October 10, 2019

Text: Jesse Dorris

Quinto Architects Creates a Comfort Zone for Cairo Moms with The Cloud

A cloud pendant by Walaa Haggag floats above the custom reception desk made of white calacatta, gray terrazzo tiles, and gold-plated metal. Photography by Nour El-Refai.

Mothers deserve a little pampering no matter where they live, and Cairo-based Quinto Architects is making things a little easier for local moms with The Cloud. Totaling just under 4,000 square feet beneath a 1,300-square-foot roof deck in the city’s bustling Heliopolis district, The Cloud complex incorporates a lounge/co-working space, kids’ area, yoga studio, spa, hair salon, and locker room with a distinctly rosy palette designed to appeal to millennial mothers.

The aesthetic is 1980s Art Deco revival, says founder Amr Alim, with a touch of what he calls “fantasy dollhouse.” The former can be found in the reception, which sets Delicato, Rosalia, and Olivia gray marble flooring beneath pink walls with plissé millwork. The fantasy element is just around the corner, via a custom pink faux fur inset across rolling corners of the walls.

The lounge area’s pink and gray carpet from Moquette Centre complements the pink faux fur on the walls while echoing the multiple marbles on the reception floor. Photography by Nour El-Refai.

“Cliché was a major risk with the chosen aesthetic,” Alim says, “but we believe that textures translate emotions and feelings. With mothers going through numerous emotions while with their children,” he explains, multiple textures felt modern—if not necessarily new. The terrazzo throughout, Alim notes, goes back much further than the 1980s. “It’s a revival of our grandma’s houses we were raised in, and it was a gesture to bring back this homey feel. To go back to my comfort zone.” Which is something any mom might want.

Diagonals of white and black vinyl cover the shaded workout area; the custom planters are lacquered an energizing pink. Photography by Nour El-Refai.
In the hair salon, as throughout, walls are covered in millwork that references the rippled fabric technique plissé. Photography by Nour El-Refai.
Bathrooms incorporate cool blue glass tiles among the pink, terrazzo, and gold. Photography by Nour El-Refai.
The lounge’s custom furnishings in pastel hues can be grouped to accommodate co-working, socializing, or rest. Photography by Nour El-Refai.

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