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It’s one of those façades you might can't walk by without noticing, tucked amid Cairo’s rush and rhythm, and once your eyes settle on its details, the story unravels. The Davis Bryan Building, with its European Renaissance revival features and column-framed balconies, was a landmark of downtown Cairo’s commercial boom.
Constructed in the early 20th century, it housed one of the earliest upscale department stores in the city, founded by a foreign merchant during the British occupation. The architecture speaks to the then-prevalent Khedival vision: an aspiration for Cairo to mirror the sophistication of Paris. But beyond the bricks and stucco lies something deeper.
Bilt in 1910 by welsh Architect Robert williams. The building's design is a vivid reflection of welsh Anchitecture, A harmonias meld of medieval & Belle Epoque Aesthetics, originally named after patron saint of St. David, later auquired by Chourbagi brothers in 1967, with to ground floor becoming a retaul extravaganza spot, including “Halawa shop" among other famous shops.
Built from polished red granite from Aberdeen, and Doulting freestone from Somerset, the building’s façades were embellished with ornate stucco motifs and with shields engraved with the initials ‘D’ and ‘B’ to immortalize the family name. The building’s decorations also included important Welsh cultural emblems such as those symbolizing the Welsh National Gorsedd of Bards, or‘Eisteddfod’, an important cultural festival in Wales. A larger shield located above the street of Mohammed Farid, is engraved with the inscription: ‘Y Gwir yn Erbyn yByd’ (‘Truth against the World’), the principle tenet of this ancient Bardic gathering.
Now, Let's step back for some Behind the scenes (BTS) snippets, Check this Instagram post from 2020:
If want to see more BTS footage of the coloring process of this piece, check out the post below:
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