Traditional Sustainability: Environmental

Designs in the Traditional Buildings of the

Middle East

Zainab Faruqui Ali, PhD, Amani Alamoudi, Badriah Alajmi, Eman Khayat, Sumayyah
Alshraim
University of Dammam
zfali@ud.edu.sa

Keywords:
Traditional, architecture, sustainable, environmental strategies, comfort.

ABSTRACT
The traditional mud buildings present throughout the hot dry countries of the Middle East provide
excellent references to the sustainable elements of architecture. This paper presents the results of the
research of a few buildings in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates in terms of
architectural problems due to climate, and the environmental elements as their solutions. The buildings
studied ranges from mud houses, mud palaces to souks or bazars. These are, Shaikh Issa House in
Muharraq, Kingdom of Bahrain, Al-Mulla House in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia (K.S.A), Souk Waqif in Doha,
Qatar, and Shaikh Saeed Al Maktoum House in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E). Measurements
were taken of air temperature, relative humidity, and airflow. Observations were made on the various
aspects such as plan, form, orientation, sections, elevations, materials and methods of construction and
details of the buildings. Comfort survey was conducted among the occupants. The paper shows that the
traditional architectural solutions to the climatic problems of the Middle Eastern countries such as thick
walls, small openings, shaded courtyards, use of local materials and a few special strategies work very
well in the context in terms of providing comfortable environment indoors. The measurements of
temperature, relative humidity and airflow compared to the comfort ranges of the region, reinforce the
sustainable design of these buildings.

INTRODUCTION

The case studies for this research are located in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Bahrain,
United Arab Emirates and Qatar, all of which fall under the broader umbrella of tropical hot-dry climate
Ragette, 2012). The buildings range from market or Souk, small single courtyard house, to large multiple
courtyard houses. The masons used local materials and methods in these buildings. An in-depth pilot
research on the environmental behavior and related climate modifying elements and strategies of these
buildings were conducted recently. These traditional building in the Middle Eastern hot-dry tropical
climate is of mud. Whether made of poured in mud, or sun-dried mud blocks, they are good in making
indoors cooler than outside (Bekleyen & Dalkiliç, 2011). The thicknesses of the earth walls help keep
the indoors considerably cool (Vincent, 2008). With walls of high thermal mass and other environmental
strategies, these buildings are able to keep the interiors much cooler than outdoors. Courtyards in these
buildings meet environmental and privacy requirement well (Laffah, 2006)(Awadhi & Hasan, 2011).
Author A is a professor at the College of Design, University of Dammam, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Author B, C, D, E are graduate
students of the Department of Architecture, University of Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

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 CASE STUDIES

Location, Plan, Section, and Elevation

Locations Table 1. Plan, Section and Elevation
Map

(1)
Doha, Qatar
Souk Waqif

(2) Elevation (3) 3D view (4) Site plan

Al-Mulla House
Al-Ahsa, K.S.A.

(5) Main façade

(6) Gr. floor (7) 1st floor
Muharraq, Bahrain
Shaikh Issa House

(8) Main façade (10) Gr. floor (11) 1st floor

(9) Elevation (12) Section

Dubai, U.A.E.
Al Maktoum
House

(13) Southern façade

(14) Gr.floor (15) 1st floor (16) Elevation

Location, Climate and Building Description

Table 2. Location, Climate, Building and View
Location

Doha, Qatar Al-Ahsa, K.S.A. Muharraq, Bahrain Dubai, U.A.E.

25.2867°N 25.4294° N 26.2500° N 24.4667° N
Coastal city. Oasis city in desert. Coastal city. Coastal city.
Climate

(1) Hot-dry tropical. (2) Hot-dry tropical. (3) Hot-dry tropical. (4) Hot-dry tropical.

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 Market complex. Irregular shaped 2 storied house 2 storied

Building
Narrow shaded 3-courtyard with 4 courtyards courtyard house
roads, with wind building. & wind tower. with wind tower
View tower-buildings. and liwans.

(5) Wind tower house, (6) Central courtyard, (7) Central courtyard, (8) Central courtyard,
Doha Al-Ahsa Muharraq Dubai.

FINDINGS: CLIMATE MODIFYING ELEMENTS/STRATEGIES

The Findings of the research is given in the following chart for ease of comparison of the
architecture of the four countries. This also shows the environmental strategies, which are common in
some of the buildings, as well as strategies that are unique to a single building.
Table 3. Environmental Strategies
Environmental Elements/Strategies Countries
Compactness
Compact urban form, building shading building,
shaded walkways. Protection from direct solar
radiation & hot wind (fig 1, 2, 3, 4).
(1) Doha (2) S Arabia (3) Bahrain (4) Dubai
Orientation
Building oriented N-S for min. solar radiation and
max. exposure to wind & cross ventilation (fig
5). Evaporative cooling from creek (fig 6, 7).
Openings in north façade. Tilted east façade
for northeast breeze (fig 8, 9).
(5) Doha (6,7) Dubai
Walkways/Alleys
Double & triple height buildings, narrow roads,
various angles of winding roads, building
orientation create shade in the alleys (fig 10).
(8,9) Bahrain
Plantation
The photosynthesis strategy of plants reduces the
heat gain on the roads, which reduces the
temperature of immediate microclimate (fig
11, 12). (10) Doha

Shaded Walkways/Alleys
The alleys in many cases are covered with fabric to
provide shade, thereby cooler alleys (Al-Eidi,
L., 2013) (fig 14).
(11,12) Dubai (13) Dubai (14) Doha
Façade
Solid walls & minimum openings on the western
and southern façades to delay & reduce solar
gain (fig 15).

Windows
Small recessed windows & clerestory, few in
number, bring controlled & indirect natural
light, thus less heat gain. Wooden frame and
shutters (fig 16,17) (15) Dubai (16) Dubai (17) S Arabia

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Parapet Detailing
Roof parapet consists of hidden openings which
allow air movement and privacy (fig 18,19,20)
(18, 19, 20) Bahrain
Courtyards
Courtyards, generally small & partially shaded
most of the time, help air cool down before
entering indoors (fig 21, 22). Wells in
courtyard help evaporative cooling (fig 23).
(21) S Arabia (22) Dubai (23) Bahrain
Space Layering
Space sequence is from outdoors to wide shaded
corridor or liwan, then to room. Layering of
space makes rooms cooler than outdoors.
Breeze gets cooler by passing through this
shaded space, before entering the room (fig 24,
25). (24, 25) S Arabia
Corridor/Arcade or Liwans
Courtyards have surrounding arcades or liwans.
These shaded semi-outdoor spaces block direct
sunlight from penetrating indoors and provide
shade to rooms; provide passage for occupants
without being exposed to direct sun (fig 26, (26) Bahrain (27) Dubai
27). Covered liwan, used for sitting, with thick
roof and arcaded walls is cooler than outdoors
in summer. As found in the study, liwan -
35˚C, outdoor - 37 to 39˚C. Arcaded corridors
guide the breeze well.
(28) Dubai (29) Bahrain
Shading
Shading of walls, openings, courtyards, liwans is
the most effective strategy to keep interiors
cooler. (Batterjee, 2010). This also helps in
circulation of warmer air outwards (fig 30,
31).
(30, 31) Bahrain
Wind Towers or Badjir
Common in this region. Brings in cooler air from
higher up which circulates through interior
spaces; sometimes water is sprinkled in the
surrounding walls to cool the air more (fig 32,
33).
House in Moharraq has a large badjir, in Majlis or
women’s living room. Temperature below the
tower was 1˚C cooler than rest of the room. (32) Muharraq (33) Dubai
High Windows
High windows work as air fan, since lighter warm
air rises up and escapes through high
openings, allowing cooler air to enter the room
from below (fig 34, 35, 36). (34) Dubai

Roshan, Perforated Screen Openings (36) Bahrain

Perforated screen or ventilator or roshan very
effective in reducing room temp; warm air
rises up and escapes through it. The screen
diffuses the direct sunlight and reduces heat
gain (fig 37).
(35) S Arabia (37) Doha

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 3 layers of perforated openings let air escape
more frequently, depending on its temp.
(fig 38, 39, 40).

(38) S Arabia (39, 40) Bahrain

Monsoon Window/Horizontal Slit Window
The monsoon windows are small horizontal
openings in the walls, which provide natural
ventilation, indirect sunlight and privacy. It is
mainly used on the exterior walls of 1st floor
(fig 41). (41) Bahrain
Roof Material
Roof consisting of mud, palm trunks, bamboo,
mangrove wood and palm leaves provide good
thermal insulation (fig 42, 43).

Roof Thermal Mass

Thermal mass of thick roof aid in delaying and
reducing solar gain inside. Roof thickness is
between 0.30m to 0.70m (42) Dubai (43) Doha
Wall Material
Walls of mud blocks, coral stone, palm trunks and
straws act as very good insulators.
Poured in mud, or sun-dried mud blocks of rough
texture. A variety of interior materials help
diffuse sunlight (fig 44, 45)

Wall Thermal Mass

(44, 45) Doha
All four case study buildings have thick mud
walls, typical of Middle Eastern architecture;
wall thickness is from 0.40m to 1.00m. This
gives high thermal mass to the building;
thereby reducing and delaying heat gain inside (46) Bahrain (47) Dubai
(fig 48). Fursh coral, 0.07 m thick, was used
with mud for infill panels between piers and
for partitions. Dubai house had a difference of
2.7°C between outer and inner surfaces of
exterior wall: •1-outer 35°C, •2-inner 32.3°C
(fig 49).

(48) Bahrain (49) Dubai

Floor
Mostly earth over compacted sand. Some exterior
ones were of rough cut stone. Mud kept floor
cool (fig 50, 51). In Dubai, surface
temperatures of floors at various spaces were:
•1-unshaded area 37.8°C, •2 shaded liwan
34.0°C, •3 -room 31°C (fig 52). (50, 51) Dubai (52) Dubai

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FINDINGS: ANALYSIS OF DATA ON TEMPERATURE, RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND AIRFLOW

Comfort Zone

Figure 1 Application of Comfort Zone in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Source: (S. A. ALAJLAN, M. S. SMIAI, U. A. ELANI, 1997)

The comfort zones are similar for the hot-dry climates of these four adjacent countries, varying
slightly from each other. The comfort zone of Saudi Arabia, which has the lower average temperatures
among the four countries, has been taken as a standard for all countries.
The comfort values for different climatic elements can be considered as standard for Saudi Arabia
as established by ALAJLAN, SMIAI, ELANI. According to Fig.1 summer temperature range is from
28˚C to 33˚C and Relative humidity ranges from 42% to 55%. With mass effect, and evaporative
cooling, both of which is present and practiced in these buildings at a high level, the upper limit of the
comfort temperature can be above 40˚C, and humidity can range from 15% to 58%.
Table 4. Temperature, Relative Humidity and Airflow
Market/Souk ˚C RH Air Al-Mulla ˚C RH % Air
Waqif % m/ House m/s
Space

Space

Doha, Qatar s Al-Ahsa K.S.A.

Nov Nov May Nov May May
A 5922 0.9 1 29 39 48 28.4 1.1
B 24
48.9 0.4 1 26.1 40 55 34 1.7
C 5924 0.5 2 24.4 35.9 62 39 0.6
C 26.1
52.6 0.4 3 25.9 38 57 32.3 0.7
D 24.9
57.2 1.2 3 25.6 44 51 24.6 0.7
D 25.3
53.4 4 23 36 64 33.3 0
E 25.8
52.7 0.4 5 25 36 58 48 0
F 26.9
46.6 0.4 7 27 39 43 30 0
G 27.8
46.6 0.5 8 24.6 35 57 35.8 0
H 4526 1.3 9 28 38 47 37 0.6
I 32
40.9 0.9 10 25.5 38.8 56.4 31.4 0
I 4329 1.5 11 25.8 39 60 31 0
Table 5. Temperature and Relative Humidity
Shaikh Issa House, Muharrq, Space Name ˚C RH %
Space

Bahrain Nov May Nov May

1 Entrance 24 35.7 0.73 30

2 Family Courtyard 30.1 38 50.1 22
4 Family majles 27 35 58.3 25
11 Under the badjer 27 35 61.1 31
12 Family majles 26.2 35 60 33
13 Children living room 28.4 35.6 47.1 28.6
14 Room for married son 28.6 35.8 45.6 28
15 Sheikh courtyard 32.2 34.5 46.9 32.6
19 Shaikh room 29.3 32.6 52.5 35.5
21 The sheikh son room 27.9 33.3 57.4 31.3

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 22 Services courtyard 27.6 35.4 53.3 26.5
27 Kitchen 26.8 35.3 57.5 35.8
28 Business majles 26.5 34.9 60.8 27.7
29 Kitchen 26.5 35 58.5 21
30 Uncovered passage 26.6 35.4 60.1 26.5
31 Visitor court 26.4 35.3 52.6 20.4
38 Portico 28.9 35.7 46.9 29.5
39 Shieak living room 28.9 35 48.5 33
40 Open area 27.9 35.5 45.8 29.6
Table 6. Temperature, Relative Humidity and Airflow
Shaikh Saeed Al-Maktoum ˚C RH % Air m/s

Space
House, Dubai, U.A.E. Space Name Nov May Nov May Nov May

1 Shaded side street 25.4 34.2 62.1 46.4 0 1.5

2 Unshaded side street 27.5 36.5 62.1 46.3 0 1.5
3 Open courtyard/plaza 30.6 36.3 42.2 46.3 1.2 1
(A) Shaded 26.7 35.2 52.4 52 0 1.1
(B) Unshaded 28 36.6 49.5 46.5 0 1.4
C Summer room 27.5 34 48.1 52.4 1.2 1.5
Open roof, partly
D 28.3 34 47.7 51 1.7 1.5
shaded

The analysis of data in Tables 4, 5 and 6 is presented below.

Market or Souk, Doha, Qatar

It is a semi-outdoor space. As average temperature of Qatar is higher than Saudi Arabia, the
comfort zone of Saudi Arabia well served the function of comfort assessment here, as in Figure 1. Data
in market spaces met the comfort values in the beginning of winter. Market spaces’ temperature range
was 22-27.8°C and relative humidity 46.6-59%. Both the values are within the comfort range as shown
in Figure 1 As the Comfort chart suggested, in Figure 1, high thermal mass, night ventilation and
evaporative cooling, all of which existed in the buildings, effectively helped the spaces be comfortable in
summer and winter.

Al Mulla House, Al-Ahsa, K.S.A.

In winter, when the exterior temperature was low, the interior temperature was warmer and the
reverse was observed for summer. Roofs of the house is made of wooden beams, palm trunks and leaves,
palm leaf or bamboo mat which, topped by earth, acted as insulating material against the summer heat
and the cold of winter. The measurements in various rooms show that internal temperature remains
nearly constant around the day on a typical summer or winter day, while the ambient temperature has a
large diurnal variation. House has no trees inside the courtyard now. It originally had some in the
courtyard, which helped in more comfortable performance of the building. Relative humidity indoors
was found to be lower than outdoors, which added to the comfort conditions.

Shiekh Issa House, Muharraq, Bahrain

It is seen that there are variations in data of different spaces depending on the orientation, proximity
to courtyard, level of floor, liwan location, number and types of openings, etc. Indoor spaces are warmer
in winter and quite cooler in summer than the outdoor readings. Temperature and relative humidity are
within the comfort range.

Shaikh Saeed Al Maktoum House, Dubai, U.A.E.

Dubai was relatively more humid in both seasons, compared to other countries. In terms of comfort
conditions, the building performance in summer was better than winter. In winter, temperature and

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humidity were almost within the comfort zone. The cooler breeze that was cooling the indoors was due
to the presence of the creek nearby. As a result, relative humidity was within the comfort zone. In winter,
airflow was almost nil in some spaces which were warmer than the breezier spaces.
Summer had higher airflow in the spaces of all case study buildings. Measurements of temperature
and Relative Humidity were within comfort ranges. Comfort survey among the users of the buildings
revealed that most of the users were comfortable within the shaded interiors of the buildings, in all four
cases. As the survey revealed, only 5% to 10% of the present users preferred air-conditioning in these
spaces in summer.

CONCLUSIONS

The traditional wisdom of how to solve architectural problems due to climate lying beneath the
various architectural elements was to be unearthed through this research. The paper establishes that the
traditional buildings of the hot-dry climate of the Middle East were and are still, able to function as very
good examples of sustainable architecture, in terms of passive cooling. The study shows that the hygro-
thermal performance in these mud buildings is very good, both in summer and in winter. It points out the
various environmental strategies, materials and methods of construction of these buildings in question.
Not much has been done in the research of this topic and hence this research is one of the few pioneering
researches in Saudi Arabia. It is thus an important step towards rediscovering the traditional architecture
of the Middle East from a new angle, the environmental point of view. Modern buildings of these
countries are highly dependent on air conditioning that consumes massive amounts of electricity, and
nearly 80% of household electricity is used for air conditioning (Taleb & Sharples, 2011).
The traditional strategies could easily be adopted for newer buildings that will help cool passively
and thus save energy. The many towns that were sculpted with mud architecture in these places were,
and some still are, in a ruined state. The respective governments are now restoring these. These
examples of sustainable architecture will thus be sources for academic researches, professional
inspiration as well as tourism, for years to come.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Dubai Municipality, Architectural Heritage Program, U.A.E.

Dr. Mohammed Nazal & Ameer Abdul Monem, Al-Ahsa Tourism Company, Al-Ahsa, K.S.A.
Muhammad Ali Abdullah, Project Designer, Doha Municipality, Qatar
Dr. Falah Al-Kubaisy, Ministry of Municipalities Affairs & UN Development Program, Bahrain

REFERENCES

Bekleyen, A, and N. Dalkiliç. 2011. The influence of climate and privacy on indigenous courtyard
houses in Diyarbakır. Scientific Research and Essays Journal, 6(4).
Laffah, M. 2006. The courtyard garden in the Traditional Arab House. In B. Edwards, M. Sibley, M.
Hakmi, & P. Land (eds.), Courtyard Housing: Past, Present and Future. New York. Taylor and
Francis.
Al Awadhi, A. and Hasan, M. 2011. Comfort Assessment of a Fully/Semi-enclosed Courtyard: Case
Study of Bahrain Low Rise Villa Housing Model. Retrieved from
http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/135
Ministry of Tourism, Eastern Province, KSA. 2013. Souq Waqif - From Survival to Revival. Dammam:
Al-Eidi, L.
Vincent P. 2008. Saudi Arabia: an environmental overview. London. Taylor & Francis.
Taleb, H. M. and Sharples, S. 2011. Developing sustainable residential buildings in Saudi Arabia: A case
study. Applied Energy Journal,88. Elsevier.
Batterjee, S. A. 2010. Performance of shading device inspired by traditional hejazi houses in Jeddah
Saudi Arabia. Retrieved from http://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/142
Ragette, F. 2012.Traditional Domestic Architecture of the Arab Region. UAE. American University of
Sharjah.

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