Days after Expo 2025 Osaka wrapped up, Bahrain’s national pavilion, dubbed “Connecting Seas,” has been crowned with the Gold Award for Best Architecture and Landscape in the Self-Built Pavilions category (under 1,500 square metres).
Wood Central understands that the 17‑metre‑tall, all‑timber structure—one of several show‑stopping installations inside the expo’s vast timber ring—was recognised for its “striking design and careful execution.”
Designed by Lina Ghotmeh, a Lebanese architect based in Paris, the pavilion draws on Bahrain’s coastal heritage and takes cues from the region’s traditional dhow boats, once used to transport heavy goods. “The Bahrain Pavilion is conceived as the anatomy of a dhow—a vessel deeply embedded in the kingdom’s maritime heritage,” the architect told the world’s media. “Rather than directly replicating the vessel, the architecture captures its essence—its rhythm, the timber construction, and the sense of voyage.”
The pavilion’s curving roof dips in the middle and rises on either side, while a patterned façade of 3,000 pieces of Japanese cedar forms a complex web of wooden joinery that protrudes from the side elevations to “evoke the movement of rafters in the sea.” Behind the wooden face, a translucent membrane envelope references the sails of a dhow and opens internally to four floors of space beneath the roof’s central aperture.
“These materials give the structure a soft, sail‑like appearance, evoking the fabric of a traditional dhow and gently filtering daylight into the space. The choice of a membrane enhances the pavilion’s lightness and permeability and supports passive climate control,” Ghotmeh said.
Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and Commissioner General of the Bahrain Pavilion, described the award as proof of Team Bahrain’s dedication to blending heritage with innovation. “This achievement reflects Bahrain’s position as a hub of cultural and architectural creativity in the region,” he said. “The Pavilion embodies sustainable architecture and enriches the visitor experience through sensory journeys that highlight Bahrain’s history and civilisational depth.”
Sustainability was central to the pavilion’s brief, with the design team embedding reusable materials, minimal foundations and passive cooling techniques into the build. “The Bahrain Pavilion integrated sustainability holistically through its design, materials and construction methods. These strategies make the Bahrain Pavilion a model of low‑impact architecture,” Ghotmeh said.
The pavilion was located inside the 61,000 square‑metre timber wooden ring, recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest wooden architectural structure. And with the expo having closed on October 13, attention is already turning to the future reuse of the temporary buildings.
Yesterday, Wood Central revealed that the Uzbekistan pavilion, built by Japanese timber fabricator Shinohara Shoten, will be dismantled, shipped and reassembled in Uzbekistan early next year. Speaking at the Timber Construct conference, Yuichi Shinohara told Wood Central, “Once we’ve deconstructed everything, we’re going to put everything in the container. It’s going to be shipped back and find another life. We think it’s going to be a library, but they’re still deciding what they’d like to do with it. And once it gets home, the Shinohara construction team are going to go to Uzbekistan and rebuild it so that it can begin its life.”
- To learn more about World Expo, dubbed a playground for timber engineers, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive coverage from the site of the Expo.
