The Firm
May El Tabbakh Architects was established with a primary focus on the restoration and conservation of heritage buildings, grounded in a deep commitment to safeguarding architectural identity and cultural legacy. The practice’s scope of work has since expanded to include comprehensive architectural design services, integrating contemporary interventions with historically sensitive approaches.
In parallel, May El Tabbakh Design Studio was founded to lead interior design and product design projects. The product design arm has evolved into two distinct brands: Moga, dedicated to creating thoughtfully designed souvenirs inspired by the city of Alexandria; and The Monkey Business Home Fabrics and Wallpaper by May El Tabbakh, which operates through a physical retail presence in 6th of October City, Giza.
All products of The Monkey Business are distributed internationally by Frigieri & Co London – The House of Mediterranean Designs, a company co-founded in England in 2023 by May El Tabbakh and Jean-Claude Frigieri.
May El Tabbakh graduated from the faculty of engineering –department of architecture, Alexandria University in 2002. From 2003 to 2005 she became architectural researcher at the Alexandria Preservation Trust. In 2007 May worked in London, UK as a conservation architect till she was awarded the British Chevening scholarship in 2008 to do her MSc degree in Sustainable Heritage from the Bartlett, UCL, 2009.
May El Tabbakh Architects was founded in Alexandria in 2011.
From 2013 to 2016, May participated as speaker in several UNESCO expert assemblies. Her expertise led her to speak on the topic of the built environment of Alexandria in several international conferences, such as at the Modern Heritage Observatory, Regional Networking Meeting, Beirut 2013, and the Union for the Mediterranean, Barcelona in 2014.
May was shortlisted twice as finalist in the Study UK Alumni Award, sub category Entrepreneurial Award, in 2017 & 2019. She was selected to participate in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) by the U.S. Department of State in 2017.
From December 2019 to July 2021, May was consultant and supervisor of the Alexandria and Mediterranean Research Center (Alex Med) at the Library of Alexandria.
The Practice
We are an architectural practice established in 2011 in Alexandria. Our scope covers a wide range of architectural services, but our specialty is the conservation, regeneration, sustainable development and documentation of the urban and architectural heritage. We are very inspired by the natural environment and the cultural heritage around.
It all started in 2010 when Arch. May El Tabbakh decided to start her own architectural design firm upon her return from the UK. The main aim at the time was providing distinctive design and documentation services with stress on heritage preservation.
Through the heritage documentation attempts there has been a lot of possibilities to work on the physical intervention to the historic building fabric. This was the beginning of the fascination with the world of interior design.
The bonding between May and the design scene in the UK never stopped to exist which is clearly manifested through most of our design products and design outcomes.
When working on an interior project, we are very keen to guide our clients throughout the whole design process till we achieve the satisfying outcome.
