Architecture—13 / 24

G-Town Phase 1

New Giza, Egypt/Mixed-use masterplan/Alchemy Design Studio (for G Developments)

Buildings, public realm, landscape and wayfinding developed together across several phases of a large Cairo masterplan.

G-Town Phase 1 — The buildings meet the street through a shared language of setbacks, planting and active ground floors. — 01The buildings meet the street through a shared language of setbacks, planting and active ground floors.

Location: New Giza, Egypt
Sector: Mixed Use
Scope: Design direction — architecture, landscape, wayfinding and public realm
Status: Selected phases delivered

My contribution

My role: Senior Design Architect — design direction under the Design Director
Responsibility: Design direction — architecture, landscape, wayfinding and public realm

Key contributions

Directed the architectural design of the buildings under the design director, together with landscape, wayfinding and public realm
Kept the language consistent across phases
Reviewed and aligned the work of the design teams developing individual buildings

The project

A masterplan of this size fails in the gaps between disciplines: buildings drawn by one team, landscape by another, signage added at the end. Here the design direction covered all of them at once, so the architecture of each phase was developed alongside the landscape that sets it and the wayfinding that explains it.

The work ran as design direction rather than production — setting the architectural language for the buildings in each phase, reviewing how they meet the ground and the street, and keeping materials, proportion and signage consistent from phase to phase so the quarter reads as one place as it grows.

G-Town Phase 1 — Changes in level become planted terraces and gathering spaces along the central pedestrian route. — 02Changes in level become planted terraces and gathering spaces along the central pedestrian route.

G-Town Phase 1 — The public landscape connects the separate plots into a continuous place to walk and stay. — 03The public landscape connects the separate plots into a continuous place to walk and stay.

03The public landscape connects the separate plots into a continuous place to walk and stay.

G-Town Phase 1 — The central route opens between the buildings, making the space between them the quarter's common address. — 04The central route opens between the buildings, making the space between them the quarter's common address.

G-Town Phase 1 — A corner landmark helps orient visitors where two pedestrian routes meet. — 05A corner landmark helps orient visitors where two pedestrian routes meet.

05A corner landmark helps orient visitors where two pedestrian routes meet.

G-Town Phase 1 — A deep arcade gives the public frontage a rhythm that can continue as the development grows. — 06A deep arcade gives the public frontage a rhythm that can continue as the development grows.

“A masterplan fails in the gaps between disciplines.”

G-Town Phase 1 — Curved corners soften the turn between streets while retaining the wider façade order. — 07Curved corners soften the turn between streets while retaining the wider façade order.

07Curved corners soften the turn between streets while retaining the wider façade order.

G-Town Phase 1 — Steps and planted edges bring the landscape into direct contact with the ground-floor uses. — 08Steps and planted edges bring the landscape into direct contact with the ground-floor uses.

G-Town Phase 1 — The landscape plan links separate buildings through a shared sequence of paths, courts and planted terraces. — 09The landscape plan links separate buildings through a shared sequence of paths, courts and planted terraces.

09The landscape plan links separate buildings through a shared sequence of paths, courts and planted terraces.

Process

The phased NEWGIZA masterplan; the G-Offices (Phase 2A) have their own page.

DWG 01Development plan — G-Town belongs to a wider network of residential, commercial and shared districts at NEWGIZA.

Colophon

Location: New Giza, Egypt
Sector: Mixed Use
Typology: Mixed-use masterplan
Scope: Design direction — architecture, landscape, wayfinding and public realm
Status: Selected phases delivered
Role: Senior Design Architect — design direction under the Design Director
Client: G Developments