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Interior design, Zamalek, Cairo

Nabel Elmasry

A website for a studio that furnishes homes and palaces with pieces made by hand in Spain. Quiet pages, big photographs, few words, just like the studio's work.

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Type
Interior design studio
Audience
Home, palace and hotel owners in Egypt and the Gulf
Languages
English, plus a full Arabic page
Content
Edited by the studio itself
Partners
Franco Furniture and Soher

The idea

The studio believes every room begins with one object: a carved headboard, an ebony table, a bronze chandelier. The rest of the room makes space for it. The site follows the same rule: one large image at a time, with plenty of room around it.

Visitors here aren't shopping for a price. They're looking for taste they can trust. So the page shows real rooms, explains the craft, the materials and the lead time, and then asks for one thing only: a private consultation.

Specified in Cairo. Built to order in Spain. Installed by the studio.

A walk through the site

Click any screenshot to see it full size.

  1. The quiet grandeur

    A loader draws the name letter by letter, then a full room and a single line that sums up the studio.

  2. Every room begins with one object

    The studio's approach in one short paragraph, with figures that count up: 15 years, 60+ residences, 2 Spanish workshops.

  3. Portfolio

    Real rooms from palaces, homes and hotels, in a grid that arranges itself to fit the photos.

  4. Filter by project type

    All, residences, palaces, hospitality. The grid re-flows without gaps, and an empty result offers a way back to everything.

  5. Full-size view

    Any photo opens large, with the room name and the pieces in it.

  6. Carved in Spain. Lived in Cairo.

    Woods, finishes, upholstery and the 14 to 20 week lead time, stated plainly before anyone has to ask.

  7. The partners

    Two Spanish workshops: Franco Furniture, since 1984, and Soher, since 1942.

  8. Private consultation

    A short form that checks entries as they are typed and takes the visitor straight to the first field that needs attention.

Features

  • A full Arabic edition

    A right-to-left Arabic page set in Amiri and IBM Plex Sans Arabic, with Latin brand names left as they are.

  • A self-arranging portfolio

    The first project shows largest and the rest fall into place without gaps, however many photos there are.

  • Desktop-only touches

    A "View" cursor over photos, gentle parallax, and a header that tucks away on the way down.

  • Figures that update themselves

    Years, residences and workshops come from the content file, so changing them needs no developer.

The studio edits the site itself

The site is connected to Pages CMS, a browser-based editor linked to the site files. Every change is saved and published without anyone touching the code.

  • Add a new project

    Arabic and English titles, the type (residence, palace, hospitality), the year, the photo and the details.

  • Drag to reorder

    Whatever sits first shows as the largest photo in the portfolio.

  • Alt text is required

    No photo goes live without an Arabic and English description, for screen readers and for Google.

  • Contact details and figures

    Email, phone and Instagram, plus the figures shown on the page.

  • A written guide

    How to edit, how to prepare photos (1600 px, under 400 KB), and fixes for common problems.

Accessibility

A site everyone can use: by touch, keyboard or screen reader, and for anyone who asks for less motion.

  • A "skip to content" link for keyboard users, mirrored in Arabic.
  • A clear gold outline around whatever has keyboard focus.
  • Every portfolio photo is a button labelled "Enlarge" with the room name, and decorative images are hidden from screen readers.
  • The mobile menu announces whether it is open, closes with Esc and returns focus.
  • Form errors are marked and announced, and focus moves to the first problem.
  • With reduced motion, everything appears at once, counters and parallax stop, and the loader is shortened.
  • Contrast is 5.4:1 for muted text and 7.4:1 for gold.

Under the hood

  • Plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript with no build step, so hosting is cheap and the site is fast.
  • The opening photo loads first, the rest load on arrival with set sizes so the page never jumps.
  • A page description, a share image for WhatsApp and Facebook, and Arabic and English versions linked for Google.

Want a site like this for your business?

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