Architect treads softly in shadows of history

Vast Cairo center poses tall challenge for Denver's OLC

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 09:05 p.m., July 25, 2008
Updated 11:33 p.m., July 25, 2008

Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative

Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative

For an architect, it's tough enough designing a huge facility covering 15 acres and housing a cavernous underground garage, a posh hotel and hundreds of thousands of square feet of office and retail space.

But to map out a $730 million, 8.1 million-square-foot business and tourist complex adjacent to one of the most historic Islamic sites in Egypt?

That can pose real headaches:

* Plenty of bureaucratic red tape.

* Top Egyptian officials and archaeologists who charged initially the project would blemish Cairo's skyline and threaten views of nearby historic sites.

* UNESCO officials from Paris who wanted several levels lopped off the complex, saying an Italian architectural firm's design was too tall.

These were the kind of thorny issues architects at Denver-based Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative had to consider while drafting and revising a proposed design for the Cairo Financial Center.

which opened a Cairo office in 1999 - won the contract this year after besting rivals with its design plan.

Before OLC, five architectural firms had worked on the controversial Cairo Financial Center complex. It was proposed more than a decade ago. Construction work on a different, now- scrapped design had begun.

For OLC, which designed Glendale's Infinity Park rugby stadium, the deal is the firm's biggest ever. It also represents one of Egypt's biggest industrial projects.

A Cairo newspaper article suggested the financial center could allow Egypt to rival the booming Persian Gulf state of Dubai as a Middle East business hub.

To land the deal, OLC architects had to ensure their design wouldn't "humble" the nearby medieval fortress known as the Citadel, situated at the foot of Cairo's Mokattam Hill. The big 12th century structure houses a famed mosque and is one of the most visible landmarks on Cairo's skyline. A top Egyptian official has likened the Citadel to "Egypt's fourth pyramid."

"We had to figure out how to build next to the Citadel without imposing on it," said Maged El-Sheikh, OLC's senior principal and Middle East managing director.

The firm had clear orders from Egyptian authorities and officials from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris.

"They didn't want too much glass on it. They didn't want it too modern," El-Sheikh noted.

UNESCO includes historic Cairo where the Citadel is located on its "World Heritage List."

UNESCO officials recommended that the financial center's height - as designed by an Italian firm - be lowered to 100 feet from 180 feet. That amounted to as many as five stories being lopped off.

A 2007 UNESCO report stated the project "would have a significant adverse impact on the visual integrity of the Citadel and its setting."

OLC's design for the Cairo Financial Center incorporates UNESCO's recommendations. Eight levels will be underground and seven above.

The first stage is scheduled to open by the end of 2010. It will include a large underground parking lot, a multiscreen theater, 600,000 square feet of office space and 950,000 square feet of retail shops.

The second stage is to open by 2013. It will include more underground parking, 1.1 million square feet of office space, 800,000 added square feet of retail, a 100,000-square-foot exhibition and conference center, and a 450-room hotel.

The project has proceeded in fits and starts. Construction work was halted in 2006 after the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities convinced Cairo's governor the complex threatened views of the Citadel and nearby sites.

That was before OLC became officially responsible for the design. OLC beat out four Egyptian firms for the latest contract, helped by its design that tries to blend the financial center into the Mokattam Hill surrounding the location.

"The concept of relating to the Mokattam Hill seemed the best solution to avoid competing with the neighboring historical areas," said Khaled Nassar, general manager and engineer for the Cairo Financial Center.

The project has roots dating to the mid-1990s. Then, billionaire Egyptian businessman Mohamed Nosseir proposed a vast business complex - what is now emerging as the financial center.

Nosseir is chairman and founder of Alkan Holdings. The Egyptian conglomerate has its hands in areas ranging from telecom and information technology to real estate, tourism and luxury air travel.

After Nosseir proposed the complex, Egyptian authorities, archaeologists and others raised red flags about its potential impact on the Citadel and the Muhammad Ali Mosque located there.

The head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities - within the Ministry of Culture - was outspoken. The SCA had not given the needed OK for the project to proceed.

SCA Secretary General Zahi Hawass told CNN last August that if Nosseir had sought his opinion from the start, "I will say no, and no. And no."

In July 2006, Hawass had persuaded Cairo's governor to halt construction on the project temporarily so a UNESCO team could inspect the site.

UNESCO recommended the height be lowered. Nosseir scaled back the complex, ultimately putting several floors underground.

Enter OLC. While drafting its winning design, the firm worked to comply with UNESCO recommendations and those made by other authorities.

The job wasn't easy. Different UNESCO officials have been involved in the project.

"Every time you'd find new faces," recalled Mahmoud Elmetwally, an OLC senior principal.

OLC architects used the context of the rocky Mokattam Hill abutting the Citadel as the inspiration for the project's design.

According to the firm, the complex is intended to blend into the adjacent hill with a "stepping" approach to permit unobstructed views of the nearby historic sites.

The building material will resemble the surrounding limestone outcroppings.

"It looks like it's just a part of the mountain extended," said OLC's El-Sheikh.

fillionr@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2467

Cairo Financial Center

* What: New business and tourist complex that will include office/ retail space, hotel, movie theaters, underground garage

* Projected size: 8.1 million square feet

* Location: Cairo, adjacent to a 12th century walled fortress known as the Citadel

* Developer: Alkan Holdings, Egypt

* First stage: Scheduled to open by end of 2010; to include 3,000-car underground parking lot, 16-screen theater, 600,000 square feet of office space and 950,000 square feet of retail shops.

* Second stage: Set to open by 2013; to include 3,000 additional parking spaces, 1.1 million square feet of office space, 800,000 added square feet of retail and a "five-star" 450-room hotel.

* Notable quote: "I am not violating an archaeological site. . . . My aim is to attract foreign investors to Egypt and provide up to 4,500 job opportunities."

- Mohamed Nosseir, chairman of Alkan Holdings, as quoted by Al-Ahram Weekly Online

Ohlson Lavoie Collaborative

* Headquarters: Denver

* Line of work: Architecture

* Employees: 76

* Expertise: Health and fitness centers, recreation centers, water parks in North America; apartment and commercial buildings overseas.

* Offices: Orlando, Fla., Tokyo, Cairo, Egypt, Dubai

* Established: 1961

* Biggest project: Cairo Financial Center

* Other projects: Infinity Park rugby stadium, Glendale; Washtenaw Community College health and fitness center, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Grand Mosque, Dubai; Cortile Yamate-Cho housing project, Tokyo.