Bahrain Financial Harbour (, commonly abbreviated as BFH) is a waterfront commercial development project located on the northern shore of

Manama Manama ( ', Bahrani Arabic, Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and List of cities in Bahrain, largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 297,502 as of 2012. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is ...

, the capital city of

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. Costing $1.5 billion and covering an area of 380,000 square metres, the two main Harbour Towers were officially opened in May 2007. It is now completed and is considered a beacon of human engineering and design.

Overview

The commercial complex is located on the northern shoreline of

, adjacent to the King Faisal Highway which links Manama to

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

via the King Fahd Causeway. The majority of the project, like the nearby

Bahrain Bay Bahrain Bay is a residential and commercial district located on the main island of Bahrain (26°15'01.1"N 50°34'45.8"E), (15 minutes) from Bahrain International Airport. Description Bahrain Bay is situated on coastal land adjacent to the ori ...

, is being constructed on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamatio ...

on the former site of the Manama pier. Construction of the Bahrain Financial Harbour started in 2003 and the two main Harbour Towers were completed in May 2007. However, construction of the rest of the project including the Bahrain Performance Centre, residential Diamond Tower and Villamar apartment buildings was delayed largely due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. The BFH project consists of multiple ''construction phases'' such as:

Harbour Towers

The two tallest twin-towers, Harbour Tower East and Harbour Tower West, are listed as the second tallest completed towers in Bahrain, with a height of with 53 floors. The towers provide a total of 100,000 square metres of office space.

Harbour Gate

Also called Harbour Mall (harbour), it is a six-storey building that houses the Bahrain Stock Exchange and various investment firms. It has approximately 22,000 square metres of retail space and is connected to both Harbour Towers at the second floor.

Harbour Heights

The Harbour Heights Towers (formerly Villamar) are 3 residential skyscrapers located to the north of the Harbour Towers. The towers are 54, 43 and 52 storeys high and boast 437 apartments, 52 villas, and 17 penthouses in addition to a health club and restaurants. With a cost of $650 million, construction began in 2006 and was originally scheduled to be completed by 2009. However, repeated delays saw the project being put on hold in October 2011 due to the Bahrain uprising, the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

, and a liquidity problem at the parent company, Gulf Holding Company. Construction briefly restarted in 2012 when it was estimated to have been halfway done before construction ceased again. The Bahraini government in 2015 formed a committee to oversee stalled projects in the country. In 2016, Gulf Finance House Financial Group announced that work on the towers would recommence in the same year.

Harbour Row

The project consists of a row of luxury homes alongside a commercial waterfront

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortification, fortress or city walls ...

. Construction of the $150 million project started in 2016 after its building permit was issued.

Unfinished projects

* Bahrain Performance Center * Diamond Tower * Dhow Harbour * Residential North * Residential South

Tenants

* BNP Paribas * Khaleeji Commercial Bank * Gulf Finance House * Newton Legal * Baker & McKenzie * Al-Tamimi & Company * Ministry of Industry & Commerce *

PwC PricewaterhouseCoopers, also known as PwC, is a Multinational corporation, multinational professional services network based in London, United Kingdom. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is one of the Big Fo ...

*Bank Alfalah

Gallery

File:Bahrain Financial Harbour 2013.jpeg, Bahrain Financial Harbour at night File:MOW RD3.JPG, Overview of Manama File:BAHRAIN FINANCE - panoramio.jpg, Close up view of the Harbour File:6 Days Left (2423450605).jpg, The Harbour and the Bahrain World Trade Centre

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.bfharbour.com 2004 establishments in Bahrain Commercial buildings completed in 2009 Buildings and structures in Manama Neighborhoods of Manama Towers in Bahrain Twin towers