Key Architectural Group: Architectural Design and Construction Solutions in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Lebanon

OVERVIEW

Key Architectural Group S.A.R.L, based in Beirut, Lebanon, was founded in 1998 by two brothers, Imad Fakhry and Hussein Fakhry, with the belief that architecture itself is a human, cultural and futuristic activity, that helps to transform the lives of people and the society as a whole. Since its inception, KEY has been providing professional design, supervision, and/or management services, with a proven approach to successful residential, commercial, and administrative projects in the scope of architectural and engineering design, consultation, and contracting. Today, the company takes pride in establishing a name for artistic flair, distinction, and integrity.

VISION

KEY’s vision is to surge ahead as the vanguard of a ground-breaking architectural and construction group, providing clients with best-in-class services, with the aim of outrunning their requirements and exceeding expectations. In this perspective, KEY is centralizing all its efforts toward successful, sustainable approaches, whiles evolving as a major group in this domain, especially in the Ghanaian industry, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, and also within the West African sub-region. KEY designs strategies in terms of putting programs for projects that can add value to the project and its urban fabric, with the goal of respecting contextual designs, taking into consideration cultural and environmental issues in their core.

MISSION

KEY’s mission focuses on turning dreams and ideas into reality. The company never overlooks details all the way through the operations process, because it believes that “the difference between something good and something great is the attention to details”. KEY is constantly inspired by must-haves and trends in its domain, whiles ensuring unique approaches to innovative design. KEY also commits all its efforts to ensure customer satisfaction while devoting time and offering them prices in line with their budget and requirements. In fact, one of its cornerstones is maintaining the highest level of customer satisfaction, which eventually fosters credibility and long-term confidence.

COMPANY STRUCTURE

KEY’s highly dedicated staff (including its affiliates) are immersed in the fields of architecture and construction, with specialist skills gleaned over many years, allowing them to accomplish landmark projects.

The KEY family consists of about 50 full-time employees in Lebanon, Ghana, and Ivory Coast (Abidjan), including six main architects, along with managerial, marketing, accounting, and design personnel. All recruitment is based on a strong academic background and distinguished professional expertise. KEY offers bespoke and personalized services, fuelled by a talented and devoted staff of its vital arms: Key Architectural Group and Key Architectural Company Limited.

Eight distinct departments work harmoniously to achieve the efficiency and success of the business.

1 – Board of Directors

KEY’s Board of Directors is the resourcefully knowledgeable and genuinely experienced brain that shapes the entity’s vision and sets its mission and objectives. Its members possess a varied awareness and understanding of the business and its competition. By adhering to Pablo Picasso’s philosophy of seeing ‘what could be’ and asking ‘why not?’ They constantly seek to expand the scope of architecture, assess operations and projects, determine short-term and long-term strategies, and eventually offers advice and direction at all levels.

2 – Management and Administration Department

The management department ensures the efficient running of the entity and handles project coordination, personnel matters, and internal audit issues. Its foremost target is to ensure a smooth performance of the business affairs and tasks, and the implementation of KEY’s projects, in line with its policies and under quality guidelines.

3 – Marketing and Project Development Department

The top priority is KEY’s on-hand and potential clientele. Therefore, this entity aims to maintain a strong relationship with its trusted contacts, expand its existing network, and eventually develop a wide-range portfolio of repeated clients. The team’s objective is to acquire a better grasp and understanding of the customer’s needs, visions, and expectations.

Its scope of work includes:
• Looking for opportunities and potential properties for development;
• Securing lands, working on programs and concepts and liaising with the design studio;
• Considering potential clients;
• Launching the development and business process.

4 – Design Studio

The laboratory where ideas and visions are turned into explicit distinct images. Run by a creative and driven staff of experienced architects and designers, this department conceptualizes, develops, and designs new projects. Its staff also generates visuals in the form of systematic plans, elevations, blueprints, three dimensions, and sketches for the structural design and decoration of the client’s dreamed construction.

This helps to alleviate the client’s worries about what to expect during the waiting time and allows them to participate in realizing the project of their dreams. As part of KEY’s commitment and responsibly innovative approach, the company only offers personalized services.

Regarding the technical designs, KEY executes architectural, decoration, and/or landscaping projects, liaising with three prominent sister companies, known for living up to their standards and providing world-class services in electrical, mechanical, and structural engineering.

5 – Quantity Surveying and Projects Costing Department

KEY prides itself to be a one-stop architectural firm focused on providing its clientele with innovative and genuine solutions all through the maturity of a project, meticulously following up its mission’s different facets: architectural, technical, construction feasibility, and financial viability, which leads to in-depth value engineering exercises throughout the plan’s lifespan. Its committed team sees to it that it covers the project’s financial framework through:

• Preparing the bill of quantities and specifications for every project, in order to have it priced;
• Preparing tender documents whenever the client wishes to contract his project by tender processing;
• Pricing projects whenever Key Contracting Ltd is invited to participate in a tender;
• Preparing and vetting interim payment certificates for projects throughout the construction phase;
• Cost and budget controlling, as well as managing sub-contractors.

6 – Project Management

Each project is managed from the ground up by a skilful and substantially experienced staff, covering all phases of the project ranging from initiation, contracting, planning, to execution, and closure.

The backbone of KEY’s operations is supervision, which guarantees KEY and its clients that a given project is appropriately overseen and run during all its life cycle, whether processed in-house or contracted out.

KEY ensures that the implementation phase is undertaken within the framework of specific professional standards to achieve the three essential parameters of a successful project:

• Quality: respecting all quality control processes.
• Time: securing time planning and time management.
• Budget: Managing cost control, value engineering and cash flow.

7 – Accounting Department

KEY’s rooted experience and depth of knowledge in architecture and contracting fields are the catalysts stirring up its sharp and client-oriented team to provide specialized accounting. As a matter of fact, its personnel partner with the clients to interpret their financial features, thus helping them make better decisions. They seek not only to provide superior service but also to maintain the highest ethical standards.

8 – Contracting: KEY Contracting, the Legal Entity

As part of its turnkey solutions, Key Contracting Company, which is KEY’s third fundamental wing, indeed offers contracting services for both in-house and outsourced designs. In the latter, the team prepares a cost estimation for the project at hand and tenders a quotation. When agreements are made, plans are carried out under stringent supervision, responsibility, and control. The company’s plethora of experience and resources in construction, renovation, and decoration, strengthens its position as a high value-added service provider to successfully and skilfully handle any project.

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

With more than 25 years of experience in commercial, hospitality and residential architectural designs, Imad Fakhry and Hussein Fakhry, both Architects by profession, are the Directors (General Manager and Managing Director respectively) for Key Architectural Group. They both worked with a couple of design and construction firms in Beirut, Lebanon before establishing the Group, in Lebanon, in 2001.

Imad and Hussein moved to Ghana in 2003 to establish Key Architectural Company Limited a year after (2004), and later Key Contracting Limited in Abidjan (2015).

Hussein recently said in an interview: “I’m a professional at the beginning and at the end, and architecture is my area and my passion. However, I tend to use my entrepreneurial skills to a large extent to develop, showcase and protect my architectural dream. I’m of the opinion that in all disciplines and professions you need to be able to plan, promote, evaluate, audit and forecast in order to succeed. Thus, I can’t really separate the architect in me from the entrepreneur, although I always technically and ethically, draw the line in-between”.

TURNKEY PROJECTS

From intangible ideas, all the way to handing the finished project, KEY grants its clients a professional attitude, substantial experience, and qualitative knowledge. Following up on timing, scheduling, planning, architecture, design, and coordination, its proficient team will deliver a fully-equipped facility, ready for immediate occupancy and operation.

KEY has around 25 executed projects in Ghana, 10 projects executed and under construction in Ivory Coast, 1 executed project in Benin, 1 project under construction in Togo, 1 executed project and 1 under construction in Lagos, 1 project under construction in Mali, as well as around 25 executed projects in Lebanon.

In Ghana, some of KEY’s main projects include:
– The Royal Senchi
– Peduase Valley Resort
– Roots Hotel Apartment
– Urbano Hotel
– Interplast factory
– Coral Showroom
– Activa Square
– Blu Gate Plaza
– Infinity Apartment
– Iris Boutique Apartment
– The Urban Apartment
– AVA Residence
– The Mulberry
– Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Museum

INFLUENCE ON GHANA’S TOURISM SECTOR

According to Hussein Fakhry: “Architecture is at the core of tourism. When cumulatively we can, homogeneously, offer neighbourhoods with character and identity, visiting Accra will be more enjoyable and the city will be branded in a way. Then the other hospitality industries will join the efforts and follow and consequently, this synergy will create the Ghana experience”.

“We contributed positively to the Roots Hotel Apartment, Urbano Hotel, Peduase Valley Resort, and the Royal Senchi Resort. All of them are operating perfectly till today which means their sustainability is put together. And for me, sustainability runs from the vision to the design to the execution and to the small details that create the experience. Today, when I see Peduase Valley Resort celebrating its 5th year anniversary with the slogan Five years of African Hospitality, I feel so good because our work initiated this image and of course, the management team is really doing a great job to keep it growing. In the same way, when I see people from all over the world taking pictures in front of the I Love Accra sculpture at Urbano Hotel, I feel this is the right way to express our love for Accra, as professionals. I did a little, I can say, and on my scale. I’m looking to do more for sure”, he added.

A BRIGHTER TOMORROW

KEY believes that progress and eventual success can only be reached with effort. As such, the future will see KEY treading new heights and reaching greater goals in the business of architecture and design. And with a portfolio growing rapidly and more projects being acquired, KEY will endeavour to stay appraised and in tune with the latest developments in the industry, looking ahead for the newest horizons and building up achievements from one milestone to another.

 

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