The first case study was a large
house or palace in the region of old Dariayah, where the first Saudi state was established
from the beginning of 17th century to the end of the 18th century. The old city was
completely destroyed by the military expedition of Mohammed Ali Basha, the Governor of
Egypt in 1817
(1). The current Saudi government has rebuilt some of the
large houses in the 1980s using the same old building techniques and building materials.
Some chemicals were added to stabilise the soil and to control and fight termites.
The house is built on one level with an internal floor area of about 900
square meters with a central courtyard surrounded by rooms. It was built entirely of mud
and was originally the palace of Nasser Bin Saud. The main entrance was on the east
elevation with the main reception room to the right as the guest enters. On each side of
the house there were three multi-function rooms, except on the south side where there were
two rooms only. Plates 6.29 to 6.31 show the east elevation of the house, the main
entrance and the courtyard.