Preservation of Hestoric Buldings in Riyadh

PRESERVATION OF HESTORIC
BULDINGS IN RIYADH
Case study: Almasmak fortress
Abdullah AlShehri
Ammar bin Swailim
Table of Contents
I. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 2
A. Background ................................................................................................................................. 2
B. Brief history of architecture in Riyadh ........................................................................................ 2
II. Preservation Projects in Riyadh ...................................................................................................... 2
A. Preservation in Riyadh ................................................................................................................ 2
B. Comleted preservation projects in Riyadh.................................................................................. 3
C. Plans for preservation ................................................................................................................. 3
III. The case of al-Masmak fortress .................................................................................................. 3
A. History of al-Masmak .................................................................................................................. 3
B. Architectural features of al-Masmak .......................................................................................... 3
C. The preservation of al-Masmak .................................................................................................. 4
IV. Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 6
A. Summary ..................................................................................................................................... 6
B. Evaluation ................................................................................................................................... 6
References .............................................................................................................................................. 7
I. Introduction
A. Background
Preserving historic building is crucial to retain national heritage and history. It is not just that,
preservation of historic building will lead to social, economic, and environmental benefits. It will
increase the property value as well as its surroundings. It also gives non-priced benefits that come
from the enjoyment and satisfaction of people when they pass by restored building (Garrod et al,
1996). This report will discuss preservation of old buildings in Riyadh and will try to evaluate the work
that has been done to preserve its old buildings.
B. Brief history of architecture in Riyadh

Riyadh rise as an urban center began in 1824, when Turki bin Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Saud the
founder of the second Saudi state took control over the city and mad it the capital of the state. Before
1824, Riyadh was a few small villages around Wadi hanifa. Riyadh has another period of growth
beginning in 1902, after Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman AlSaud restored the city and founded the third
Saudi state which evolved into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. According to Alhathloul (2003) Riyadh
has grown from population of 14000 people and area of one square kilometer in 1902 to 4300000
people and an area of 1500 square kilometers in 2000
(need update). Riyadh and its governorates have a lot
of historic buildings starting with the old defense wall
that was surrounding the city with towers and
defended gates. Inside the wall of old Riyadh was
Almasmak fortress (Also called Almasmak Palace)
which was the first part overtaken by king Abdulaziz
in 1902, and which renovated recently. In the middle
of the city were Qasr al-Hukm (the Justice Palace) the
seat of King Abdulaziz. Close to Qasr al-Hukm there
was Al-Masjid Al-Jami’ (the Mosque of Turki bin
Abdullah) which was connected to Qasr al-Hukm by a
bridge according to Alhathloul (2003). In the mid of
1930s Ritadh extended for the first time outside the
walls of the old city. This was by the construction of Qasr al-Murabba ( al-Murbba Palace), the palace
was located about 2 kilometers to the north of the wall. The construction of al-Murbba Palace was the
start of Riyadh expansion when people realize that they don’t need to build inside the wall to be safe.
II. Preservation Projects in Riyadh

A. Preservation in Riyadh
Municipality of Riyadh along with Hight Commission for the Development of Riyadh have made a good
effort in the way of preserve old buildings in Riyadh region. There are many projects that have been
completed and others either in progress or as a future plan. According to Hight Commission for the
Development of Riyadh they are aiming to make these places as historical, economical, and cultural
places national wise. The first preservation project in Riyadh was for al-Masmak fortress when the
municipality of Riyadh did a renovation plan for the fortress in 1980 and turn it form abandoned
wearhouse into a museum that opened in 1995 by prince of Riyadh at that time prince Salman bin
Abdulaziz (HCDR, 2016). After that the preservation and renovation projects was completed one after
one.
B. Comleted preservation projects in Riyadh
The first project was done was the renovation of al-Masmak fortress in Riyadh and that was mentioned
in the previous paragraph. After that the Municipality along with Hight Commission for the
Development of Riyadh developed Qasr al-Hukm area near al-Masmak. With the design of Jordanian
architect Rasem Badran the developed the area taking in consideration the traditional architecture
style of the region and made it as an urban place in the middle of city that has a new buildings without
losing its historical value. Another large project is the development of Diriyah which is the capital of
the first Saudi state and one of the main provinces in Riyadh. In this plan they have two main projects
to complete: Renovation and development of Tarif district, and Renovation and development of
Albujairi district. Albujari completed and opened in 2015 by King Saman bin Abdulaziz and since that’s
it is been on of Diriyah landmarks.(Ar-Ryiadh, 2015).
C. Plans for preservation

Hight Commission for the Development of Riyadh is planning to develop the central area of Riyadh
and preserve it as a historical area. For that the commission did a study to count mud buildings in
Riyadh and the did recorded 15410 mud structure which is 7.6% of all buildings in old neighbourhood
in Riyadh (Tatweer vol 29). As well as continuing in the development of Diriyah and its historical sites.
III. The case of al-Masmak fortress

A. History of al-Masmak
The fort was built around the year of 1865 by the prince of Riyadh at that Time, Abdulrahman
ibn Sulaiman ibn Dabaan in the era of Al Rashid Emirate. The fort remained under the rule of
Al Rashid, until king Abdulaziz bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud In January 1902 led 40 of his men
on a morning attack, and after a fierce fight with the fort Rashid garrison, they succeeded in
capturing this strategic fort. The king was able to have the allegiance of the city’s people and
recapturing the city of Riyadh, to the rule of Al Saud House. The building at that time, was
centred in the commercial area of the old city of Riyadh. It was used by the King Abdulaziz
from 1902 – 1938 as the as the centre of the government, until he moved to the newly built
Palace, al-Murabba. The fort then turned to a weapons warehouse, it remained with this
function until the prince of Riyadh Salman ibn Abdulaziz have turned it unto museum in 1995
(HCDR, 2016).
B. Architectural features of al-Masmak

Al-Masmak fortress is a large mud brick building that covering an area of about 50m by 50m with four
big towers in the corners. It has groups of rooms round open courtyards protected from the sun by
arcades. The connection between on groupe of rooms to another was
in covered passageway. The stairs for the upper level was rectangle
and wide because it serve the residence but the stairs for the tower
are narrow to have more control by allowing one person at a time.
The main spaces in al-Masmak are 1- the main entrance, 2- the
mosque, 3- Gust rooms (Diwaniah), 4- the main courtyard near the
entrance, 5-the back part which has service courtyards and the
residential part.
For construct al-Masmak two traditional way of building were used:

using layers of compressed earth martials in the outer walls to give it
strength and using mud bricks to build fast in the inner parts. The
outer walls were a load bearing walls but the inner walls were a selection structure. The seculton
structure was constructed by stone columns with wooden beams
f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl
dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ;
; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u
C. The preservation of al-Masmak

The preservation of al-Masmak start with it been as museum in mind. The renovation team
start by examining the current situation of the room. They don’t want to rebuilt the fortress
they want to conserve the parts that in good situation and restore the broken and demolished
parts. The second phase of the restoration was sampling to test the technical solutions an
materials any new material that will be used with traditional material need to be tested in
real climate. Mud bricks are made with a mixture of cement and soil. Columns are made in
the same traditional techniques using round stone blocks plastered with local fast hardening
material call “jass” which like gypsum. Roofs are made with tamerix props coveres by palm
leaves on double sides on top of this layer a layer of soil was added. And with all of that they
put on mind reducing the time and cost of maintenance by adding additive to the mud to
increase its ability of standing against the rain and other climatic factors.
IV. Conclusion
A. Summary
This report discussed the preservation of old buildings in Riyadh. Starting by the history of
Riyadh and its historical building that need preservation. After that the report show the
preservation work that done in Riyadh by the municipality and the High Commission for the
Development of Riyadh and their plans in future. Finally, the case of al-Masmmak in which
the report reviews what have done in this case and focusing in the process of preserve the
building and covert into a public museum.
B. Evaluation
What Riyadh municipality and the High Commission for the Development of Riyadh did to
preserve old buildings and enhance the built environment for people in the city should be
taken as a model for other cities in Saudi Arabia. However, those projects take long time to
be complete and that should not be the case they have to speed up and complete the projects
in a shorter time. For example, the case of al-Masmak took from 1980 to 1995.
f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k
dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k
l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u
References
Al-Hathloul, S. (2003). Riyadh Architecture in One Hundred Years. Center for the Study of
the Built Environment CSBE. f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk ld
jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k
uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u
Albini, M. (1980). Mud Brick Buildings The Masmak Fortress In Riyadh Saudi Arabia
General Criteria Of Restoration. f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk
ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k
uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u
HCDR. (n.d.). Al-Masmak History and Architecture (Arabic). Tatweer, 2. Retrieved from
http://www.ada.gov.sa/ada_a/Tatweer2_ada_a/?v=2&t=006130 f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk
;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui
j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u
HCDR. (n.d.). Project of survying mud buildings in Riyadh. Tatweer, 29. Retrieved from
http://www.ada.gov.sa/ada_a/Tatweer2_ada_a/?v=29&t=006091 f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj
;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk jhk ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk
ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io iuio k uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj
tj u
HCDR. (n.d.). New Diriya new urban vision. Tatweer, 41. Retrieved from
tj u
HCDR. (n.d.). Albujairi the heart of the message. Tatweer, 73. Retrieved from
tj u
HCDR. (2016). Al-Masmak Fortress (Arabic). HCDR. Retrieved from

http://www.arriyadh.com/ar/Tourism/Left/Musems/getdocument.aspx?f=/openshare/ar/Touris
m/Left/Musems/hoson.doc_cvt.htm f jd h j kl l h l; jkkl l; klj ;’hjk ;’hj ui ,. Iou io ,./ io . kl lk
jhk ld jijk lf kl kas kl kjs s olj k dkl dkljk hh dr uiwe jhd jk ui ui j jk k jk l;l j ioo k I l; io
iuio k uiouio k ik k l; uid h h h j k k l l; ; ; ‘; j k o . o h ffs g ff jj tj u

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PRESERVATION OF HESTORIC

B. Brief history of architecture in Riyadh

II. Preservation Projects in Riyadh

C. Plans for preservation

III. The case of al-Masmak fortress

B. Architectural features of al-Masmak

For construct al-Masmak two traditional way of building were used:

C. The preservation of al-Masmak

HCDR. (2016). Al-Masmak Fortress (Arabic). HCDR. Retrieved from

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