A striking new headquarters has been constructed in Dammam for Raqtan, a provider of comprehensive restaurant solutions across Saudi Arabia and the neighbouring Persian Gulf states. Metadecor played a significant role in this ambitious project. The director of Raqtan envisioned something bold and innovative for the new building, an architectural statement with a quality finish and long-term sustainability. During a business trip, he came across the Toyota Material Handling Netherlands building in Ede, whose façade had been clad with MD Expanded Metal by Metadecor. Impressed by the quality of finish and the elegant simplicity of its architecture, he engaged architect Rempt van der Donk and Metadecor to design the façade cladding for the new Raqtan building. The design also features a patio finished with MD Formatura panels and an eye-catching 12-metre-high steel palm tree.

A second skin of expanded metal

The façades of the office, showroom, and parking structure have been entirely clad with a silver-coloured perforated metal double skin, mounted on an independent steel framework. Thanks to its form and material, the MD Expanded Metal acts as solar shading, protecting the exterior walls from direct sunlight without sacrificing natural light or outward visibility. Combined with triple glazing, this results in considerable energy savings.
From the inside, occupants enjoy unobstructed views, while from the outside, the metal mesh ensures privacy. These façade elements effectively act as the building’s outer skin. Designed with minimal detailing, the rounded corners reinforce the skin-like appearance.

For the pattern, the architect brought together the best of three worlds: sun protection, light permeability, and aesthetics. The result is a distinctive and functional design. Chrome-coloured panels with a durable class 2 coating were mounted to ensure long-lasting colour fidelity. Additionally, our engineers designed a maintenance walkway behind the panels, allowing cleaning staff to access the windows easily, an essential feature in desert climates, where sand is removed not with water but with compressed air.
Finally, we conducted wind tunnel testing to determine the optimal thickness of MD Expanded Metal for the region’s windy conditions. The ultimate aim, of course, was a stable and robust construction.

An oasis of steel and shade

Metadecor also made its mark on the building’s interior with the creation of a shaded patio enclosed in MD Formatura panels and featuring a steel palm tree. For the Raqtan project, the date palm served as the inspiration behind a unique MD Formatura pattern. A mock-up was created with cut-out date shapes, which (once rotated and arranged) formed stylised palm leaves. Much like a real palm, the leafy canopy of the MD Formatura panels casts shadows across the patio floor and walls.

The result is, quite literally, an oasis: a tranquil retreat shaded by a 12-metre-high palm tree constructed entirely from steel. Comparable in size to its natural counterparts, this tree is a testament to precision and planning. In keeping with the mantra “measure twice, cut once,” the tree was first assembled upside down in the Netherlands. The individual sections were then powder-coated in white and shipped to Saudi Arabia for installation.