Through analysing Cairo’s water history, from the Mamluk aqueduct to the sabils across the city, the site of Al-Hattaba was chosen due to its status of border between desert and water. The project explores harmonious solutions to Cairo’s water deficit and the city’s difficult relationship with its own heritage.

The programme is inspired by the historic sabil, which provided charitable access to water, but their closure due to westernised conservation views has had a significant impact across the city.

The modern-day sabil is a contemporary response to Cairo’s historical relationship with water. A masterplan delivers the Al-Hattaba community centre with an extended programme, which filters and supplies water to a network of smaller sabils across Historic Cairo.

The project conserves the ruins of the citadel’s ancient Mamluk waterwheel contained within the UNESCO World Heritage Site while curating a sympathetic approach to water filtration. The artefact becomes the mechanical heart of the process, where the historical, user, and water’s journey has been mapped to create a public place to learn, research, and care. A contextualised solution that safeguards Cairo’s future.