Building Hala Camp Around the Landscape
A camp can look convincing in a drawing and still feel crowded when you imagine spending time there.
Where would you sit? What would you see? Would your evening feel separate from the gathering next door? And how would the team look after the place without service activity becoming part of every guest’s view?
These are some of the questions shaping Hala Camp as construction continues near Jeddah. This first story is about the priorities behind the design—not a claim that every part is already finished.
Start With the Sand
The design direction starts with the site's sand and dune character.
We are leaning towards a lighter palette, natural-looking finishes and spaces that take their cues from the surrounding desert. The aim is not to impose a dark, stone-heavy visual identity on a setting whose character is better expressed through sand and open space.
That does not mean every surface needs to look the same. Contrast has a place, but we want it to support the setting rather than dominate it.
The most useful test is simple: does this choice help the camp feel connected to the place where it is being built?
Privacy Is About More Than Distance
Putting space between units is only part of the question.
The way entrances face, the direction of a view and the routes people take through a site all affect the sense of having your own place. We are considering these relationships as part of a privacy-led layout, rather than treating the camp as rows of identical positions.
Our aim is for a guest to feel connected to the desert without feeling placed in the middle of everyone else’s visit.
The exact layout, view from each unit and level of separation will depend on the final design. We are not promising isolated accommodation or uninterrupted views from every point.
Make Space for Gathering, Too
Privacy should not remove the pleasure of being together.
The camp concept also needs places where conversation can continue and a group can settle into its own pace. We want these shared moments to feel intentional—not like the space left over after everything else has been fitted in.
That creates a design question worth taking seriously: how do you give gatherings their place without making them the centre of every other guest’s experience?
It is one of the balances we are working through as the different parts of the camp develop.
The Work Guests Shouldn’t Have to Think About
A pleasing layout also needs to work for the people caring for it.
We are considering how staff move between spaces, how supplies reach the places they are needed and how cleaning and maintenance can be practical in a sandy setting.
The goal is not to hide operational needs on a plan and solve them later. It is to consider guest routes and service access together, so a design decision that looks good also makes sense in daily use.
These are operating priorities being assessed, not a statement that infrastructure or specific access arrangements are complete.
A Design Visual Is Not a Progress Photograph
A concept image can help explain an idea. A real photograph shows what has actually been built or what the site looks like at that moment.
We will identify them differently. Design visuals will be labelled as concepts, while site updates will use photographs with truthful descriptions of what is shown.
The distinction matters: an attractive render should not be mistaken for a finished room, an installed facility or an experience ready to book.
The Next Chapters
As there is real progress to show, we plan to return to the details that make the project more tangible: how spaces relate to one another, the materials chosen and the practical preparations for receiving guests.
Updates will follow documented developments rather than an artificial countdown. Each one should add something you can see or understand about the camp, not simply repeat that an opening is getting closer.
For the current public opening status, use our opening updates page.
Follow the Camp as It Takes Shape
Hala Camp is a Saudi Safari project under construction near Jeddah. This is the beginning of the story, and there is more to share as the plans become physical spaces.