A joint venture between Egypt's Hassan Allam Holding and Saudi Arabia's AlBawani Holding Company has been awarded a SAR1.84bn ($490mn) contract to build the Saudi Arabia Museum of Contemporary Art (SAMoCA) in Diriyah, the companies announced, Saudi Gulf Projects reported on April 26.

The contract was awarded by Diriyah Company, the developer overseeing the transformation of the historic district on the outskirts of Riyadh into a cultural and tourism destination. The museum forms part of the wider Diriyah masterplan, one of several giga-projects tied to Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 economic diversification agenda.

The works will be carried out by Hassan Allam Construction – Saudi Arabia, a subsidiary of the Cairo-based group ranked among Engineering News-Record's top 50 international contractors, and AlBawani Co. Ltd, a unit of AlBawani Holding Company.

The signing ceremony was attended by Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive of Diriyah Company Group, and Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Hammad, chief executive of the Museums Commission, alongside Hassan Allam, chief executive of Hassan Allam Holding, and Fakher Al Shawaf, group chief executive of AlBawani Holding Company.

The museum will have a gross floor area of 45,252 square metres and a total built-up area of 77,428 square metres. It is located in the centre of Diriyah, the ancestral home of the House of Saud and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is being redeveloped as part of efforts to position the Kingdom as a regional cultural hub.

"This project represents an important milestone in the Group's journey within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and reaffirms our commitment to delivering world-class cultural projects that respect historical heritage and meet national future ambitions," Hassan Allam said, according to Saudi Gulf Projects.

Saudi Arabia has been a core market for Hassan Allam Group for more than five decades. AlBawani Holding has operated in the Kingdom's construction sector for 35 years and has worked on several Vision 2030 giga-projects.