In an important symbol of our partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Arabian Peninsula Affairs Daniel Benaim, U.S. Embassy Riyadh Chargé d’Affaires Martina Strong, and U.S. Consul General in Dhahran David Edginton officially dedicated the new U.S. Consulate General campus in Dhahran.

The new campus is situated on a 10.5-acre site in the Al Andalus District in the city of Al-Khobar and incorporates numerous sustainable features to conserve resources and reduce operating costs, including demand-controlled ventilation, efficient site lighting, and on-site wastewater treatment and reuse. It achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED^®) Silver certification—a globally recognized mark of achievement in high-performance, best-in-class, green buildings.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, LLP of Washington, D.C., was the design architect for the project, and Caddell Construction Company, LLC of Montgomery, Alabama, constructed the complex, employing a workforce of roughly 800 U.S., Saudi Arabian, and third-country nationals and injecting approximately $95 million into the local economy.

Learn more about the project.

Since the start of the Department’s Capital Security Construction Program in 1999, Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) has completed 173 new diplomatic facilities. OBO currently has more than 50 active projects in the design phase or under construction worldwide.

OBO provides safe, secure, functional, and resilient facilities that represent the U.S. government to the host nation and that support U.S. diplomats in advancing U.S. foreign policy objectives abroad.

For further information, please contact OBO External Affairs Director Neda Brown at OBO-External-Affairs@state.gov or visit www.state.gov/obo.