Project Description

Located in the Green Belt area of 6th of October City, west of Cairo, the Raya Holding Club is designed as a social and sports hub for the employees of Raya Holding and its subsidiaries. It also serves as the venue for the company’s annual events. The project is divided into three main zones—Social Zone, Sports Zone, and Industrial Zone—each featuring a building dedicated to its specific purpose. The site is rectangular, oriented northwest, and positioned perpendicular to a highway. It is bordered by neighbouring plots on the southeast and west. The main entrance is on the northeast side, where a parking area and the Industrial Zone are separated from the Social and Sports Zones. The first building encountered is a two-story, 1,000-square-meter Central Kitchen, which supplies food to the company’s restaurants and cloud kitchens across Cairo.

Concept

The Sports Zone is accessed through a second gateway, leading to a two-story, 290-square-meter gym and locker building. Above this structure is a 23-meter-wide bridge connecting its rooftop to the Central Kitchen roof, which is utilized for padel courts. This zone also includes a depressed five-a-side football pitch and a multisport court, separated by a gentle ramp leading to the social zone. The Social Zone includes the main social building, a two-story, 1,800-square-meter courtyard structure with a spacious open area facing the northern façade. Designed to face true north, the building maximizes natural ventilation and indirect sunlight while minimizing heat gain. Its western façade features protective architectural elements that shield the interior from the intense afternoon sun, ensuring optimal thermal comfort. All the buildings are clad in vertical strips of locally sourced Egyptian Hashma stone. This design choice reduces heat absorption by creating self-shading surfaces, enhancing the buildings' energy efficiency and aesthetics.