Tourists pause before the diversity of traditional old architecture in Al-Qatif Oasis, observing some models of buildings, their formations, and distinctive heritage carvings, in an environment that holds designs of the spirit of the past and the modernity of the present, amid the changing features of the city from traditional houses to modern architecture.

In its natural surroundings, traditional architecture in the oasis combined coastal and agricultural environments, drawing a living model of integrated sustainable engineering and a physical embodiment of a unique duality. Historically, the economic role served as a vital center for commercial and maritime exchange and a meeting point for caravans in the Arabian Peninsula. The local builder of old, known as 'Al-Ustad', succeeded in achieving an exceptional balance between utilizing direct local resources and resisting the climate.

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With the evolution of life, construction materials that were not available in the surrounding environment were brought, making these houses historical witnesses telling a story of civilization. Construction in the oasis blends heritage materials and visual aesthetics, forming a structural identity made of local materials such as marine and coral rocks, clay, local plaster and lime, palm trunks, bamboo stems, and jandal (a type of wood), among others.

Absorbing Severe Coastal Humidity

Local heritage researcher Muhammad Al-Masli explained that the basic structures and thick walls of those old buildings relied on limestone and coral rocks extracted from the bottom of the Gulf and shallow areas near beaches. They were characterized by their porous nature and lightness, allowing the building to breathe by absorbing the severe coastal humidity during the day and storing it, then releasing it at night as cool vapor, achieving a unique natural thermal insulation. He added that sticky clay is brought from abundant water springs and nearby clay lands to be the flexible mortar that binds stones and withstands tremors and weather changes without cracking. It is covered with local plaster and lime, which was used to paint the walls in their dazzling white color to reflect the scorching sun and disinfect rooms from insects and parasites. Additionally, woven materials such as 'hasir' and 'bariya' were used as insulating layers to prevent dust falling from ceilings. Al-Masli pointed out that construction in the region since ancient times relied on palm trunks for wood, in addition to trunks of a tree grown on Tarut Island called 'al-khatra', which acquired this name from its use in making small boats used for travel between the island and its surroundings. It was also one of the construction elements for buildings on the island and surrounding towns in the ceilings of houses, shops, and sabats (covered alleyways).

Determining the Construction Date of the Building

Architect and interested in architectural heritage in Qatif, Mustafa Al-Nimr, explained that the woods in the ceilings of those houses have a special fingerprint that enables determining the construction date. Local palm trunks guide us to the era before the pearl trade boom, i.e., before the mid-19th century, as they were cut and adapted as needed, a process called 'tasjin', and the craftsman is called 'musajjin'. He stated that the use of 'basjil' wood (long bamboo stem strips) and 'jandal' (a type of tree) indicates the era of the pearl trade boom, i.e., between the mid-19th century and the 1920s, when those woods and other materials began to be imported from East Africa, East Asia, and India, along with dyes and colors for local architecture. In this phase, palm trunks remained in use for those who wanted.

An Integrated Architectural and Economic System

Al-Nimr explained that after the discovery of oil in the last century, construction developed and began to move away from some local building materials more. The use of squared timbers and manufactured modern wood boards in the ceilings of houses and buildings began, and they were later replaced by concrete ceilings and modern architecture. He pointed out that those local and imported materials were combined to ultimately form an integrated architectural and economic system that highlighted the region's identity distinctively, using luxury woods, plaster engravings, and advanced geometric decorations on house facades, clearly reflecting the financial capability of the house owner and his connection to the regional and global pearl trade networks prevalent at that time.