Maraya Al Ula

Maraya is a concert hall and events venue in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, set in the Ashar Valley. Its walls are covered entirely in mirrored glass, so the building takes on the colours of the cliffs and sky around it. Visitors come to see a piece of architecture that seems to melt into the desert, and to attend a performance in a very unusual setting. The outside is the main draw. As you walk around the building, it fades from view and reappears, depending on the angle and the light. The exterior is clad in 9,740 mirrored panels, and the building holds a Guinness World Records title. Inside, a floor-to-ceiling glass facade 26 metres high looks out over the valley. The venue hosts concerts, cultural events, conferences and other performances. It is open from 18:00 to 00:00, and there is no minimum age, so families can include children in an evening visit. The name Maraya means "mirror" in Arabic, and the design takes that idea literally. Rather than competing with the sandstone cliffs of Ashar Valley, the building reflects them, which lets a modern structure sit quietly in an old landscape. Many visitors treat it as a first introduction to the way AlUla mixes contemporary design with its natural surroundings.