Projects: 2000 to 2004

Keywords: Rehabilitation, Urban Design, World Heritage Site, Economic Strategy

Part of our portfolio of World Heritage Site projects.

Concept Plan Evaluation for the Cairo Citadel Development

Egypt’s Cairo Governorate in cooperation with a private developer drafted a concept to transform a one million m2 site overlooking Cairo’s historic Citadel and Mohamed Ali Mosque, part of the medieval city of Cairo (a World Heritage Site), into Cairo’s Financial Center at an estimated investment of $450-750M. The risks to the area’s historic and national heritage were not well studied; consequently, consultants from OHK were retained as evaluation experts on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Antiquities to provide historic conservation and site development guidelines and requirements.

The team trained officials from the Cairo Governorate and the Supreme Council of Antiquities on standards and processes of design review and approval, sustainability considerations, and relevant UNESCO guidelines. We further expanded UNESCO’s Operational Guidelines for World Heritage Sites to reflect further design and operational constraints, guidance on integrating living communities, spatial planning terms for urban contexts, and a public-private partnership framework for investment.

Keywords:  Rehabilitation, Urban Design, World Heritage Site, Economic Strategy, Place Design, Community Development

Part of our portfolio of World Heritage Site projects.

Economic Strategy for Redevelopment of the Fatimid Historic District

Fatimid Cairo and its historic monuments have suffered from neglect for decades, and the Government of Egypt and various donors from 1998 onwards have funded large restoration initiatives. Consultants from OHK worked with stakeholders and other specialists to devise an economic strategy that would optimize the cost effectiveness of additional interventions and assess the impact of the wider rehabilitation program, along with options for economic enablement of the retail and tourism services of the area.

The team developed a financial model that accounted for various market trends and characteristics, and devised spatial and urban design assumptions relative to economic performance. By breaking the model down spatially into districts and streets, it was possible to introduce new ways of bridging financial and site management decisions. This delineation allowed for the direct prioritization of interventions and phasing based on the market conditions underlining each area. OHK’s proprietary approach represents a novel understanding of the economics of World Heritage Sites and their rehabilitation.

Keywords:  Place Design, Spatial Strategy, Capital Strategy, Conservation

Golf Course Design Guidelines for Arid and Desert Regions

Traditional approaches to golf course design are ill-equipped to respond sustainably to the environmental, climatic, and water conditions in some of its highest-growth markets. Consultants from OHK were tasked with advancing a new set of design standards and technical requirements for regulating environmentally responsible golf courses in arid regions. With PGA championship golf courses being built by world renowned designers on hyper-arid coastal and desert cities in Dubai and Egypt, it was necessary to provide standards that maintain PGA-levels of design while maximizing the environmental compatibility of desert golf courses.

The team worked with several world-renowned golf course designers such as Gary Player, Ronald Fream, David Dale, and Kevin Ramsey to synthesize complex aspects of play, architecture, experience, and environmental management into design, construction, and operation guidelines. For regulators we also put forward a policy directive and an environmental evaluation and review process. As of 2015, tens of golf architects and golf course managers on the Egyptian Red Sea Coast, in Qatar, on the Mediterranean, in Dubai, in Abu Dhabi, and in Morocco have made use of the guidelines to institute best practices.

Keywords:  Conservation, Sustainability, Information Technology, Capacity Building

Awards and Press:  Featured in the "World Summit on Sustainable Development" and Earth Summit 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, by the Egyptian Environment Minister who encouraged its adoption by other countries as an important mechanism to achieve sustainable development goals.

Developing an Information System for Egypt's Environmental Sector

Since its introduction in 1994, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) system in Egypt has progressed significantly. Consultants from OHK were charged with adding technology improvements to all aspects of the EIA system, from preparation to review and decision-making. The team spent two years embedded within the Ministry of Environmental Affairs to collect data on environmental impacts and build an environmental accounting system to process data on environmental costs and effects of more than 20,000 projects ranging from investments in manufacturing and large industrial facilities to urban designs and resort developments. The collected data were analyzed to capture a national environmental balance and impact inventory.

An information system was built within the organization for storing and processing project applications, including expert system analytics, a web portal, and a set of productivity tools. The system is capable of handling and digitizing one million projects, their various design and environmental studies, formal approval submissions, and review documentation backed up by a classification and monitoring system. Each project type is entered, tracked, and monitored according to a set of guidelines and forms. On the front end, the completion of information in an application form by developers and investors was streamlined, submitted electronically, and housed in the cloud – one of the very early cloud solutions in e-government and the environment.

Keywords: Community Development, Education, Hospitality

Hospitality Education Curriculum and Vocational School Accreditation Program

School systems in developing countries are often disconnected from labor marketplaces, leaving their graduates lacking in vocational training and unemployed. Consultants from OHK implemented a technical assistance program financed by the German Technical Cooperation and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to devise a vocational curriculum in hospitality that improves school-to-work transition. We partnered with the Paul Rahn Group in Germany to offer vocational training with courses specific to the hotel service industry. A school was built in Gouna, Egypt to offer a three-year, dual vocational training program in hospitality.

After successfully completing the training, students are certified by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Leipzig, Germany, thereby receiving an internationally recognized diploma. More than 1,000 students have been interned, have qualified, and have entered the workforce successfully in partnerships with major hotel chains. In addition to providing employment and improving the livelihoods of the students, the work of OHK has bridged the socioeconomic divide between poor communities and the expanding tourism industry in emerging markets, leveraging a network of tourism organizations willing to provide private sponsorship of tourism education for local residents.

Keywords:  Information Technology, Conservation, World Heritage Site, Spatial Planning, Economic Strategy

Myos Hormos Master Plan

Consultants from OHK were retained to develop a vision and conservation plan for Myos Hormos, a site that holds great historical significance as the Roman Empire’s principal gateway to India and Africa. The scope of the assignment included an extensive 2-year baseline study, a master plan vision, conservation plan, and an investment roadmap to develop the area in a sustainable way in partnership with private sector investors.  After a complex baseline study including a 2-year excavation program of the area, the consultant team devised a vision for the conservation of the region together with government officials, on-site archaeologists, and the local community.

The team developed several spatial and planning tools in GIS to analyze and make decisions about the site’s spatial development patterns as well as to catalog and quantify artifact zones for conservation. A sustainable tourism development master plan for the region integrated planning and development policies for land use, landscape, built structures, interpretation and education, visitor management, community role, and public-private partnerships in tourism and community services. A development catalog was drafted in conjunction with the master plan to guide specific types of projects and building guidelines, supported by implementation and review guidelines for compliance with the master plan and the conservation plan.

Keywords:  Rehabilitation, Community Development, Rehabilitation, Conservation, Spatial Strategy, Urban Design, Place Vision

Al-Qusayr City Historic Downtown Redevelopment Plan

Recognizing the conservation potential of the 5,000-year old port city of Al-Qusayr, consultants from OHK implemented a year-long program to provide technical expertise, define opportunities and approaches to town conservation, prepare rehabilitation and development proposals, and prepare feasibility studies, in association with the private sector and donors.

The team devised rehabilitation and conservation maps, a land use master plan, and infrastructure investment programs, along with action plans to address more than 20 key sites' restoration, urban and environmental rehabilitation, new investment in tourism facilities for growth and sustainability, and local community development. The centerpiece of the historic preservation plan was a proposal to restore the Al-Qusayr Fort to its 15th-century glory and build a visitor center showcasing a memorable interactive experience to visitors. The engagement was extended to provide a research catalogue of historical elements and an experiential design of the center.

Keywords: Conservation, World Heritage Site

Conservation/Tourism Strategy Plan for the Roman Trail

Consultants from OHK conducted an ambitious, multi-year program to document, analyze, and devise tourism proposals for thousands of kilometers of the historic Roman Trail across the Middle East. The initiative entailed mapping and documentation covering over 100 Roman sites along the trail, drawing on extensive archaeological evidence, historical references, field work, site mapping, and photographic and survey assessments.

The team developed a Roman Trail Tourism Circuit Plan as a re-conceptualized journey along the trail, designed with modern day travel in mind and broken down into more than 30 tourism circuits and 20 sub-destinations facilitating travel and tours combined with stay and logistical options. The plan integrated myriad tourism segments like ecotourism, safaris, dive tourism, and cultural tourism, and introduced innovative interventions to the hospitality, transport, security, and telecommunication sectors. Critical to the success of these proposals was embedding them in economic schemes that would function as economically viable tourism attractions, boosting revenue-generating tourism businesses and having a sustainable management capacity. Among the proposals that have been implemented are El Tarfa Lodge in the Oasis of Dakhla and Adrère Amellal desert eco lodge in Siwa.

Keywords: Spatial Strategy, Urban Design, Place Design, Sustainability, Conservation

Advisory Services for the Grand Egyptian Museum International Design Competition

On behalf of the Egyptian government, consultants from OHK advised on and coordinated institutional options for completing the design of the newly proposed Grand Egyptian Museum. The museum aspires to be the largest archaeological museum in the world, spanning 50-hectares of land near the Giza Pyramids. To ensure the challenging task of achieving inter-governmental coordination, we acted as a coordinator among the government players, including the set up of various procedures and workgroups. We mapped out several options for conducting the master plan design, including an international design competition.

The advisory assignment served as the basis upon which an international competition was subsequently launched in January of 2002. The competition received 1,557 entries from 82 countries, becoming the largest architectural competition in history. Designed by Heneghan Peng Architects of Ireland, the museum encompasses a 24,000m² permanent exhibition space, a children’s museum, conferencing complex, and a conservation center with educational facilities.

Keywords: Capital Strategy

Advisory Services in Support of the Privatization of Government Holdings in Emerging Markets

Advisors from OHK were retained as principals in a team of M&A consultants and asset valuation experts to participate in the Prime Minister Office-led and USAID- and World Bank-funded privatization strategy for Egypt's public sector. The team provided recommendations on the sale of government assets to private investors and analyzed more than 300 companies in 22 sectors over a two-year period, supervising operational and market assessments and proposing a balanced approach between privatization and continued public ownership.

As co-leads of the hospitality workstream, consultants from OHK assessed 12 property assets, working in four regions from Cairo and Alexandria to Aswan and Luxor and recommended investment in individual assets. A strategic road map for implementation included a public capital reinvestment program, which as of 2011 reached $500M in flagship holdings such as the Old Cataract Hotel and the Nile Ritz Carlton. Egypt's privatization strategy in hospitality holdings are often cited and recommended by the World Bank as a model to follow in emerging economies.

Keywords: Sustainability, Capital Strategy, Conservation

Quality Labeling Program for Emerging Market Textile Industries

Consumers are becoming more concerned with the adverse impacts of industrial pollution on the environment and their health. Experts from OHK completed a technical assistance program to develop eco-labels that certify the “eco-friendliness” of textile products in international marketplaces. The guidelines have become environmental standards in the international marketplace in light of tariff removal under the World Trade Organization Agreement on Tariff and Trade in 2005, and have since been widely adopted by exporters in key textile producing markets in Egypt, India, Bangladesh, and China.

The experts also developed several pilot projects with manufacturers in Egypt and India to protect their existing markets and expand into new ones that require an eco-label. These manufacturers were able to enhance export market opportunities, achieve financial savings through process optimization and improvements, and improve product quality. A market-based financial model for cost benefit analysis and feasibility was also developed for capital budgeting and investor analysis. A study of ten manufacturing facilities that adopted the guidance found dramatic progress in pollution prevention.

Keywords:  Conservation, Economic Strategy

Awards and Press:  Featured in Rio+20

Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs in Tourism Destinations

Consultants from OHK conducted a multi-country economic valuation of coastal economic activities and the reef resources that could be impacted by those activities, and estimated the value of the natural resources using multiple perspectives on environmental value. In countries like Egypt, the Maldives, and Oman, this included the economic contribution of multibillion-dollar investments in tourist, recreational, commercial, and coastal development activity within the reef areas. The team outlined each country’s contribution to global reef value and quantified both the direct and indirect contribution of economic activities.

Various econometric models were applied and compared to evaluate the market and non-market value of the coral ecosystems of each country, including travel-cost models, utility models, pricing methods, contingent valuation, and impact and damage assessment. A few years later, an interactive informatics display of the study outcomes was presented at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development’s Rio Earth Summit 2012.

Keywords: Economic Strategy, Capital Strategy, Spatial Strategy, Urban Design

Valuation Study of the V&A Waterfront

Advisors from OHK conducted a valuation study of South Africa’s most popular tourist destination, the Victoria & Albert Waterfront, which at the time was Africa’s single most valuable piece of real estate. The 123-hectare Cape Town waterfront was transformed from an industrial port to a large-scale, mixed use waterfront of residences, hotels, and retail that currently receives 25 million visitors a year. On behalf of a sovereign wealth fund, the advisory team constructed five valuation models for the waterfront assets based on market, growth and cash flow, value in use, investment value, and liquidation.

In order to make the growth assumptions underlying the valuation model, an option study for spatial changes to the current master plan was also considered. For each use in the master plan, sub-models were constructed and buyer considerations were factored into the model according to their investment outlays and their impact on value.

Keywords: Capital Strategy, Conservation, Experience Design, Place Design

PPP Regulation and Concession Contracting for National Parks

OHK's consultants were early innovators in public-private partnership frameworks that focus on national parks and nature reserves as platforms for sustainable tourism, ecotourism, and community job creation. The model was developed for and tested on national park entities in Africa including Egypt, Namibia, Morocco, and South Africa.

The framework was adopted in South Africa and Namibian parks, which allowed tens of millions of dollars to enter park economies in the form of concessions to build lodges and run safari operations, and has created thousands of jobs for the communities living in and around the parks. Beyond the framework, OHK's consultants helped government entities in the nature conservation arena to build business development and partnership capabilities. More recently, OHK has begun introducing this model in Jordan and Egypt.

Keywords:  Conservation, Community Development, Rehabilitation, Place Design, Experience Design 

LIFE Program for Sustainable Community Development

Consultants from OHK led tasks under a multiyear program focused on increasing sustainable economic growth in Egypt’s emergent destinations by developing the capacity of local communities to take part in the new economic landscape. Thefocus was to help plan remote areas like Wadi Gimal and Lake Nasser – nominated for world heritage site designation for their terrestrial, coastal and marine value – and address the last remaining indigenous communities in these areas. The consultant team assisted communities in transforming informal attractions into high quality tourism products and commercial tourism enterprises.

The team advised on environmental monitoring of ecological conditions in protected areas and the design and operational requirements of tourism facilities and visitation within national parks. Several advisers from OHK were field-based and conducted on-the-ground surveys, tourism audits, and regional mapping to support ongoing monitoring of proposed and approved tourism development projects. Conservation and community development zoning maps were developed and integrated into national park management plans. A visitor center was constructed using earthen materials and vernacular techniques.