King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)

Engineered by Saudi Aramco and designed by HOK across 36 km² of Red Sea coast and marine sanctuary at Thuwal, KAUST delivered 6.2 million sq ft of cleanrooms, supercomputing halls, and residential neighborhoods in 36 months (~US$3.0B physical construction inside a US$23B total royal commitment that seeded its US$20B endowment). We rank KAUST at #7 based on its ~US$3.0 billion standalone physical construction cost—behind Oxford's £4.0B OUD build (#6) and ahead of Imperial's £2.0B White City (#8)—rather than inflating its rank with the US$10B–$20B endowment portion of its US$23B royal launch package.