After serving as residence of the Royal Family and the seat of government, the palace was converted into the National Museum of Qatar in 1975, which included a Museum of the State, a lagoon and a marine aquarium. The building won the Aga Khan award for restoration and rehabilitation of Islamic architecture in 1980. The Old Palace remains at the heart of the current National Museum of Qatar.
Through its most recent restoration, we aim to set a new standard for the treatment of historic buildings and architectural conservation, both in Qatar and across the region.
This joint project between Qatar Museums and Ziegert Roswag Seiler Architekten Ingenieure (ZRS) restores the palace to its original fabric using new elements where structurally necessary, but without the use of air conditioning. The Palace has been restored, complemented and refurbished a number of times, and all of these layers facilitate the story of its rich history. The building is a living gallery exhibiting a way of Qatari life of days gone by.