With its five-metre-high ceilings and panoramic windows, this sprawling Cairo penthouse has 180-degrees outlook across old and new districts of Egypt's capital city.
Like many grand cities, Cairo’s image is so deeply intertwined with its historic monuments, that it is easy to overlook what’s happening right now. A buoyant real estate market, a resurgent contemporary design scene and a new billion dollar mega-museum signal a turning point. The energy on the streets is very similar to the 1980s, which saw a boom in high-rise architecture, with modernist buildings popping up by the corniche, their glass and concrete structures soaring against the backdrop of traditional trading boats bobbing on the Nile.
This Artfully Layered Home in Cairo – Overlooking the Nile – Is a Modern Day Art Deco Fantasy
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That scene is what greets you when the doors of a private elevator open onto the duplex Cairo penthouse that designer Nourhan Kanjo shares with her entrepreneur husband, Ahmed, and their two children. “This property had been in my husband’s family since his grandfather built the building in the eighties,” she says of this rare gem, which, with its five-metre-high ceilings and panoramic windows, seems to watch over all of Cairo. Surprisingly, no one had ever lived here before, so, when Kanjo first viewed it, it was an empty concrete shell but she saw the potential of transforming it into her family home immediately. “I just fell in love with the view,” she says. “We have a 180-degrees outlook across old and new Cairo, from the historic embassy area and the Giza pyramids to the old zoo, and watching life unfold across the Nile never gets old.”
With the help of Dayana, her sister and business partner – the duo founded Kanjo Design House, a turn-key architecture and interior design studio based in Cairo, in 2017 – she devised a scheme centred on an open-plan living and entertaining area that reveals itself as you walk through a double-height foyer with gently curving walls. “I wanted to pay homage to the Nile and softly guide everyone’s eyes towards the view outside without revealing too much of the house immediately,” explains Kanjo of the undulating silhouette. This design trick is also a very considered play on scale, one that leaves the visitor feeling both awe-struck and cocooned at once.
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The sprawling living space that lies ahead – composed of a series of mini seating areas, perfect for the couple to entertain groups of varying sizes, or just lounge about as a family – is anchored by an obelisk-shaped copper chimney that further accentuates the high ceiling. Doubling up as a sculpture, it also conceals a central column. “The structural grid of the building was very challenging because of the number of columns and their size,” recalls Kanjo. After a spot of creative thinking, she decided to embrace all the pillars by integrating them into the layout as design features. For example, one set of pillars is boxed into a display shelf that screens a family-style lounge and the other, left as is, frames the dining area, where a 14-seater marble and copper dining table holds court.
Riffing off the cityscape, Kanjo curated a material palette inspired by the colours of Cairo. The honey-hued wooden panels that define the curving foyer and powder room take after the wood used in the feluccas (boats) on the Nile, while the colour of the river itself is reflected in the green marble floor and a pair of de Sede DS-600 sofas arranged on either side of the chimney. The tones of the local stone dictated the rug selection and the burgundy sunset sky is echoed in the accent chairs.
Designing this generous penthouse – it covers 1,250 square metres – required bold gestures that came in the form of oversized furniture and large-scale architectural features. Custom orders, including the dining table and the sofas, were complemented with bespoke pieces, such as the space-age bar with a cantilevered edge and a glass-lined staircase leading to the mezzanine; both tested the mettle of Kanjo’s in-house construction and joinery teams.
With the primary bedroom, walk-in dressing area and bathroom (with a window-side tub) arranged as a sequence of interconnected spaces that open up to the Nile, Kanjo’s suite is her favourite space in the house. “We installed full-height sliding panels and automated curtains for privacy,” she explains. “Lying in bed and seeing boats in the river makes for great entertainment. It’s like watching a movie.” As the mood of the space changes throughout the day, the designer opted for a palette of ivory, beige and brown hues, creating a chic yet cosy ambiance. The same scheme echoes through three other bedrooms, while the nursery is enlivened with an illustrative wallcovering depicting a scene from the Giza Zoo.
The family moved into the apartment in 2022, but the designer is not done yet. Up next is a rooftop pool, spa and an outdoor terrace that will take up the upper floor. “We hope to finish that in 2025 and I can’t wait to just stand on the terrace and soak in this city.” @nourhankanjo; @kanjodesign
