First Place Winner in the “Post 22” Architectural Design Competition A Student Team from UoB Revives the Historic Ain Umm Al-Sujur

Sakhir – University of Bahrain (Ali Al-Sabbaq)
30 October 2022
A student team from the University of Bahrain (UoB) was able to revive the historic Umm Al-Sujur Ain in the north of Bahrain, through a design that would enable it to be a tourist and historical landmark and linking the region with its rich heritage.
The team consisted of final year students in the Bachelor of Architecture program: Nora Ali Al-Basri, Dua’a Sayed Ali Al-Kamil, and Fatima Hilal Farhan.
The team won first place in the “Post 22” competition for architectural design, organized by the American Society, in cooperation with the Bahrain Society of Engineers, in which about 15 contestants from various disciplines of architecture in local universities competed.
The winners were celebrated at the Bahraini Engineer’s Day event, which was recently organized by the Bahrain Society of Engineers.
As the participants competed in designing a heritage building in the Diraz area, in an attempt to reinterpret the heritage and highlight the rich context of the northern part of the island of Bahrain.
Fatima Farhan stated: “We designed a cultural pavilion, highlighting the famous historical story of Umm Al-Sujur, which irrigates villages stretching over 10 square kilometers,” emphasizing that “the revival of this landmark contributes to revitalizing the region, highlights the importance of various historical sites, and contributes to promoting tourism”.
Regarding the element that led to the team’s victory, she said: “We worked in a cooperative team spirit, exchanged experiences and ideas, excelled in the presentation of work and transforming the heritage in the region into the design of the building.”
Furthermore, she added “What we have done was to restructure Ain Um Al-Sujur into a building, to connect the local population with their history and heritage, in addition to attracting tourists in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” noting that “The building design was done after researching the Diraz history, famous historical places in the northern region, and analyzing the building location and its requirements”.
Morever, Farhan praised this experience, saying: “Participation in this competition has given us a lot, as it is a gateway to getting to know a wider range of ideas. The presence of such competitions and events encourages self-development.”
Notably, the competition required a design on a land area of about seven thousand square meters that includes several facilities, and it began on August 20, and ended on October 1, 2022.

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