Central of Hail District Fountain Project | From Design to Completion

Designed, manufactured, installed and commissioned by Guangdong Optimum Show Technology Co., Ltd, the Central of Hail District Fountain is located at the geometric centre of the SAR 268 million Central District redevelopment in Hail.

It is designed as a 106-metre circular ring layout broken into four separate arc pools, joined by two rectangular pools along a central axis. The system carries 1,500 sets of coloured lights and four jet types, all connected and controlled by a single DMX512 control system.

Following below is the record of the project from the site assessment to production, installation, commissioning, programming and handover.

1. Client / Project Owner: Hail Regional Municipality
Designed by Al Marasem Consulting Engineers Company, music fountain constructed by Guangdong optimum Show Technology Co.,Ltd and commissioned by the Hail Regional Municipality within the Central District Development.

2. Location: Hail City, Hail Region, Saudi Arabia
Prince Muqrin bin Abdulaziz Street, Afnan Street, King Faisal Street and Riyadh Street border the plaza, which is in the setting of Qishlah Palace and A'arif Fort.

3. Project Size
The outer ring is 106 metres in diameter. With the two axis pools, the installation creates six distinct pools that are individually engineered as a single composition, in a district with 12,000 m² of interactive fountain area.

4. Fountain Type
Fixed basin plaza fountain with multi zone musical show control, divided into four arcs, thereby letting the show walk around the ring instead of firing as one continuous band of spray.

5. Installation Period & Completion
On-site installation documentation was provided on 13 May 2026 at a temperature of 33°C, and the completed control room was photographed on 21 October 2026, ahead of the district's official inauguration.

Talk to Our Engineer on WhatsApp

Technical Specifications

Specification	Detail
Project Name	Central of Hail District Fountain Project
Project Owner	Hail Regional Municipality
Fabricator	Guangdong Optimum Show Technology Co., Ltd, China
Fountain Type	Fixed basin, multi zone musical fountain
Ring Diameter	106 m
Pool Configuration	Four arc pools and two axis pools
Water Effects	Running, dancing, rotating and Vario jets
Lighting	1,500 sets of coloured lights
Control Protocol	DMX512 with show software
Control Cabinets	12 GGD control cabinets with ABB variable frequency drives
Year of Completion	2026

Six-Pool Zoning: One Ring, Four Arcs, Two Axis Pools
The four quadrant arcs plus the two axis pools are broken into zoning consisting of six pools in total.
Each arc pool is unique, utilizing its own pump group and distribution network and each with a control cabinet, with two axis pools extending the composition to the plaza approach. Choreography is possible at that diameter because a single 106-metre basin operating one circuit cannot replicate the effects, chasing, mirroring and alternating around the circle in four.

Water Shape Vocabulary
Motion travel runs along the arcs of the running jets, while the music responsive layer travels with their dancing counterparts, and the axis pools are served by rotating jets and by Vario jets which open in wide crowns, supported by arched jumping jets which cross the two pools. The nozzles are mounted in four concentric rows along the arc radius with the same spacing between each nozzle, maintaining the appearance of a single line of water for each row of nozzles.

LED Lighting: 1,500 Sets
The 1,500 sets are placed at nozzle level, as opposed to perimetrically, and each jet throws colour vertically through its own water column. Colours are clustered at each pool, allowing the ring to change colour section by section.

DMX512 Control System & Show Software
The system is controlled by DMX512, the same protocol used for theatrical lighting, running dedicated show software. Each nozzle and each light group can be addressed separately from one timeline, assigned to music with each pool having its own voice in the arrangement.

Control Cabinets & Variable Frequency Drives
The control room is made up of 12 GGD low voltage cabinets: a main panel and 11 pool panels, each marked with the relative zone. They contain ABB variable frequency drives, breakers and distribution terminals, and the speed per zone of the pumps is adjusted during commissioning and not during the design phase.

Project Workflow

Stage 1: Site Assessment & Scope Definition

All the fountains start with one question: what should it do? The solution for Hail was providing a civic focal point for a square which the city hadn't previously had, and performing it at night to anchor the "Hail Nights" programme.

Reading the Plaza Geometry
The fountain was required to be located within a preexisting plaza consisting of concentric rings and radial walkways, so the ring diameter, the arc divisions and the axis alignment were all fixed against paving patterns and sightlines set before the fountain arrived.

Coordination With the Consultant & Main Contractor
Basin tolerances, power supply location, drainage and control room location were agreed with the consultant and main contractor. These are the things that delay the mobilisation when left that way on a site of 750,000 m² with multiple trades working at the same time.

Defining Scope Before Design
Before the design was going, zone count, nozzle amounts, lighting distribution and lighting channel capacity were determined. A change at this point may come at the expense of a conversation, while a change after production may end up costing a production run.

Stage 2: Design & 3D Show Simulation

With the scope now settled, the design phase turned those requirements into a visual and technical specification.

Ring-and-Axis Layout Design
Drawings set out all six pools with nozzle positions, pipework routing and light placement. Once the CAD layout was determined, this determined the pool numbers which then remained constant through to manufacturing, cabinet labelling and commissioning.

Water Shape & Choreography Concepts
The visualisation experimented with the patterns they would make: running sequences across the arcs, Vario crowns over the pools along the axis, and full ring dancing curtains for the high moments.

Client Sign-Off Before Production
A 3D show simulation was developed to gain approval before anything moved to production, and the Municipality was able to appreciate the show in its context and not just the specification on paper.

Stage 3: Factory Manufacturing, Inspection & Shipping

Curved Pipe Fabrication & Bending
Bending the pipework to the radius of the arc, cutting down, and flange preparation was performed for the runs that fed each zone individually.

Nozzle Machining & Assembly
Nozzle assemblies were then manufactured and subsequent quality checks were done to batch them according to jet height as per the approved design.

Control Cabinet Production
Drives, breakers and terminals were installed in the six cabinets, and wiring and the DMX512 architecture was completed in Guangzhou. Channel capacity was determined and a margin of headroom was provided, since adding channels after installation costs much more than designing for them.

Inspection & Container Loading
Equipment was checked to specification, pipe assemblies with flange covers were protected against the contaminating effects of transit, and containerisation with customs documentation was performed prior to sailing.

Stage 4: On-Site Installation in Hail

Pipework & Curved Nozzle Row Alignment
Completed basins were fitted with pipework and nozzle bases were installed row by row along each of the arcs, with each row verified against the pool radius prior to filling the pool.

LED Light Installation
Lighting has been added in line with the nozzles rather than placed behind the nozzles, because each piece of lighting was supposed to match the effect in colour within the composition.

Cable Routing & Control Room Build
Waterproof enclosures, grounding and overload protection were installed to cabling from each zone to the control room. Cabinet placement and zone termination were accomplished, and the pumps, valves and lamp groups were terminated and labelled by zone for a single point of DMX512 control.

Working Through the Hail Summer
Building continued through the Saudi summer, including May site exposure at 33°C, with the equipment, seals and cable insulation specified for the entire desert range.

Why a Curve Is Unforgiving

A nozzle that is off by a few degrees would not be noticeable on a straight pool. The eye follows the line on a 106 m arc, so if one jet is misaligned, the row is interrupted throughout that arc. Dry alignment and correction was done first, and wet tests were then carried out to verify the alignment.

Stage 5: Testing, Commissioning & Programming

Dry Checks, Channel Addressing & First Wet Test
Each channel of the DMX512 was checked, all electrical and control connections were checked dry, and water was then put in the system with all choreography off to observe the hydraulic behaviour.

Zone-by-Zone Pressure Balancing
Each pool was tested alone, with jet heights measured in relation to neighbouring pools, and then pump speeds adjusted in the drives until the effects read level across all six pools. This cannot be matched in simulation, as real pipe runs and pump curves are never exactly matched between pools.

Show Programming & Choreography
Music was mapped to the effects, linking all of the elements to a single timeline. Good choreography avoids the temptation of running all the nozzles at the same time; the show is composed much as a composer composes for an orchestra, with each effect being allotted to a particular moment. It is that restraint that turns a massive amount of water into a unified show.

Operator Training & Project Handover
The Municipality team was trained on operation of the panels, on selecting the correct zone, on troubleshooting and on the maintenance routine, including nozzle cleaning, light cleaning, checking the water quality and scheduled pump servicing rather than servicing on failure. Choreography files were documented in order that later shows could be updated without having to rebuild the show.

Engineering Challenges & Solutions

Six Independent Pools on One Show Timeline
A ring 106 metres across, sectioned into four parts, cannot be operated on one hydraulic circuit, because pressure losses differ with the length of the pipe run and the distant end of an arc will sit lower than the adjacent ones. Each pool received its own dedicated pump group and VFD controlled cabinet, and each zone balances independently while being controlled from a single timeline.

Holding Jet Alignment Around a 106-Metre Curve
Concentric rows on a long arc amplify any setting out error into a visible gap in the water line. To maintain a clean continuous curve reading at full jet height, the rows were dry aligned, row by row, to the pool radius.

A Fixed Inauguration Date on an Active 750,000 m² Site
The opening date was established before the works of the fountains were completed, with the works being carried out simultaneously across 750,000 m². Equipment lead times were co-ordinated with the civil works schedule, starting installation in May and completing commissioning in October without any programme extensions.

Desert Climate, Dust and Water Quality
Equipment life and water clarity are both impacted by high summer temperatures, airborne dust and evaporation. The components were specified for the entire temperature range, with the maintenance procedure focused on routine cleaning and water quality monitoring.

Final Result

The Completed Night Show
The ring can be read as a stream of dancing jets the whole 106 metres round at night, with the axis pools below carrying Vario crowns and arched jumping jets in the same colour. The fountain is surrounded by warm perimeter lighting which frames the water, and from the air it is seen as the organising centre of the district.

Official Inauguration
The Central District was inaugurated by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Saad bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Hail Region, in the presence of His Excellency Mr. Majid bin Abdullah Al-Hogail, Minister of Municipalities and Housing, and Eng. Sultan bin Hamid Al-Zaydi, Mayor of Hail Region.

Civic & Cultural Impact
The fountain is the focal point of the "Hail Nights" programme of light and sound festivals and Five Continents Nights, within a district that has transformed thoroughfares and parking areas into 3,000 trees, 12 km of pedestrian pathways and a 13,000 m² open air theatre.

Tourism & Economic Impact
The fountain is the heart of a square that offers 17 commercial outlets, restaurants and cafés, and 250,000 m² for community events, bringing the visitor traffic that businesses rely on, while helping the Municipality achieve its goal of positioning Hail as a competitive tourist destination in the era of Saudi Vision 2030.

Added to Optimum Show's International Portfolio
Hail joins the Sheikh Zayed Festival Fountain in Abu Dhabi, the Riyadh Boulevard City Fountain in Saudi Arabia, the Baghdad Island 300-metre floating fountain in Iraq and the Taykazan Floor Fountain in Astana, all implemented as a single package by a single team responsible for design, production, installation, debugging and after-sales.

Request a Customised Fountain Design

Each site has a different geometry, budget and show ambition. Optimum Show provides assistance to projects from the feasibility and concept design to manufacturing, installation, commissioning, operator training and long-term technical support.

Guangdong Optimum Show Technology Co., Ltd. 14th Floor, Block F, Jianshe Building, 123 Yanling Road, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China