Considered a unique example for the evolution of architecture during the nineteenth century in the city, the lighthouse was designed by François Coignet [fr] at the request of the Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, Ismail the Magnificent.

[2] Among these, the lighthouse of Port Said had special significance owing to its connection to the Suez Canal, the national infrastructure project undertaken during Ismail's reign.

The application of concrete was doubly innovative: employed as a finish material, not merely a substance for filling masonry walls; and strengthened with the inset metal rods.

Coignet employed this new technique he had experimented with several years earlier in the construction of his own home, resulting in the first large-scale reinforced concrete structure.

The buildup of silt along the coast of the port has left the lighthouse inland, where it can no longer serve its original purpose of guiding ships.