BIM case studies in Saudi Arabia: Six Flags Qiddiya, Lucid Motors and Bank AlJazira

BIM case studies from Saudi Arabia are easy to find in brochures and hard to find with real scope. This article sets out three AIM United projects as they are recorded in our project register: what the client asked for, which levels of development we delivered, and what we would tell the next owner planning a similar job.

We do not publish contract values, and we do not quote savings figures we cannot back with project data. What follows is scope, method and lessons.

Six Flags Qiddiya City: coordinating 94 buildings

Client: Al Qiddiya Investment Company. Location: Qiddiya, Riyadh. Years: 2023 to 2025, completed.
Scope: MEP design modelling, coordinated shop drawings and multi-discipline clash resolution for 94 buildings, from LOD 400 to LOD 500, including sitewide external power and lighting.

Six Flags Qiddiya City opened on 31 December 2025. Behind the rides sit dozens of buildings that guests rarely notice: plant rooms, food and retail units, ride stations, service buildings and the networks that feed them. Each building has its own MEP, and all of them connect to sitewide power and lighting.

How the work ran

With 94 buildings, the risk is less about one hard clash and more about consistency. A coordination rule agreed for one building has to hold for the next ninety. The model was set up so that every building followed the same structure, naming and clash test matrix, and the external power and lighting networks were coordinated with the building connections they serve.

Shop drawings came out of the coordinated model at LOD 400, so the site installed from the same geometry the clash tests had checked. The models were then updated to LOD 500 to record what was built.

Lesson for owners

On multi-building sites, ask the BIM team to show its standard building template and clash matrix before modelling starts. A shared template is what keeps building 94 as well coordinated as building 1. Our BIM coordination and clash detection service starts with that template.

Lucid Motors Phase 2, KAEC: the whole plant in one model

Client: Albawani. Location: King Abdullah Economic City. Years: 2024, ongoing.
Scope: full multi-discipline BIM for Phase 2 of an EV plant of 1,043,476 m²: LOD 400 models across MEP, civil, architecture and interiors, clash resolution, LOD 500 as-builts, 4D planning and Power BI links to 5D cost data.

Lucid opened its first international plant, AMP-2, in King Abdullah Economic City in September 2023, starting with the assembly of vehicle kits made in Arizona. Arab News reported an initial capacity of 5,000 cars a year and a plan for up to 150,000 a year once full production begins. Phase 2 is the expansion that takes the site toward that goal.

How the work runs

Factories mix very large spans with very dense services. Process utilities, compressed air, ventilation, fire protection and power distribution all run across the roof structure, often above production lines that cannot move once installed. AIM's team models every discipline to LOD 400 in a federated model, resolves clashes before fabrication, and records the result at LOD 500.

Two additions make the model useful beyond coordination. The 4D link ties model elements to the construction programme, so the team can see the planned sequence and test it. The Power BI link connects model quantities to 5D cost data, so cost reports draw on the same quantities the site is building. Our project management and 4D planning service covers this workflow.

Lesson for owners

If you want 4D and 5D, ask for them at the start. Linking schedule and cost needs a model structured by zone and activity from day one. Adding it halfway through means re-tagging thousands of elements.

Bank AlJazira headquarters: scan to BIM in Jeddah

Client: Bank AlJazira. Location: Al Shatea', Jeddah. Years: 2025, ongoing.
Scope: 3D laser scan-to-BIM of the headquarters to a validated LOD 500 as-built model, with a full MEP and security review against SAMA banking standards.

Many owners in the Kingdom run buildings without a reliable record of what is inside their walls and ceilings. Drawings from construction rarely match the building after years of changes. A laser scan solves this by measuring the building as it stands.

How the work runs

The team scans the building with terrestrial laser scanners, registers the scans into one point cloud, and models architecture, structure and MEP against it. The model is checked against the point cloud before it is called LOD 500. With the as-built model in place, AIM reviews the MEP and security systems against SAMA's banking standards, which tells the bank where its building meets the requirements and where it needs work.

Lesson for owners

A scan-based model is a base for decisions. Use it for refurbishment design, compliance reviews and, later, a digital twin for facility management. Read more about the method in our article on scan to BIM for existing and heritage buildings, and see our 3D laser scanning and scan to BIM service.

What else is on AIM United's Saudi BIM register?

The same methods run across our current work, much of it for returning clients:

• Qiddiya Speed Park (Al Qiddiya Investment Company, 2025, ongoing): mechanical and electrical BIM from LOD 400 fabrication models to LOD 500 as-builts. GrandPrix.com reported the circuit 39% complete in April 2026.
• Wadi and Gateway hotels, Qiddiya (2026, ongoing): MEP BIM at LOD 400 and LOD 500 with a design review of the MEP systems.
• Living Heritage cultural centre, Qiddiya (2026, ongoing): multi-discipline BIM from LOD 400 to LOD 500 with a design review across architecture, structure and MEP.
• Salboukh Data Centre (Albawani, 2026, ongoing): civil, architectural and infrastructure BIM with clash resolution. See BIM for data centres in Saudi Arabia.
• Gharb Jeddah Hospital (Al Habib Medical Group, 2022 to 2024): MEP design and a move from 2D drawings to coordinated 3D BIM with clash detection and shop drawings.

What do these projects have in common?

Three habits carry from one job to the next:

1. Agree the level of development per element, per stage, in writing. "LOD 400" on a cover sheet is not enough. Our BIM modelling and shop drawings team works from an element-by-element LOD table.
2. Coordinate on a fixed cycle with named owners. Clashes close faster when every issue has an owner and a date.
3. Verify the as-built in the field. LOD 500 means the model was checked against what was built. That check is what makes the model safe to use for operations.

AIM United is certified to ISO 9001, 14001, 45001, 41001 and 19650, and runs these projects from its Jeddah headquarters with a team of more than 250 engineers.

Frequently asked questions

Written by the AIM United BIM team in Jeddah. AIM United delivers BIM, scan to BIM, digital twins and design-build across Saudi Arabia.