It's a balmy 2SC in the upmarket Cairo neighborhood of Heliopolis and with sunset just an hour away.There is  a delicious breeze in the air.

"The weather is just amazing right now," smiles designer Mohamed

Said as he takes a seat in a chic cafe next to his wife, Dalia. Sitting

happily in his baby scat is their six-month-old son, Adam - the apple of his father's eye. It's a stone's throw from the family's personal

Sanctuary. "We live in a very cool penthouse, "he says of his island in the sky."I don't care about statements of wealth as much as I care

about statements of good design and quality of production

As founder, design director, and CEO of Ebony & Ivory, one of the leading design companies in Egypt, Said's hometown plays

an intrinsic part of his career. "Cairo inspires me daily. It's an architectural monster; a diverse city in terms of style. If you want to

see the. relationship between architecture and socio-economic conditions, this is a fantastic area to see it. It's daunting, but once you get a chance to breathe, count from one to 10 and look around. Inspiration is in the air," he says. Humble and affable. the 46-ycar-old started honing his skills while playing with Lego as a

Child. "I was never really into painting while a kid but I had a lot of fun building things; · Said laughs. He was later inspired by his architect father, Said Mohame.d Wahb.

"My father was mostly working on projects in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia; watching him at work made me fall in love

with design."

Said studied construction engineering at the AmericanUniversity in Cairo, with an elective focus on architecture to"have the best of both worlds:'Furnishings. however. became

his first foray into design.

"It's not easy to find exciting architectural projects but there are opportunities to work on interiors;· he says of his strategic move.

Alongside his father, they founded their company in 1997. We were brainstorming names and Ebony & Ivory came up. It was perfect as I was trying to find one that insinuate contrasting elements  mixing things together, and experimenting with

opposites." years later and it is the go -to firm for bespoke furniture, interior, and project consultancy, with clients including the exclusive Robinson Club Soma Bay and City Bank.

Their natural flair for transforming spaces led them to becoming sought-attar set designers, most recently creating the Vogue

Arabia photo booth at the El Gouna film festival.

We wanted to capture the golden days of Egyptian cinema so we used motifs from the Metro Cinema in Downtown Cairo. The set was vintage-inspired with strong Arabic signatures," he says. Said is no stranger ro the A-list, but he makes it all in stride. "Its always fun working with celebrities. Every time I do a job, I morph from a designer into a psychotherapist - talking about what

the clients like and dislike. We have many meticulous clients and celebrities are no different;' he notes.

His dream client would be a British rock idol. ''I'm a huge Rolling Stones fan and I'd love to work with Mick Jagger. The music obsessed designer harbors a secret ambition

. "I'd love: to work on the set design for Pink Floyd concerts. It would be a real cha1lcngc as in most venues it's only up for one night." One of his favorite projects ro dare, and largest commission, is the US $850 000 Sarwa Capital Building in Downtown Cairo. "We're. renovating the building, which was built in 1895. And restoring it to its former beauty. I'm really excited about and proud of it," he comments. "Once we complete a project, it's important to me that

people see my diems, not Ebony & Ivory. And most importantly, that

they enjoy the space."

It's a balmy 2SC in the upmarket Cairo neighborhood of Heliopolis

and with sunset just an hour away.

There is  a delicious breeze in the air.

"The weather is just amazing right now," smiles designer Mohamed

Said as he takes a seat in a chic cafe next to his wife, Dalia. Sitting

happily in his baby scat is their six-month-old son, Adam - the apple of his father's eye. It's a stone's throw from the family's personal

Sanctuary. "We live in a very cool penthouse, "he says of his island in the sky."I don't care about statements of wealth as much as I care

about statements of good design and quality of production

As founder, design director, and CEO of Ebony & Ivory, one of the leading design companies in Egypt, Said's hometown plays

an intrinsic part of his career. "Cairo inspires me daily. It's an architectural monster; a diverse city in terms of style. If you want to

see the. relationship between architecture and socio-economic conditions, this is a fantastic area to see it. It's daunting, but once you get a chance to breathe, count from one to 10 and look around. Inspiration is in the air," he says. Humble and affable. the 46-ycar-old started honing his skills while playing with Lego as a

Child. "I was never really into painting while a kid but I had a lot of fun building things; · Said laughs. He was later inspired by his architect father, Said Mohame.d Wahb.

"My father was mostly working on projects in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia; watching him at work made me fall in love

with design."

Said studied construction engineering at the AmericanUniversity in Cairo, with an elective focus on architecture to"have the best of both worlds:'Furnishings. however. became

his first foray into design.

"It's not easy to find exciting architectural projects but there are opportunities to work on interiors;· he says of his strategic move.

Alongside his father, they founded their company in 1997. We were brainstorming names and Ebony & Ivory came up. It was perfect as I was trying to find one that insinuate contrasting elements  mixing things together, and experimenting with

opposites." years later and it is the go -to firm for bespoke furniture, interior, and project consultancy, with clients including the exclusive Robinson Club Soma Bay and City Bank.

Their natural flair for transforming spaces led them to becoming sought-attar set designers, most recently creating the Vogue

Arabia photo booth at the El Gouna film festival.

We wanted to capture the golden days of Egyptian cinema so we used motifs from the Metro Cinema in Downtown Cairo. The set was vintage-inspired with strong Arabic signatures," he says. Said is no stranger ro the A-list, but he makes it all in stride. "Its always fun working with celebrities. Every time I do a job, I morph from a designer into a psychotherapist - talking about what

the clients like and dislike. We have many meticulous clients and celebrities are no different;' he notes.

His dream client would be a British rock idol. ''I'm a huge Rolling Stones fan and I'd love to work with Mick Jagger. The music obsessed designer harbors a secret ambition

. "I'd love: to work on the set design for Pink Floyd concerts. It would be a real cha1lcngc as in most venues it's only up for one night." One of his favorite projects ro dare, and largest commission, is the US $850 000 Sarwa Capital Building in Downtown Cairo. "We're. renovating the building, which was built in 1895. And restoring it to its former beauty. I'm really excited about and proud of it," he comments. "Once we complete a project, it's important to me that

people see my diems, not Ebony & Ivory. And most importantly, that

they enjoy the space."