GM Architects, Galal Mahmoud Architecture, Interior Design Studio, Projects, Office

GM Architects Offices

Architecture Practice with Offices in Beirut, Lebanon, and Abu Dhabi, UAE

22 Jul 2017

Galal Mahmoud Architects News

Mykonos Villa Renewal, The Cyclades, Greece
Design with Greek architect Andreas Vassilaros

Galal Mahmoud was asked to participate in the construction of a private villa located in the very heart of the island.

photograph courtesy © GM Architects

Galal Mahmoud and his design team focused on the exteriors of the residence, turning the terraces into places to live out life to the full – whilst offering protection from the Mykonos wind, which can be very strong during the summertime.

Mykonos Villa Renewal

13 Oct 2016
The Key Apart Hotel Beirut, Lebanon

GM Architects infuses artistic and cosmopolitan to create a serene urban oasis

The Key ApartHotel’s distinctive interior designed by GM Architects offers a new take on luxury accommodation in the heart of one of Beirut’s most fashionable neighborhoods in the cultural sector of the city. It provides guests with a sophisticated place to call home during their stay for weekend breaks or longer business visits. The two-year project is now in full use after its completion in June 2016.

photo courtesy © GM Architects

The brief of the project detailed the need to attract both national and international guests making them feel at ease while also infusing a twist of creativity and fun into the design.

The aparthotel is located in a new residential and corporate location surrounded by high-end art galleries and artistic workshops. The design process GM Architects implemented reflects the neighborhood’s feel by creating a relaxing and vibrant metropolitan retreat in-line with its cultural and urban context.

The Key Aparthotel was designed to cater for both family and business long stay travel all year round. The ambiance offers a relaxing environment that creates a dialogue within the lively environment. The owners want guests to feel connected to the city while also feeling serene in their immediate surroundings.

The furnishings of the Key Aparthotel were sourced, designed and conceived specifically for the project by GM Architects.

The guest room furniture was produced in Lebanon. The signature designs found in the lobby and restaurant furnishings were created by partnering with B&B Italia, represented by Le Cercle Hitti. All of these elements combined create a four-star deluxe property styled in cosmopolitan design and unabashed comfort.

The hotel offers guests a variety of amenities such as its on-site restaurant, a market-style store with local products, a fullyequipped gym and a conference center. The interior design of the hotel is sleek but comfortable, thanks to its warm colors and contemporary bespoke furnishings. Texture makes up a large quantity of the hidden design elements found throughout the hotel from the walls reminiscent of crinkled paper to the large spheres of twinkling white hanging lamps.

1 Oct 2016

GM Architects is honored at the International Architecture Award for “The Museum of Civilizations”

GM Architects is proud to announce that the firm’s design for “The Museum of Civilizations” in Beirut, Lebanon is a winner at the 2015 International Architecture Awards presented by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The Museum of Civilizations in Beirut, Lebanon:

picture courtesy © GM Architects

The awards ceremony took place on Friday 23 September 2016 in Athens in conjunction with the inauguration of “The City and the World.” This exhibition displays the winning projects on site at The Contemporary Space Athens which will then tour Europe after its run in the Greek capital. The 3D rendering of the “Museum of Civilizations” was also used on the ceremony’s official poster.

The Museum of Civilizations in Beirut by GM Architects:

picture courtesy © GM Architects

The prestigious award commemorates 65 of the year’s best architecture and design projects from a collective group originating from 26 countries and narrowed down from the nearly 400 entries. It is one of the most exhaustive reviews in the industry that honors the latest in skyscraper, private, commercial and urban design.

A jury of architects met in Milan earlier this year to determine the winners who were chosen based on their attention to environmental detail in building for international communities with multicultural roots. Each of the winning designs are innovative in style and adaptability on a global scale that emphasize today’s avant-garde architectural development.

GM Architects was one of only three projects chosen from the Middle East region for the International Architecture Awards. The firm is honored to be part of the urban development of Lebanon where it is headquartered. The Museum of Civilizations explores Beirut’s history through its unique design which is envisioned as both a museum and an archeological dig. The building would cut directly into layers of rock exposing the different civilizations that make up the city’s impressive 5 000 years heritage.

GM Architects team at the Award ceremony:

photo courtesy GM Architects

‘LIVING OUT THE GOOD LIFE’ BY GM ARCHITECT’S
A CONTEMPORARY AND MULTICULTURAL APPROACH

Born to Egyptian parents and having an English grandmother and Lebanese citizenship, architect Galal Mahmoud lived in France for several years, after fleeing the civil war in Lebanon with his family in 1976. He graduated from the Ecole d’Architecture de Versailles in 1986, opening his first architects’ practice in Paris the following year. In 1996 he founded GM Architects in Beirut, specializing in the luxury hotel and upscale seaside resort markets.

During his many trips to Asia, Galal Mahmoud experienced true well-being and witnessed at first-hand Asian societies’ approach to living in the shape of lifestyles that are equally comfortable in an outside environment as inside a house. Galal Mahmoud takes this approach and fuses it seamlessly with the architecture ‘for living out the good life’ that is so characteristic of the Mediterranean region.

These experiences are at the root of Galal Mahmoud’s philosophy and approach to architecture, where the concepts of ‘well-being’ and multiculturalism are key.

AN INTERNATIONALLY-RENOWNED ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN FIRM

GM Architects architecture and design firm specializes in the field of high-end tourism, notably in the creation of luxury hotels and resorts. It is one of the largest such firms in Lebanon. The company employs 40 professionals including architects and interior designers and is managed by Galal Mahmoud in partnership with Randa Chahine, Anwar Hajj and Elie Waked.

The firm has bases in Beirut and Abu Dhabi and is active worldwide. Its completed projects may be seen in France, Africa, the Middle East and throughout the Mediterranean region.

GM Architects initially specialized in interiors for the luxury and residential markets. It has since branched out and its expertise now encompasses interior design, landscape architecture and site evaluation and analysis in seafront locations. The practice is currently working on a Sofitel in Morocco, a Sheraton Resort in Dakar and three hotels in Mykonos.

GM Architects is the only architecture and design company in the Middle East to work regularly with Accor, Rotana, Starwood, Jumeirah and Rezidor.

This is due to the high standards of service it delivers, the painstaking care it takes both in the development of a wider vision for each individual project and in the execution of its finer details and its ability to deliver projects that meet the standards of the international hospitality sector and the requirements of the major hotel chains. The firm’s creative approach to projects embodies the distinctive philosophy of French-Lebanese architect Galal Mahmoud.

The ‘Museum of Civilizations’ project designed by GM Architects and presented at the 2014 Venice Biennale was selected for the ‘Future project of the year’ category at the World Architecture Festival, Singapore in 2014. In March 2015, it scooped the ‘Cultural Regeneration’ category at the 26th MIPIM Architectural Review Future Projects awards, before winning an ‘International Architecture Award’ in 2015. The museum also received an award at the 2016 International Architecture Awards presented by the Chicago Athenaeum.

CONTEXTUAL IMMERSION

Galal Mahmoud’s culturally diverse background has naturally led him to adopt a multicultural approach to all his projects. His ability to apprehend the essence of a place, to be alive to the diverse influences that shape it, imbues all his projects with a unity of vision, one that is genuinely informed by its immediate context.

‘Contextual immersion’ therefore lies at the heart of GM Architects’ way of thinking. Galal Mahmoud steeps himself in the geographical, historical and cultural environment of each project. He makes these contextual components his own, reworking them in a way that is relevant to and easily comprehensible by contemporary society, but also respectful of the identity and culture of the location in question.

14 Jul 2016

The Sofitel Tamuda Bay, M’diq, Morocco

photo © Christophe Gay

The Sofitel Tamuda Bay is a luxury five star hotel which will open in June 2016 in M’diq, a town located on the northern coast of Morocco about 20 miles east of Tangier. For Sofitel, the Sofitel Tamuda Bay is the luxury hotel brand’s latest project and will be offering 104 bedrooms and suites, eight bungalows and five villas spanning a total floor surface area of 38,128 square metres.

photo © Christophe Gay

The Sofitel Tamuda Bay in Morocco

12 Jul 2016
Myconian Ambassador Resort, Mykonos, Greece

photo from architects

The Myconian Ambassador is a luxury hotel located in Mykonos. It is one of a number of such top-end establishments in the Cyclades group of Greek islands. Its construction in 1979 was overseen by George Daktylides, and was the first hotel in the Myconian hotel collection. In 1992, the Myconian Ambassador was selected for membership of the Relais & Châteaux network due to the outstanding quality of its customer service and stunning location. In June 2015, the Lebanese architecture and design firm GM Architects completed the refurbishment of this magnificent establishment – all of its suites, its 69 bedrooms and its communal areas.

GM Architects on e-architect

More architecture projects by GM Architects online soon

International Architecture Awards 2016

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