Who would want to
be an architect
these days? With
construction at a virtual halt
and a glut of unsold real estate
on the market, it would seem
that designing new buildings is
the last business anyone would
want to be in. But there is at
least one architectural firm that
is bucking the trend.
During the first quarter of this
year, GM Architects signed over
$300,000 worth of contracts and
collected $120,000 in revenues.
Compare that with figures for
1999, when just $200,000 worth
of contracts were signed and revenues
totaled $120,000. The previous
year, GM Architects had
signed contracts worth $240,000
and had $60,000 in revenues.
One of the main contributions to GM’s growth has been the firm’s focus on interior
decorating. “Architectural projects need huge
investments, and the country cannot afford this
now,” says architect Pierre El-Khoury.
Galal Mahmoud, GM Architects’
founder, moved operations from Paris to
Beirut two years ago. He, and his two partners,
Gilbert Bocti and Randa Chahine,
opened offices in Verdun and Rabieh. The
company has decorated the interiors of a
number of popular establishments. These
include the Country Lodge country club in
Bsalim, the 200-bedroom Crown Plaza
hotel in Hamra, the Circus bar and restaurant
in Ashrafieh, and the Jeitawi branch of
BLOM bank. More recently, GM
Architects signed a deal to decorate the Taj Tower’s cinema, amusement center and
restaurant in Hamra. “I think what attracts
clients to us is our professionalism, our
international exposure and our creativity,”
says Mahmoud. BLOM liked GM
Architects’ work so much that it asked the
firm to decorate its new branch in Nabatieh.
“People recommended them to us and they
fit the requirements,” says Mohammed
Bizri, building manager at BLOM.
GM Architects charges between 8% to
15% of the value of the project, although it often
offers discounts to return customers. But the
firm’s strategy has not been without problems.
Even though interior designers have
not been as badly affected by the recession as
the architects working in the construction
sector, business has been slow. According to Antonie Tabet of the architectural firm Tabet & Partners, business dropped by 40%
between 1998 and 1999. “1999 was a very bad
year,” says architect Bernard Khoury.
To combat the economic slowdown, the firm has been looking overseas for business.
GM Architects has already designed the
interiors of such establishments as the
300m2 Chameleon club and restaurant in
Germany, the 600m2 French Trade Office in
New York, and the 350m² Villa Mykonos in
Greece. It has also done projects in Saudi
Arabia, Ecuador and France. Now the company
wants to break into Middle Eastern
countries where it has not done business, such
as the UAE and Egypt. In addition,
Mahmoud has retained the GM Architects’
office in Paris, where the company was
established in 1987.
The French division saw revenues drop
from around $400,000 in 1997 to $100,000
in 1999 and made no profits. But the Paris
office allows the company to keep up with the
latest trends in the industry and has helped the
firm establish contacts with other interior
designers as well as furniture companies.
“Keeping the office in France was like keeping
an open door,” says Mahmoud.
GM Architects is not the only architectural
firm in the country seeking business
in foreign markets. Khoury, who projects
local revenues this year to be just under
$500,000, recently agreed with Faber &
Krebs to design a $40 million entertainment
complex that includes restaurants
and theatres, from which Khoury expects
to earn around $1.3 million.
GM Architects’ blueprint for growth in a
sluggish economy has worked. But these
are mere survival skills. Like almost all
companies, what’s really needed is a sharp
turnaround in the economy. In the meantime,
GM Architects might turn an eye to the
recently liberated South, where thousands
of demolished homes are just waiting to be
rebuilt and, of course, redecorated.
