Flair Magazine Following a humble start where a client’s basement doubled as their office, Design Firm Associates (DFA) is definitely headed for the win. Delivering services ranging from urban, structural, landscape and environmental designs, DFA is now one of the most unique and innovative architectural firms in Egypt. We talked to the founder and CEO, Mohamed Hamada, 28, to learn more about the challenges his firm faced as a startup and what they’re aspiring to next.
How was it starting in a basement office with no windows or doors?
It was not easy. We were freezing. We started in January 2016 in New Cairo so you could imagine having to endure the winter weather in a space without any windows installed. As a startup business at the time, we needed to save money in order to grow our firm so we asked our client to allow us to work in the basement till we finish construction of a residential building, and he accepted. We started working on our projects while supervising the construction at the same time. More project opportunities started coming our way, and we realized the need for more than just three partners. That’s when we decided to build another room attached to ours and to start hiring architects who share our passion for architecture. Then, our team grew from three members to twenty.
What are the types of challenges you still face today?
First, there is the clients’ grasp of aesthetics. In the era we are living in now, the community’s sense of beauty is not always up to standard, and we make it our responsibility to project high quality aesthetic. We don’t tell them what is good or bad about their vision but we show them ours and then they decide for themselves. Another challenge is raising the bar in the architect’s field in Egypt, so we make sure that our team gets what they need. At some point, we had to increase salaries each year by 40% and 50% to give our team what they really deserve, and of course, it affected our expenses.
How was it representing Egypt in an architectural competition in Portugal?
It was the first time for me to experience the honor of representing my country in an international competition. I felt responsible, like an ambassador for the Egyptian architects in the presence of all the international figures.
What are your greatest design inspirations?
I have a lot of them but mainly I watch the art by the greatest designer of the universe – God. I watch his creation and designs in trees, seas, rivers, animals, mountain lines, cloud masses getting reformed, and the harmony of the various colors blending together in the sky pallet during sunset.
I also watch people and get inspired from their attitude, how the kids run and play with playground structures, how patients deal inside their rooms on hospitals, how adults sit in cafes and enjoy their time, how athletes perform and find their needs met in the built environment, how people in mosques and churches pray. All human action inspires me and makes me think of how to accommodate people’s needs and develop the way we facilitate them. 
Why did you choose your slogan “Architecture for Humanity”?
Architecture is made for humans, and is inspired from humans… from their history, culture, habits, religions, economy, geography and climate. Architecture should reflect all those details to be successful, but for the last four decades in Egypt, architects didn’t live up to that. It’s our business to bring back ‘architecture for humanity’.
With the variety of projects you take on, what is the criteria with which you pick your clients?
Believe it or not, the only criteria we look at is our relationship with the client and how good friends we can become, because based on that, we are able to know what they really want and how to apply it in our designs.
What have been your favorite projects so far? Why?
The projects that are built on research and studies, such as West Village Compound, for example. This one was planned to be the first sustainable community in Egypt so we had to study up-to-date agriculture techniques, including microenvironment for open fields, smart green houses, poly domes, and the latest techniques in energy generating.
What are your plans and goals for the future of the company?
Our goal is to push Egyptian architecture to the caliber it deserves worldwide. Especially since we are the descendants of the world’s greatest builders in history – the ancient Egyptians.
By Sarah Guirguis
