Abstract
Abstract. The innovation in Digital Cultural Heritage (DCH) shows an emergence of innovative methods and initiatives for the generation of complex historical models to which are linked useful information for specialists of architecture, construction and engineering, but also user community interested in cultural heritage. This paper presents an improvement in Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) turned into models for mobile apps based on virtual reality (VR) addressed to enhance the communication of Architectural Heritage. The opportunity of a collaboration with the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities (BACA) experts under the coordination of the Carleton University in a training project aimed at improving documentation skills for conservation and preventive maintenance of built heritage provided the availability of an extraordinary richness of data and surveying on the Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House. The case study of the Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House is an outstanding example of Bahrain architecture and one of the oldest surviving building in Muharraq, listed under the UNESCO sites, now transformed in a Museum, where the visit does not allow to perceive the richness of the traditions of the constructions, beside the beautiful architecture. The building was the seat of the ruler of Bahrain from 1869 until his death in 1932 and represented an interesting response to local building materials and climate. This vernacular architecture solved not only the climate problems but combined the solution with beauty, physical and social functionality. This research carries out digital preservation through HBIM and switches to Cloud and VR platforms to allow users to enter a 3D immersive scene, using models as a vehicle of content information.
Highlights
The house of Shaykh Isa bin Ali Al-Khalifa is located in Muharraq; it is considered to be the oldest in Bahrain
This study summarises the generative processes through the use of specific Grades of Generation (GOG) (Banfi 2017) oriented to improve the use of Historic Building Information Modeling (HBIM) for different disciplines and purposes, with an exact correspondence with the building's 3D survey
The HBIM climatic analysis of Bahrain (Saeed, 2001), which is based on the Building Bioclimatic Chart, indicated that if a building is designed with the bioclimatic design strategies, they could be utilized for the 34% of the time of the year
Summary
The house of Shaykh Isa bin Ali Al-Khalifa is located in Muharraq; it is considered to be the oldest in Bahrain. 1840 (Yarwood, 2005) as a private residence for the grandson of Shaykh Ahmed Ali Fatih In 1869, under Shaykh Isa bin Ali Khalifa The building occupies a complete city block, and it has a rectangular shape. Not merely do it represent an apparent response to local building materials and climate, but it has a unique architectural character: clear, logical statement of the structure in a system which is articulated and proportioned according to the principles of classical Islamic architecture a thousand years old (Fig. 1). In the early seventies Shaikha Haya Al-Khalifa, Director of Archaeology and Museums, saved the building because it meant
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