The original Western Pilgrim House, located at Haparsim (Persian) Street, was used as a Pilgrim House for members of the Bahá'í Faith of Western origin, who came here in the early years of the 20th Century. It was later replaced by the the new Western Pilgrim House on 10 Haparsim Street. This house is currently part of the Bahá'í World Centre. While it was originally rented to serve as a Pilgrim House, the house was then bought by `Abdu'l-Bahá. After the new Western Pilgrim House was built, the site was then used by members of the Bahá'í holy family. It left Bahá'í hands shortly before being re-bought by the Universal House of Justice.

The second Western Pilgrim House, often referred to as "the old western Pilgrim House", located at 10 Haparsim (Persian) Street, was used by pilgrims during the first half of the 20th Century. It is currently part of the Bahá'í World Centre, and is used by the Bahá'í International Community Secretariat and related offices. The house was originally paid for by William Harry Randall, a wealthy American Bahá'í, who felt the facilities of the previous Western Pilgrim House at 4 Haparsim were inadequate. Its construction was started under the instruction of `Abdu'l-Bahá, but was only completed during the time of Shoghi Effendi as Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith.

The Terraces are a network of 19 garden terraces located above and below the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel. Designed in the shape of nine concentric circles, they revolve around the Shrine of the Báb. Nineteen is a significant number within both the Bahá'í and Bábí religions.

The Shrine of the Báb is the site where the Báb's remains are laid to rest. The location was designated by Bahá'u'lláh himself in 1891 while he was camped, with `Abdu'l-Bahá, across from Mount Carmel. The site is right above the German Colony, which was established in the 1860s by the German Templar Society. Built by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1909, the shrine’s superstructure was not completed until many years later by Shoghi Effendi, and was finally dedicated in 1953. The architect was William Sutherland Maxwell, a Canadian Bahá'í who was a Beaux-Arts architect and the father-in-law of Shoghi Effendi. Some aspects of the dome's structural engineering were designed by Professor H. Neumann of Haifa's Technion University.

The International Archives was the first building to be erected on the Arc, and holds many of the most sacred items within the Bahá'í Faith. Most importantly it was built to display the paintings and drawings of Bahá'u'lláh and the Báb, along with a single photograph of Bahá'u'lláh. Although some of these items are available on the Internet today, most Bahá'ís prefer to see these items in person by making a pilgrimage to the site. Shoghi Effendi choose the Parthenon as the basis for the design. It was finished in 1957, but Shoghi Effendi never lived to furnish the interior. This was left to his wife Rúhíyyih Khanum. Previously the rear three rooms of the Shrine of the Báb and the building beside the Monument Gardens - now called the Department of Holy Places - were temporary archive buildings.

Built in 1999, the Center for the Study of the Sacred Texts is one of the main administrative buildings known as the Ark buildings. This beautiful center is for translators that work with the Baha’i texts and also for those who plan to work at the Universal House of Justice.

The Seat of the Universal House of Justice is where the center of the Bahá'í covenant sits. During a Bahá'í pilgrimage the members of the Universal House of Justice greet each of the pilgrims in turn before they are shown around main areas of the building. The building also houses offices of the Bahá'í World Centre. Located at the apex of The Arc, the house was built with 60 Corinthian columns around it to mirror the design of the International Archives. Designed by architect Hossein Amanat, it was completed in 1982 during the second stage of building on the Arc.

The International Teaching Centre, also known simply as the ITC, is a Bahá'í institution based in the Bahá'í World Centre. Its duties are to stimulate and coordinate the Continental Board of Counselors and assist the Universal House of Justice in matters relating to teaching and protection of the faith. The membership of the Teaching Centre comprises nine counsellors appointed by the Universal House of Justice.