This interview features Nuha Dandis experienced architect specialising in cultural heritage conservation and management, Site Manager of the World Heritage Property Hebron Al-Khalil Old Town.
Since 1998, has been working with the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee, where she supervised the preparation of the comprehensive conservation and revitalization plan for Hebron’s Old Town.
In this interview, Nuha discusses her professional background and her work on Hebron’s Comprehensive Revitalisation Plan, exploring her approach to heritage conservation and urban revitalisation, her role in Hebron’s inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List, and the challenges of sustaining conservation work under occupation and severe restrictions. She also reflects on My City, her work with the younger generation in Hebron, and the experiences that have shaped her practice over nearly three decades.
Tell us about your background and what led you to write Hebron’s Comprehensive Revitalisation Plan in 1999.
I am an architect specialising in cultural heritage conservation, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s degree in Conservation and Restoration of Historic Buildings.
I joined the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC) in 1998 as the team’s first female architect and among the first architects in Hebron specialising in historic building restoration.
My initial work focused on documenting historic buildings and developing architectural solutions for their adaptive reuse and rehabilitation as housing, balancing contemporary needs with the preservation of their authenticity and heritage values.
My professional responsibilities later expanded to include preparing conservation and management plans. After Hebron Old Town was inscribed on the World Heritage List, I was assigned as Site Manager for the World Heritage Property Hebron AL-Khalil Old Town.
The HRC’s early interventions focused on restoring residential buildings around settlement outposts to support residents, encourage reoccupation of abandoned properties, and counter settlement expansion.
These efforts also required improving living conditions and providing essential health, educational, cultural, and social services. To ensure development remained compatible with heritage conservation, a comprehensive approach was needed, grounded in a detailed understanding of the Old Town’s social, economic, and urban conditions.
Integrated planning therefore became essential to guide restoration, development, and service improvements, establish a clear roadmap for interventions, and safeguard the Old Town’s authenticity and cultural heritage.
What are the visions, goals or principles behind that plan? How do projects like the Amr School or the Sufi Zawiya of Sheikh Al-Shibli reflect them, more than 25 years later?
The plan was based on a vision to revitalise Hebron’s Old Town, the historic centre, and reuse it as a residential town providing the essential services any residential community needs.
One of its main objectives was to restore and reoccupy residential buildings, provide services, improve living conditions, and develop services across all aspects of life, while preserving the urban fabric and strengthening its connection with the Ibrahimi Mosque, a landmark and a fundamental attribute of the Property.
The plan established development strategies and policies for all sectors by identifying needs in consultation with the local community. These strategies generated several development projects.
Another objective was to establish a database for the Old Town covering both buildings and residents, based on the understanding that the Old Town represents a living heritage in which residents play a fundamental role in its revitalisation and sustainability.
The plan also called for two schools to improve educational services, including Amr School, as part of its strategy to develop the education sector.
As part of the heritage conservation strategies and the promotion of religious tourism, the Ibrahimi Mosque and several Sufi zawiyas, including Al-Shibli Zawiya, were restored.
Restoring Al-Shibli Zawiya was particularly important in highlighting the Ibrahimi Mosque’s religious significance, which historically attracted Sufis, while also strengthening the connection between the Mosque and the Old Town’s architectural fabric.
The restoration of Al-Shibli Zawiya aimed to enhance the understanding of the Ibrahimi Mosque as a significant religious landmark and to reinforce its relationship with the surrounding historic urban fabric.
These projects continue to function effectively, demonstrating the success and relevance of the comprehensive plan, whose vision, strategies, and policies have been implemented effectively since its preparation to this day.
Tell us about Hebron’s inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2017, and your role in that process.
The Old Town of Hebron was inscribed on the World Heritage List through the joint efforts of key national institutions, including the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Hebron Municipality, and the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee.
A clear and comprehensive management plan for the Old Town played an important role in its inscription on the World Heritage List, as it was an essential requirement for accepting the nomination file and demonstrated a clear mechanism for managing the property.
In addition to the plan, I contributed significantly to preparing the nomination file, particularly the chapters on the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee and the data describing the current situation of the Old Town.
This information was obtained from the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee’s database, for which I supervised an integrated team responsible for establishing and updating the database.
Additionally, I contributed significantly to drafting the Statement of Outstanding Universal Value for the Old Town of Hebron, and I was a member of the Palestinian expert delegation that participated in the special workshop organised by International ICOMOS in Paris to discuss the statement with ICOMOS international experts.
What are some of the challenges you’ve faced doing conservation work under occupation and severe restrictions, and how have you sustained this work for 29 years?
One of the main challenges the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee faced in the restoration process was the occupation-imposed closures, which prevented access to sites for restoration or the delivery of materials, exposing buildings to deterioration and depriving residents of a healthy, suitable living environment.
We addressed this by counter-planning to enhance resilience, strengthen residents’ presence, provide services, improve living conditions, and encourage local community and private sector participation.
In addition, the closures imposed by the occupation were addressed by developing alternative solutions to ensure access to the closed buildings. This was achieved through architectural modifications that took into consideration the preservation of the buildings’ authenticity and historical character.
These solutions included creating alternative entrances that enabled residents to access their homes, strengthening their resilience and maintaining their presence in the area.
Another challenge we face is transporting restoration materials to the workshops, particularly in areas where vehicular traffic is prohibited. As a result, we rely on traditional transportation methods.
At one stage, my work focused on developing architectural solutions for the adaptive reuse of buildings before handing them over to the technical team; one of the main challenges was the complexity of the Old Town’s urban fabric and its traditional houses, which consist of many rooms sharing one entrance.
The challenge was to divide these courtyards into several apartments, provide privacy through separate entrances, and minimise intervention in the original structure.
Another challenge was creating a suitable environment for multiple families while ensuring ventilation and light in interconnected rooms. Reusing traditional residential buildings to meet modern family requirements while preserving their character is highly complex.
I also worked on the design of Amr School, transforming a complex of residential buildings into a school and developing suitable circulation and services solutions.
Merging more than one residential unit within the fabric to create the school was complex, especially in designing and integrating these units into a building suitable for school use.
Tell us about My City, and what you hope children in Hebron take away from it.
“My City” is one of the initiatives designed in cooperation with Architects Without Borders in Sweden, through the implementation of an internationally used training programme with a group of students from elementary schools in the Old Town.
At first glance, the project may seem like an awareness initiative aimed at introducing students to their city’s heritage, strengthening their attachment to it, and raising awareness of the importance of preserving it. However, the programme carries a much deeper meaning and purpose. It seeks to involve school students, one of the community’s most important groups, in heritage conservation and service development.
The project included identifying students’ needs for spaces, courtyards, and services along their routes from home to school. The programme also included visits to courtyards and heritage sites to understand students’ ideas by observing their behaviour in these spaces, understanding their aspirations and needs, and strengthening their participation in planning their city.
The message I want to convey to the students is that this is their city, and they are best positioned to plan for its future and preserve it in ways that respond to their needs, aspirations, and dreams, while respecting their customs and traditions. They play a real and important role in shaping the future of their city.
What are you working on now?
I am currently working mainly on updating the Management and Conservation Plan for the World Heritage Property, as well as updating and developing the Old Town’s database to include a risk management plan addressing the risks facing the Old Town.
This work became necessary after significant changes to the site due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the war on Gaza, which required updating the plan, updating building and resident data, studying the impact of the occupation on urban heritage, and preparing an integrated risk management plan.
A survey team of newly graduated architects has been established, and I am currently training another generation of architects on the characteristics of traditional architecture, introducing them to the Old Town, and deepening their knowledge of their heritage and traditional architecture.
Over the coming year, the project will update strategies, policies, and projects based on an assessment of the Old Town’s current situation, with the participation of the local community and relevant institutions.
It will also include establishing mechanisms, provisions, and regulations to control modern construction and urban expansion.
In addition, I am preparing a plan for the comprehensive maintenance and restoration of the Ibrahimi Mosque. I am also preparing the institution’s strategic plan for the next three years, writing reports on the state of conservation of the World Heritage Property and the impact of occupation measures on cultural heritage, and submitting project proposals for UNESCO-funded grants.
You do this work under occupation, severe restrictions, and ongoing pressure on the historic centre. What’s the real, specific obstacle in your daily work that people outside the region would find hardest to imagine?
The Old Town faces numerous constraints and challenges resulting from the occupation measures. Among the most serious is the presence of settler outposts in the heart of the traditional urban fabric, which fragments it and undermines its unity, cohesion, and continuity.
Closures and movement restrictions also significantly limit access to buildings and areas, hindering restoration, maintenance, and conservation work. These settler outposts and closures not only obstruct implementation of the Comprehensive Plan; they also affect the process of preparing and updating the plan.
Access to certain parts of the Old Town is restricted, making it difficult to collect necessary information, assess on-the-ground conditions, and monitor developments.
One of the hardest challenges facing the property’s planning and management is the loss of the ability to approach the Old Town as an integrated whole.
Inability to access some parts hinders daily site management and limits the capacity to monitor needs and safeguard heritage values comprehensively.
Closures and movement restrictions also directly affect residents’ daily lives by limiting their movement and access to services and livelihoods, creating difficult living conditions, and threatening the sustainability of their presence in the Old Town.
In addition, the difficulty of maintaining connections between the Old Town and the rest of Hebron deepens its isolation and affects its relationship with its wider urban, social, and economic context.
What’s a piece of advice you’d give a young heritage professional about to start work somewhere as difficult as Hebron
My advice to the younger generation of heritage professionals is to document everything, especially when working in a place like the Old Town of Hebron, where circumstances and access can change continuously.
Places we can reach today may become inaccessible tomorrow. Good documentation therefore gives us the data and information we need to understand the property, make informed decisions, and plan for its future, even when we can no longer physically access certain buildings or areas.
I would also strongly encourage young professionals to engage with the local community in all its diversity. Heritage is a living part of people’s lives, and the community should be involved in protecting and shaping its future.
In particular, I believe it is important to work with children and school students, involve them in heritage activities, and raise their awareness of the importance of preserving their cultural heritage.
I would encourage young professionals never to miss an opportunity to learn and develop their skills. Take advantage of every training opportunity available, especially early in your career, and learn from the experienced heritage professionals around you. Their knowledge, practical experience, and lessons learned over the years are invaluable.
At the same time, I would tell them, “Do not be an island in the sea of development.” Stay connected to new ideas, technologies, and approaches, while remaining rooted in your community, your heritage, and your local context.
Above all, do not give up when faced with challenges. Always look for solutions and alternatives, and find ways to remain present and engaged. In a threatened site like the Old Town of Hebron, maintaining a strong presence, strengthening the community’s resilience, and remaining committed to the place are fundamental to protecting its heritage. Even in the most difficult circumstances, we must continue to stand firm, adapt, and find ways forward.
Meet the Shortlist series is a compilation of interviews with those who have been shortlisted for our awards. Saliha Benmessaoud is on the shortlist for the Women in Architecture and Construction Award, which recognises women who have made outstanding contributions to architecture and the built environment across the Near East and North Africa.
Meet the Shortlist: Hadeel Ayed Mohammad, Dr Hiba Alkhalaf, Jomana Baddad, Meisa Batayneh, Ronak Roshan Gilvaei, Saliha Benmessaoud, Salima Naji, Salwa and Selma Mikoü, and Dr Zahra Hussain.
Tamayouz Excellence Award is sponsored by 99 Properties Development, Coventry University, Dewan Architects + Engineers, the Mohamed Makiya Foundation, Bonair Ltd, Aji Group, and Round City Magazine.