ETHOS
As a firm, Killa Design is dedicated to creating innovative buildings that are timeless, environmentally sustainable, and contextually inspired.
We specialise in mixed-use, high rise, hospitality, office, and residential projects. We also have significant experience in retail, theatre, museum, urban design, and master planning projects.
With value led building solutions, cutting edge and creative thinking, we strive to build strong relationships with our clients by going beyond the brief to help transform their project vision into viable, liveable spaces.
Our people are passionate about responsible design and the impact it has on the lives we touch every day.
As a firm we aim to:
MISSION
In the six years since we were first established, Killa Design has been able to secure, design and construct a significant number of projects that have made a tangible difference to the architectural and construction landscape of the Middle East and wider region.
Projects such as the Museum of the Future, Office of the Future, The Vida Marina and The Address Beach Resort have pushed the boundaries of design and sought out new and innovative ways of approaching age-old architectural problems. Our core creative mission is to approach design from first principles, to not be hampered by the way that things have been done in the past but rather to approach each project as a new and unique set of challenges that require innovative and unique design solutions. We are honoured to be trusted by our client’s to positively shape the form of our buildings and our cities. We believe that we have an ethical responsibility to wield the material and human labour made available to us with the greatest possible respect for the environmental, social, and cultural context.
As a firm, we encourage our clients to explore and undertake project designs that re-define design and construction methodologies; that are challenging but rewarding for the delivery team and that ultimately deliver the highest quality of the built environment for the end-user.
Our firm is defined by our holistic approach that encourages our clients, our consultants, our collaborators, and ourselves to work outside our normal comfort zone to reach a higher standard of building design.
While many firms are driven by commercial interests, our primary goal is to support projects that call for unique and innovative solutions, that offer new possibilities for design and that resonate with our core values. These core values are to support sustainability, contextual sensitivity, and timeless design. We believe that commercial success will result from holding true to what we value in architecture and that our firm will be recognised for its commitment to these higher goals by being given the opportunity to develop new projects in the future.
We have achieved the design and construction of projects that meet these core principles while maintaining an office environment that is open, diverse, collaborative, and highly creative. Our team is made up of a dynamic group of individuals that seek out innovative ways of generating architectural design solutions; a new generation of designers who make use of the latest computational tools and techniques to help inform the design process and yet still have a respect for elemental principles behind good quality design.
CULTURE
We aim to encourage a working environment that promotes a relaxed, comfortable, and creative working space. We have invited a series of chefs in the office to prepare daily meals for the staff. We have found this is a great way to get people to connect and discuss creative ideas.
We have also hosted regular in-studio yoga and meditation sessions at the start of the day and ‘The Den’ complete with electric guitar and amplifier provides a practice space for musical expression. We also have foosball within the office and have championship leagues as well as an in house Sonos system for evening music.
We organise a monthly Town Hall meeting where we bring everyone, from all departments, operating at all levels, together. Here we go through everything from birthdays to weddings to babies. We go through our current and new projects, so the entire company knows what is going on. We usually have each project team present with their work to the rest of the company and this also gives the younger Architects/designers an opportunity to share their experiences and take advice from the more senior members. We have worked to create an open environment where everybody can speak and be heard without feeling pressured or scared, they may say the wrong thing. These are followed up by regular drinks nights hosted by the office.
People love working in our office because its like a university. Everyone is constantly learning and pushing themselves and collaborating to better one another. We believe this is truly unique and you don’t necessarily find this in many other offices. Killa Design has grown to become more than just a place of work to our staff members. It is a place where people can achieve great things, invest in themselves and be rewarded for it. This has contributed to a phenomenal team that is strong and able and this sort of functionality gives us the freedom to focus on our core business practice and what we do best. It has allowed us to serve our clients to the best of our ability, achieving their satisfaction, and not stopping until we have done so.
As a firm we encourage the team to test new boundaries and operate outside of the comfort zone. We take part in regular Sailing, Cycling, Kitesurfing and Hiking trips to stimulate team dynamics within the office.
FAMILY
We encourage everyone, and especially younger architects to take initiative and responsibility.
We value a diverse array of opinions and push everyone to add to their ideas, regardless of their position. We have found that by mutually supporting each other, avoiding unnecessary hierarchy within the office, and allowing all team members to have a voice we are able to harness the combined creative energy of the studio to generate unique pieces of architectural design.
