The Bahrain Pavilion was designed by Lina Ghotmeh-Architecture, based in Paris, France.
ALG – Architectural Lighting Group designed the lighting and created a wellbeing light space that symbolises the Bahraini nation.

The pavilion is inspired by the ‘dhow boat’, a traditional Bahraini wooden boat. The architecture is a fusion of traditional Bahraini shipbuilding and Japanese woodworking techniques.
It consists of a wooden structure and an aluminium exterior wall, and is a fully recyclable structure once the Expo is over.

The building is flanked on both sides by water basins and underwater lighting illuminates the walls of the building so that the shadows of the waves are reflected on the walls.
The pavilion is illuminated as if it were sailing in the light from the ‘Mother Sea’.

The image colour of the pavilion is the Azur colour. Azur is a bright, vivid blue, the colour of a cloudless sky on a clear summer day.
ALG used lighting to represent this colour, creating the colour of the sea and the sky.

Bahrain is a country where the majority of the population is Muslim.
Sunlight is deeply involved in daily life, with daily prayer times based on the movement of the sun.
The culture is also rooted in a symbiotic relationship with nature, such as the continued collection of natural pearls in the traditional way.

Reflecting this background, circadian lighting was installed in the ceiling of the pavilion to mimic sunlight.
A wellbeing light environment was designed to express the Bahraini people’s ‘love of nature, tradition and innovation’.

The next article will discuss the lighting design of the pavilion.

Photo: ©Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture