ÖKOPLAN: ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING SHAPING THE SOCIETY Ökoplan was founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1990, by Prof. Dr. Tamer Elkhorazaty and Eng. Said Sorour. Egypt’s office has been established in 1993, at a time when Egypt was seeing a boom in the real estate sector with the planning of new cities, which offered Ökoplan multiple business opportunities. Over the years, the firm has been growing and has now become a leading engineering consultancy firm, with a long history of successful projects inside and outside Egypt. From the very beginning, Ökoplan took part in the planning and development of new urban communities all over Egypt; it was among the very first firms to work on the urban planning of new cities like New Cairo, Al-Shorouk, Al-Obour and Badr. At the same time, Ökoplan started working with important developers on many significant projects inside and outside Cairo, in new urban communities, as well as along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts. The firm had also taken part in the Vision of Egypt 2030.
THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE CAPITAL (CAIRO CAPITAL)
With more than 250 architects, planners and engineers, Ökoplan has a wide range of services: city planning, strategic planning, urban design, landscape design, architectural design, interior design, as well as structural engineering, electromechanical engineering, site supervision, and construction management. More than ten years ago, the firm expanded by adding Ökoplan Structures and Ökoplan Landscaping to the main structure of Ökoplan, thus, gaining the long experiences of Eng. Taymour Elkhorazaty and Dr. Tarek Sobhy respectively. Dr. Tamer Elkhorazaty is a distinguished Professor of Urban Planning at Ain Shams University, and is the CEO of Ökoplan Engineering Consultations, as well as being one of the members of 5+ Urban Development Consortium (5+UDC): the consulting firm, responsible for planning the New Administrative Capital, on which Ökoplan started working 3 years ago. The firm is currently designing and supervising 30 projects in various locations, including the North Coast, the Red Sea, Al-Ain Al-Sokhna and several new urban communities; as well as some projects in the New Administrative Capital, in addition to Jazan University in Saudi Arabia. Ökoplan also realized the urban, architectural, landscape and engineering designs of projects like Rooya Group’s Telal El-Alamein and Telal El-Sokhna, Stone Park and Stone
STONE TOWERS In collaboration with Zaha Hadid
Residence, and is still working on their new extensions, such as Stone Street within Stone Park Project, together with the international firm “Phase 3 Architecture and Design”, which is based in London. It is worth mentioning that one of the most significant collaborations with international firms that Ökoplan established, was while working with Zaha Hadid Architects on the very challenging office park, mixed-use development Stone Towers, also owned and developed by Rooya Group. As for the latest projects, besides the New Administrative Capital and the other projects mentioned before, Ökoplan is working, as part of 5+ UDC, on the 9-mn-square-meter Jazan University in Saudi Arabia with the international consultant and star architect “Isozaki, Aoki & Associates Co., Ltd.”, being the second collaboration: the first one was
ALPHA SHOWROOM
by our strong commitment to the clients we serve, and also to the public realm and the many users involved. Working with different styles, according to clients’ needs, is essential but following a minimal, simple contemporary modern style is the main direction of the firm. Ökoplan’s architecture is aesthetically beautiful and cheerful, aiming to spread optimism.
TELAL AL-SOKHNA RESORT
the master planning of Egypt Japan University of Science and Technology in Borg El-Arab. The firm is also currently working on the urban, architectural and landscape design of the distinguished resort: “Mangroovy Residence”, developed by ElSewedy, in El-Gouna. Simultaneously, the team is working on the master plan of a new resort along the North Coast, as well as the design of two sports clubs, namely: Hyde Park Club in New Cairo City and Smash Club in Heliopolis; and has just finished the
ÖKOPLAN’S MINIMAL ARCHITECTURE
architectural design of the “School of Performing Arts” in Badr University. At Ökoplan, the work is driven by the quest for quality: a belief that our contribution to the built environment is a vital step towards providing present and future generations with a better quality of life. As a group of planners, urban designers, architects and engineers, the team nurtures innovative ideas that reveal high standards of professional skills. The company’s work is mainly based on good teamwork between the colleagues, utilizing progressive design
approaches and integrating state-ofthe-art technologies throughout the design process, to achieve the best quality within the most economic and feasible means.
Ökoplan introduces and initiates sustainable and eco-friendly trends in its projects; however it all depends on the developer, as it needs a specific budget. Nevertheless, there are simple practices that can be made to achieve sustainability such as using locally-produced and locally-sourced materials, as well as durable ones that result in significant savings in terms of reduced cost of maintenance and repairs. The firm’s success strategy is to always maintain efficiency and keep the balance between quality and cost, always working within the budget set by the client to achieve the best quality with the lowest possible price.
Achieving the expected high quality is accomplished through clarity and transparency in design; the buildings are created from the balanced combination of forms, which are positioned in the urban context according to how they relate to the skyline or the streetscape of the surroundings. This approach is coupled
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