudi Arabia. Recently, RLI spent some time with company CEO Hareth Al-Marsumi discussing the company’s extensive portfolio and what the future holds.
Their team’s confidence lies in its ability to align creative vision with commercial understanding, as well as in its position as one of the few Saudi-based firms with a proven track record of delivering lifestyle destinations end-to-end.
Working across retail, leisure, hospitality and mixed-use environments, the firm has established a reputation for projects that balance imagination with feasibility. “We are inspirational but grounded,” says CEO Hareth Al-Marsumi. “Our starting point is always feasibility; are we creating places where people genuinely want to spend time and are we meeting and exceeding the commercial expectations of our clients? This is what we ask ourselves on every project.” That approach has made Echo a trusted partner for some of the Kingdom’s most significant developers, including Cenomi, Saudi Arabia’s leading and most ambitious retail developer.
Echo Architecture’s ethos blends cultural fluency with international credibility. Having worked in Saudi Arabia for over two decades, the team understands how Saudi society uses and values public space – both indoors and outdoors; places where people can promenade, connect and spend time together are central to everyday life and remain at the heart of the Kingdom’s social fabric. At the same time, Echo draws on its extensive global experience, understanding the expectations of international retail and leisure operators while ensuring destinations remain world-class and accessible to the communities they serve. “We design for the location and for how people want to live, not just how spaces look,” says Al-Marsumi. “That principle is what makes a place feel authentic.”
This combination of commercial intelligence and design excellence has helped Echo move from architect to advisor. The studio is involved from the earliest stages, shaping investment logic and interrogating briefs to unlock each project’s full potential. With an integrated team of architects, engineers and interior designers, they reduce risk for clients by delivering holistically and seamlessly. Long-term client relationships stand as proof of their creative reliability and commercial acumen.
While Saudi Arabia provides the stage for Echo’s most visible work, the practice benefits from a global perspective. The portfolio includes masterplans, mixed-use schemes, retail, residential and hospitality projects across Europe – experience that continues to inform its approach in the Kingdom. Combined with an international team in London and Riyadh, Echo draws on a wide range of global expertise to refine circulation, sustainability, branding and placemaking.
Echo’s concept work includes T5 Milan, where an industrial structure was reimagined as part of a wider mixed-use masterplan and Turin’s iconic Palazzo del Lavoro, originally built for the 1961 exhibition, adapted for contemporary commercial use. In both, the priority was to respect the architectural character of the original buildings while unlocking their potential for today.
“Globally, many mixed-use developments anchor cultural, social and commercial activity but place retail at their heart,” says Al-Marsumi. “Our strength is bringing that international experience of integration to Saudi Arabia, but always through the lens of local culture. That balance of global expertise and Saudi knowledge is what makes our work distinctive.”
The depth of Echo’s experience comes through most clearly in two landmark projects now under development: Westfield Riyadh by Cenomi Centers and Westfield Jeddah by Cenomi Centers. Conceived not simply as shopping malls but as urban, civic and cultural hubs, both destinations represent a significant step in the Kingdom’s transformation under Vision 2030.
Westfield Riyadh by Cenomi Centers sits at the heart of a larger masterplan, bringing together commercial offices, residential communities and hospitality in a walkable, multi-layered urban hub. In both projects, the design emphasises generous pedestrian avenues flooded with natural light, alongside large-scale shopfronts, fluid indoor-outdoor connections and spaces for performance and activity.
“These projects are about more than shopping,” says Al-Marsumi. “They are places that encourage social connection and civic life. Spaces animated by performance, discovery and the energy of community. That is what defines experience-led retail.” We know that the best forward-thinking retailers want to showcase their products and give their customers exciting immersive brand experiences, our new Westfield Jeddah by Cenomi Centers and Westfield Riyadh by Cenomi Centers projects are designed to deliver that setting.”
Echo’s partnership with Cenomi has also proven its longevity. The Mall of Arabia in Jeddah, completed nearly 20 years ago, remains one of the developer’s best-performing centres and among the most successful malls in Saudi Arabia. The ability to deliver destinations that endure commercially as well as socially is a mark of Echo’s track record.
This blend of international reach and Saudi roots positions Echo uniquely within the Kingdom. The firm is able to bring global best practice into alignment with local culture, creating destinations that are both commercially robust and socially resonant. It is this dual perspective that ensures Echo’s continued relevance in a rapidly changing sector.
For Al-Marsumi, architecture’s role in Saudi Arabia’s next decade is clear. “Architecture can be a catalyst for social and economic change. When designed with knowledge, care and ambition, retail destinations become stages for cultural transformation. They are where the future of society takes shape.”
Looking ahead, Echo Architecture sees an opportunity to play a leading role in shaping the Kingdom’s built environment, with ambitions that extend across the Gulf and beyond. Building on its current pipeline and continuing to fuse Saudi insight with international expertise, the practice is shaping environments where people connect, relax and discover. “Echo was born here and our future is here,” Al-Marsumi concludes. “But our outlook is global. As retail and lifestyle destinations continue to evolve, we will continue to create and to build environments where people and brands can thrive.”
www.echoarchitecture.com
