Wadi Safar

Just outside Riyadh sit the foundations of a secretive urban development envisioned for Saudi Arabia's most influential people. The challenge: how to build desire and excitement amongst a target audience for which status is everything, and money is no object.

Part of the broader Vision 2030, Wadi Safar is an invite-only residence and leisure destination being constructed at the geographical birthplace of the House of Saud. Inspired by both modern urbanism and historical Najdi architecture, the complex consists of a community of bespoke palaces and amenities conceived by prestigious brand partners.

An audience of such extreme net worth made securing user interviews practically impossible. We were reliant on regional research and stakeholder insights, the latter being far from concrete due to infrastructure and partnership agreements still in progress. Working with validated assumptions, we defined a clear design direction and set out to create a unique app to articulate pillars of exclusivity, architecture, community, and luxury — facilitating private invitations to prestigious branded events and teasing hospitality and leisure partner facilities.

Inspired by luxury and concierge apps such as Velocity Black and Rolls-Royce Whispers, we championed native app patterns and interactions to weave together an immersive, full-screen experience. We explored ways to accentuate both mystery and cultural nuance — including mosaic patterns from traditional Najdi design — and created English and Arabic screen variants to gauge how components and copy translated when the interface was flipped left to right.

Invite-only entry — A mysterious, full-screen welcome that immediately articulates the invite-only proposition before requesting Arabic or English language preference.

Frictionless authentication — A succinct two-factor flow with each user's profile pre-set on the back end and a private pin sent directly to their device, catering for a time-poor, security-conscious audience.

The app tour — A five-step tour to swipe through, teasing perks such as exclusive leisure access, a peerless community, and a bespoke piece of generative art for each resident.

Minimal homescreen — Focus on partner updates and invitations via notification cards, whilst encouraging exploration using a traditional four-path navigation with culturally relevant iconography.

Events area — Branded imagery fuels intrigue; details are kept light with title, date and attendee status, and a carousel entices interaction.

Personalised invitations — Event details led by personalised, vertical invitation videos from brand ambassadors, each closing with a simple RSVP to confirm attendance and guests.

Mosaic interface — A drag- and accelerometer-sensitive mosaic, inspired by traditional Najdi design, giving users a glimpse of the leisure facility and brand-partnership content housed beneath.

Explore detail pages — Champion native interactions with scroll-jacked, full-screen content modules running vertically, and a horizontal swipe nav to flick between amenity or partner pages without going back up a level.

Content modules — House CGI imagery, maps, insightful quotes and snappy highlights, with a persistent button to anchor users intuitively back to the top of the page.

Digital signature — The account section introduces the prospective buyer to the digital signature concept, using an automated tour to explain how it will evolve with, and eventually become a unique key to, their Wadi Safar home.

Sales details — Brochure details including maps, plot details and architectural plans are easily accessible, with direct contact to a personal relationship manager available here, or globally via the top nav.