Flexible Architectural Interventions for Housing Issues in Bahrain

Abstract

Houses are important to every living creature they are considered the center of our universe and our haven. Recently having a home that reflects the identity and fulfills the desires of the occupants became a challenge due to the lack of space due to overpopulation in the world, especially in areas with small surface area compared to population size like the island of Bahrain. The unaffordability of housing and lack of space pushed most governments to start producing social houses with design limitations and bulk production. This paper aims to identify the problems related to social housing in Bahrain and seeks the possibility of using flexible architectural interventions to solve these issues. Interviews are conducted with Bahraini families living in social housing projects to identify their issues and their thoughts about flexible solutions. The results show that almost all social housing occupants are not satisfied with their houses' spatial design and have made costly modifications. They also lack the knowledge of flexible interventions and refuse them as a solution while encouraging the idea of vertical housing. This study introduces the term flexibility in social housing and emphasizes the need to improve occupants’ satisfaction in Bahraini society by using efficient architectural interventions.