OFFSHORE HOSPITALITY
The RIG
Arabian Gulf, Saudi Arabia
Architecture Lead · Package 4
Concept — 100% FEED
Jacobs for The RIG / PIF. Original overall concept by HOK. My role: Architecture Lead, Package 4 Energy Hub.
DESIGN LEAD · ARCHITECT
A STRONG CONCEPT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
The real work is keeping it coherent
as complexity grows.
CONCEPT VISION &
DELIVERY GOVERNANCE
WHAT I DO
I help clients turn ambitious ideas into buildings that matter.
Shaping the design, working through key decisions with clients, and collaborating with architects, engineers and specialists.
PROJECT EXPERIENCE
Across scales.
Across typologies.
The environments I work in.
Hospitality
Hotels, resorts and destination projects.
Mixed-use
Workplace, retail and living within one development.
High-rise
Office and residential towers.
Masterplanning
Districts, development frameworks and public space.
Infrastructure
Operational facilities and complex technical programmes.
Residential
Homes, villas and residential developments.
Selected work
SELECTED WORK
HOSPITALITY & URBAN LIFE
RUA Al Madinah
Madinah, Saudi Arabia
Hospitality planning · D1 design contribution
Superblock 4
Jacobs for RUA Al Madinah Holding Company. D1 layout and façade development within the wider Superblock 4 concept team.
MIXED-USE & WORKPLACE
Genzon Binhaiwan
Dongguan, China
Asset concept design · Team leadership
Concept & schematic design
PHA Design (PH Alpha) for Genzon Real Estate. Selected asset concepts and team coordination within the wider development.
RETAIL & PUBLIC REALM
The Ring
Chongqing, China
Façade & rooftop landscape contribution
Design development & construction coordination
PHA Design (PH Alpha) for Hongkong Land. Contribution during construction to façade and rooftop-landscape packages.
OPERATIONAL FACILITIES
Qiddiya
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Design Lead · Infrastructure facilities
Concept & schematic design
Jacobs for Qiddiya. Concept and schematic design across the facilities package. Image: district security and operations facility.
THE CONTRIBUTION
The decisions behind the image.
The people behind the work.
How I lead
design.
Identify the architectural idea worth developing. Test it through massing, planning and design options, before detail obscures the important decisions.
Set the priorities early, review alternatives and give the team a clear framework. Keep the architecture consistent with the direction agreed with the client.
Turn competing priorities into decisions people can act on. Work with clients, designers and technical disciplines to resolve interfaces and keep responsibilities clear.
Know what needs to be protected, what can change and what must be resolved as detail increases. Keep design intent visible through reviews, coordination and delivery.
MANIFESTO
ARCHITECTURE IS NOT AN OBJECT. IT IS A LIVING SYSTEM.
People, space, structure, environment and technology continuously shape one another. I believe architecture should respond to those relationships rather than treat them as separate problems.
New technologies expand what we can understand and what we can design. But their value lies in what they enable for people, not in the technology itself.
PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY
Different markets.
Different pressures.
One design practice.
Construction technology, architectural theory and design culture formed the foundation: begin with context, meaning and a clear architectural idea.
Almost a decade of towers, masterplans and mixed-use work taught me to lead concepts at scale, decide quickly and translate ambition into persuasive design direction.
Complex programmes brought architecture into constant dialogue with engineering, BIM, client review and delivery—strengthening the discipline needed to protect intent as constraints grow.
ABOUT
I’m Daniele Lazzaretti, an architect and Design Lead. I began in Rome, where construction technology, architectural theory and design culture gave me both a technical foundation and a reason to ask what an idea is for. I then spent almost a decade in China, working on towers, masterplans and mixed-use developments. The pace and scale taught me to set a clear concept, make decisions quickly and guide teams around one shared direction.
In the Gulf, the work became more multidisciplinary. Architecture had to remain coherent across engineering, BIM, programme requirements and client review.
Together, those environments shaped how I work today: understand what matters, establish a strong architectural direction, and protect it as more people, detail and constraints enter the project.
EMERGING PRACTICE
Judgement first.
Technology
as leverage.
I explore AI, agents and automation where they make design work clearer: testing ideas, connecting information and reducing repetitive work.
My current practice also includes training and evaluating AI for professional CAD and BIM workflows. Architectural judgement remains the point of reference.
AI TRAINING & EVALUATIONCAD / BIM WORKFLOWSAGENTS & AUTOMATION
NOTES & PERSPECTIVES
Thinking
out loud.
Architecture. Practice.
And the questions in between.
A series of essays is taking shape.
Coming soon.
DESIGN PRACTICE
What keeps a concept coherent?
Design intent, client decisions and the work between them.
INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE
Different markets. A different way of seeing.
Notes on scale, speed and architectural judgement.
ARCHITECTURE & TECHNOLOGY
Where judgement meets the machine.
The place of professional expertise in emerging design tools.