Executive summary
The Expo 2030 masterplan is the work of a 30-firm international consortium led by LAVA (Laboratory for Visionary Architecture) as Lead Consultant, Architect and Master Planner. LAVA was appointed Custodian for the transition into detailed design and implementation in August 2026, following its World Design Awards 2026 Gold recognition. This piece catalogues the full consortium and summarises the framework’s central choices: a nature-led plan around the reactivated Wadi Al Sulai. Five districts arrange around a Central Plaza. A Global Village legacy is programmed to survive the six-month event window.
The consortium in full
The Better Future Awards project brief lists 30 firms and individuals in the design and delivery team. Roles as attributed by the project brief follow.
- LAVA: Lead Consultant, Architect and Master Planner
- 9E Global: Infrastructure, utilities, MEP engineering, structural engineering ECC and vertical assets
- BARC SOLUTIONS: Acoustics, audiovisual, broadcast, ICT, security, theatre and staging
- bucharest.studio: Visualisation
- Buro Happold: Engineering, governance, strategic planning, mobility planning, crowd modelling, sustainability and smart city
- Christine Losecaat MBE 鲁睿婷: Major events and Expo advisor
- Design Confidence: Accessibility; fire, life and safety
- Doug and Wolf: Visualisation
- dpa lighting consultants: Lighting design
- EPG I Event Planning Group, an Identity Company: Operations consultant
- Expo Pavilion Group EPG: Exhibition design (Icon, Souk and KSA Pavilion)
- Gorgeous Group: Hospitality consultant
- LAND: Landscape architecture
- LAND Research Lab: Ecosystem assessment and parametric design
- Linesight: Cost consultant
- Montana S.p.A.: Hydrology plan, waste management, environmental plan and climate change
- Omrania: Architect of record
- place ấp: Urban planning support
- Plan A Consultants: Design management
- Redas engineering: Transport, mobility and logistics consultant
- Samantha Cotterell: Expo design strategic advisor
- schlaich bergermann partner sbp: Structural engineer, KSA Pavilion
- Spaceagency: Wayfinding and signage
- Squint/Opera: Animation
- studio3eight: Architecture support
- Think Hospitality: Hospitality consultant
- Thornton Tomasetti: Structural engineer, Icon
- Design by Toko: Graphic design
- Transsolar KlimaEngineering: Climate engineering
- Tricon Foodservice Consultants Ltd: Food and beverage consultant
The design framework
The masterplan replaces a rectilinear grid with a radial layout organised around the reactivated Wadi Al Sulai. From a central plaza, cool routes formed by the wadis extend outward. They define a cellular framework shaped by parametric modelling of the site’s existing topography and hydrology. LAVA partner Chris Bosse describes the intent as an ecosystem rather than a series of buildings. Nature-based drainage, tree planting and soil stabilisation restore the wadi’s ecological function.
Fractal and nature-inspired geometries organise built form at multiple scales. The intent, per the Better Future Awards project brief, is to optimise airflow, daylight and spatial efficiency while enhancing human comfort in a desert climate.
Five districts around a central plaza
LAVA’s project page identifies five districts arranged around the Central Plaza. Three are dedicated to Expo themes: Transformational Technology, Sustainable Solutions and Prosperous People. A fourth represents the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The fifth, Global Collaboration, hosts large gatherings and events.
The Better Future Awards project brief uses alternative editorial names for the three thematic districts (A Different Tomorrow, A Climate of Possibility and A Prosperous Tomorrow). These likely reflect the same three concepts under different naming conventions.
Each district functions as a village with its own architectural language derived from fractal geometry. Food, retail and social offerings are embedded across the cellular network alongside pavilion space.
Mobility and connection
The World Avenue Loop is the central pedestrian and soft-mobility boulevard connecting the five districts. Elevated paths and shaded corridors provide direct routes to key destinations. The design is intended to keep the site walkable during Riyadh summer conditions. The Expo connects to Riyadh’s metro network. It sits adjacent to King Salman International Airport and links to major arterial roads. LAVA frames the plan as complementary to the Green Riyadh Project and to the city’s expansion of walking and cycling infrastructure.
Legacy: from Expo to Global Village
The site is not designed to be dismantled after the 31 March 2031 close. The masterplan programmes a post-Expo transformation into a mixed-use urban district described by LAVA as a “global village”. The programme covers residential, cultural, retail and community uses on the same footprint. Temporary and permanent structures are differentiated from the outset. This lets Expo-mode elements be disassembled, repurposed or integrated into legacy fabric.
The legacy-first design ambition is the central editorial claim of the consortium’s work: that a World Expo can generate a permanent district rather than leaving stranded infrastructure once the crowds disperse.
Sources
- Better Future Awards: project brief for Expo 2030 Riyadh.
- LAVA: project page for Expo 2030 Riyadh, with quotes from partner Chris Bosse.
Consortium roles are quoted as listed by Better Future Awards. District names cross-reference LAVA’s project page and the project brief. The official theme registered with the Bureau International des Expositions is “Foresight for Tomorrow”. The Custodian appointment announcement is separately covered in a signal published 5 August 2026.