Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

This study investigated the thermal environment in a traditional Hijazi building, the Baeshen House in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a city on the Red Sea. This dwelling, which was built in 1856, was designed based on the accumulated local knowledge and experience of the region’s conditions. Such buildings...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anwar Islem Basunbul, William W. Braham
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Built Environment
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2023.1127615/full
_version_ 1827944301924974592
author Anwar Islem Basunbul
William W. Braham
author_facet Anwar Islem Basunbul
William W. Braham
author_sort Anwar Islem Basunbul
collection DOAJ
description This study investigated the thermal environment in a traditional Hijazi building, the Baeshen House in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a city on the Red Sea. This dwelling, which was built in 1856, was designed based on the accumulated local knowledge and experience of the region’s conditions. Such buildings were constructed to provide thermal comfort without air conditioning to occupants in the hot humid climate of a coastal area. During the time period of December 2021 to August 2022, on-site monitoring was performed in winter and summer to record and analyze field measurements and the effectiveness of thermal comfort strategies. Two different ventilation strategies—i.e. full-day and night-time—were examined. The results showed the thermal mass of the vernacular architecture played an essential role in regulating the indoor air temperature from the extreme outdoor conditions. Moreover, night-time ventilation practices accounted for significant temperature reductions indoors and a more comfortable living environment. It was observed that construction materials, namely, Al-Mangabi stones, played a substantial role in Hijazi architecture in mitigating the impact of severely high summer temperatures, as did specific traditional occupant strategies. The study established that natural cooling ventilation strategies are effective for maintaining thermal comfort and are valuable features of vernacular architecture with a substantial application for modern architectural design.
first_indexed 2024-03-13T10:27:05Z
format Article
id doaj.art-b9e156de8c894599a5cd37267b12290f
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2297-3362
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-13T10:27:05Z
publishDate 2023-05-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Built Environment
spelling doaj.art-b9e156de8c894599a5cd37267b12290f2023-05-19T05:30:39ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Built Environment2297-33622023-05-01910.3389/fbuil.2023.11276151127615Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi ArabiaAnwar Islem BasunbulWilliam W. BrahamThis study investigated the thermal environment in a traditional Hijazi building, the Baeshen House in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, a city on the Red Sea. This dwelling, which was built in 1856, was designed based on the accumulated local knowledge and experience of the region’s conditions. Such buildings were constructed to provide thermal comfort without air conditioning to occupants in the hot humid climate of a coastal area. During the time period of December 2021 to August 2022, on-site monitoring was performed in winter and summer to record and analyze field measurements and the effectiveness of thermal comfort strategies. Two different ventilation strategies—i.e. full-day and night-time—were examined. The results showed the thermal mass of the vernacular architecture played an essential role in regulating the indoor air temperature from the extreme outdoor conditions. Moreover, night-time ventilation practices accounted for significant temperature reductions indoors and a more comfortable living environment. It was observed that construction materials, namely, Al-Mangabi stones, played a substantial role in Hijazi architecture in mitigating the impact of severely high summer temperatures, as did specific traditional occupant strategies. The study established that natural cooling ventilation strategies are effective for maintaining thermal comfort and are valuable features of vernacular architecture with a substantial application for modern architectural design.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2023.1127615/fullnatural ventilation (NV)Hijazi architectureclimate responsivenessvernacular architecture (VA)thermal adaptive behaviorthermal comfort
spellingShingle Anwar Islem Basunbul
William W. Braham
Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Frontiers in Built Environment
natural ventilation (NV)
Hijazi architecture
climate responsiveness
vernacular architecture (VA)
thermal adaptive behavior
thermal comfort
title Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
title_full Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
title_short Climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of Hijazi traditional dwellings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
title_sort climate responsive lessons from an architectural and ethnographic study of hijazi traditional dwellings in jeddah saudi arabia
topic natural ventilation (NV)
Hijazi architecture
climate responsiveness
vernacular architecture (VA)
thermal adaptive behavior
thermal comfort
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbuil.2023.1127615/full
work_keys_str_mv AT anwarislembasunbul climateresponsivelessonsfromanarchitecturalandethnographicstudyofhijazitraditionaldwellingsinjeddahsaudiarabia
AT williamwbraham climateresponsivelessonsfromanarchitecturalandethnographicstudyofhijazitraditionaldwellingsinjeddahsaudiarabia