Chapter 4: Case Study and Visitors’ Descriptive Analysis
4.2 Architectural Analysis of Physical Features and Interpretive
4.2.4 Bu Maher Fort Visitor Center
Additionally, it includes the fort location map to ease the visitors’ way finding, as well as the visiting hours. Although such techniques are conventional within the context of an interactive and digital techniques, they remain, however, very important to supplement the visitors’ experience, especially when the tour guides are not regularly present and only available by a pre-scheduled appointment for official delegates, tourist cruises and school visits. Therefore, a combination of old and new museology approaches is important to ease the visitors’ experience (Jászberényi et al., 2018; McCall and Gray, 2014), and consequently contribute to the meaning- making process.
Figure 4.35: Bu Maher Fort remaining vestiges
Bu Maher Fort is recognized as one of the main touristic attractions in Bahrain and it maintains a strong relationship with the seafaring and pearl diving history. This fort is part of the Bahrain Pearling Trail, inscribed in the World Heritage Site listing in 2012 as a unique testimony to a cultural tradition (UNESCO, 2012). The Bahrain Pearling Trail is the last remaining complete example of the cultural tradition of pearling that testifies of seven thousand years of pearling history in the Arabian Gulf (UNESCO, 2012). It consists of three oyster beds in the northern waters of Bahrain, a part of the coast and seafront of Bu Maher Fort historic site, and 16 properties in the historic part of Muharraq. In the earlier stages of the project, it was proposed that Bu Maher Fort would be connected by a pedestrian bridge to the rest of the 3.5 kilometers pearling path in order to enable visitors to explore and sightsee the whole setting (i.e. Bu Maher Fort and the Pearling Trail) interchangeably (BACA, 2013a).
The uncovered fort foundations The renovated watch tower The three renovated rooms
In 2013, Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities built a relatively small visitor center nearby Bu Maher Fort to provide general information about the significance of this historic site, and an overview of the architectural design of the buildings along the pearling path, as well as their classification as onshore or offshore sites, while also forming the starting point of the Pearling Trail sightseeing.
In July 2019, the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities announced the start of the construction of the pedestrian bridge, designed by the Belgian office of Kersten Geers and David Van Severen in collaboration with the Ismail Khonji, a native architect (Figure 4.36).
Figure 4.36: The under-construction pedestrian bridge connecting Bu Maher Fort and the Pearling trail
(Announced through the BACA (2019b) official Instagram account)
4.2.4.1 Site Level: Contextual Configuration
Bu Maher Fort is in the southern edge of Muharraq City, the second largest island in Bahrain. The fort vestiges and its visitor center are located nearby Bahrain’s coast guard base in the same city.
Therefore, Bu Maher Fort dual setting (‘in situ’ and ‘in context’ as illustrated in Figure 3.6; Chapter 3) can only be accessed by means of water transportation (boat shuttles). The schedule of these shuttles is announced officially through Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities website (BACA, 2013a), and regularly through social media channels. An added observed difficulty: entry tickets are to be purchased at the National Museum of Bahrain, one kilometer away from the visitor center, which ultimately led to a reduced number of entries although the Fort itself offers a unique panoramic view of the coastline of the capital Manama and other parts of Muharraq governorate that attracts visitors (Figure 4.37).
142 Figure 4.37: Bu Maher Fort location in relation to the country, the city and immediate surrounding
Country level City level Site level
Bahrain – Muharraq Governorate
Muharraq –
Bahrain’s Coast Guard Bu Maher Fort
Southern Northern
Capital
Muharraq
4.2.4.2 Building Level: Architectural Review
Bu Maher visitor center was entirely designed by PAD, a local Bahraini architectural firm (BACA, 2013b). Hence, this visitor center architectural style reflects a wide range of local influences such as the use of local materials, colors and building elements. The L-shaped visitor center’s architectural design maybe best characterized as introverted, modern, simple and in harmony with the surroundings (Figure 4.38). The architectural appearance blends with the surroundings as it maintains a relative proportion, massing, height, colors and building materials.
Figure 4.38: Bu Maher Fort visitor center location in relation to the historic site and proposed movement patterns between ‘in situ’ and ‘in context’
Adapted by author from PAD (2013))
Future Extension
(Café)
Existing Building
Entrance/Exit Visitor movement around the museum
Visitor movement inside the museum The historic site
Visitor Center
15 m
+0.95 m
Moreover, the visitor center floor level was raised 95 centimeters over the original historical site ground to preserve, conserve and to minimize the negative impacts of new land use on the archeological environment. Also, the visitor center is set back approximately 15 meters to preserve the fort foundations vestiges and to enhance the views from ‘in context’ to ‘in situ’ settings. Figure 4.39 demonstrates Bu Maher Fort visitor center architectural appearance and its relation to the surroundings (i.e. height, color, and materials).
Figure 4.39: Bu Maher Fort visitor architectural appearance and physical connection to the surrounding
The glass-walled visitor center provides an unobstructed view from the interior exhibition space interior to the exterior. The relatively transparent glass panels material enables an open and direct visual connection to the historical site, thus providing a learning experience that stimulates the process of visual discovery from ‘in context’ to ‘in situ’ (Figure 4.40).
• Height: The visitor center (right) height is kept with the historical site (left) characteristics and not exceeding the onsite palms and the surviving tower height
• Color: The visitor center natural earth tone hues that match the surrounding
• Material: The raised glass-walled visitor center overlooks Bu Maher Fort that connects the visitor visually from ‘in situ to ‘in context’ and vice versa
Figure 4.40: Bu Maher Fort visitor center visual connection to the historic site
In addition to the physical and visual connections between the visitor center and its surroundings, a wooden bridge inspired by traditional design and materials was added to serve as a pier and a direct physical link to the building (Figure 4.41).
The bridge is deemed to provide the visitor with multiple panoramic views of Bahrain’s skyline, and offers an inspiring vista of the different features available in the Bu Maher Fort setting. The bridge walk serves as an important component of the sightseeing experience between the land and the sea.
Figure 4.41: Bu Maher Fort visitor center wooden bridge inspired by traditional design and local materials
The visitor center has a single entry/exit point that opens to the exhibition space. In addition to the exhibition space, it houses the entrance lobby, a front desk, a management office, and public toilets. The current exhibition space covers approximately 60% of the visitor center building area and the rest is reserved for a potential extension of the café. The exhibition layout is best described as a “hall type” category (Li et al., 2013), that offers the visitors a free movement pattern around the central display and eases the viewing of the display from all directions. In addition, one of the exhibition walls is fully cladded with limestone panels that replicate the archeological site walls, and accordingly blend the interior to the exterior atmosphere through a tactile sensory experience (Figure 4.42).
Figure 4.42: Bu Maher Fort visitor center exhibition space spatial configuration
4.2.4.3 Interpretation Level: Exhibits and Presentation Techniques
The main presentation technique at this site relies on a central display in the form of a scaled three-dimensional architectural model, representing Bahrain Pearling Trail map showing the pearl traders’ houses. The massing model takes the visitors into a journey through the overall development to appreciate the local architectural style and its features. The architectural model is complemented by text
captions about the owners of the traders’ houses and their history. Each caption has a remote light switch that enables the visitors to control and identify the property in question. In addition to that, there is a three-dimensional vertical map displayed on a free-standing wall. This wall divides the exhibition space to the central display zone and a clear passage zone that allows the visitors to view the historic site before or after viewing the central display (Figure 4.43).
Figure 4.43: Presentation techniques at Bu Maher visitor center
In contrast with Qal’at Al Bahrain historic site, Bu Maher Fort lacks the presence of any tour guidance facility, signage or information panels that may guide and explain the ruins, which may impact the visitors’ experience and meaning- making process.
Up to this level in this chapter, the four selected case studies that shape the body of this thesis, were addressed through the evaluation of their contextual setting, physical features, and the presentation strategies in potentially conveying meaning
3D architectural models 3D Map
Textual information Visual connection to
the historic site Replica:
Archeological wall
from historic site to visitors. This approach contributes to the understanding of the Historic Site Interpretation Centers contextual relationship to the historic site, architectural design, and the interpretive strategies prospective role in shaping the visitors’ experience, yet this needs to be supported and validated by their experience.
This calls for consideration of additional supportive data including visitation records, visitors’ feedback, and visitors’ observations.