Strategy & urban systems
Briefs, development positioning, masterplans, public realm, movement, networks and the strategic conditions that shape a project before form is fixed.
Place • Identity • Experience
Everything begins with a connection.
Between people and place. Identity and memory. Movement and experience.
Strategy · Architecture · Interiors · Identity · Wayfinding · Experience
Human Experience · HYRAX research field · 2026
Design Practice
We work across the full system of place.
HYRAX is an independent design studio working across strategy, architecture, interiors, spatial identity, wayfinding and experience. We connect disciplines that are usually separated so the project can be understood, designed and delivered as one coherent whole.
Architecture & interiors
Hospitality, mixed-use, residential, workplace and institutional environments developed through spatial logic, atmosphere, material identity and operational reality.
Brand & spatial identity
Positioning, narrative, visual language and environmental expression, connecting what a place or organisation stands for with how it is encountered.
Wayfinding & information
User journeys, signage, environmental communication and digital / physical information systems that make complex places easier to understand and navigate.
Experience & operations
Arrival, movement, service, guest and customer journeys, operational flows and the moments through which design becomes actual use.
Systems, evidence & AI
Mapping, network analysis, comparative research and accelerated synthesis. AI expands the field of inquiry; design judgment remains human.
Selected Experience
The thinking is grounded in practice.
Selected experience spanning HYRAX work, competitions and senior design leadership roles across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, from urban programmes and hospitality to identity and wayfinding.
01Beirut Urban ProgrammeUrban strategy · Public realm
02Six Senses Falcon NestHospitality · Interiors · Experience
03Fundão Civic Plaza + MuseumUrban strategy · Architecture · Landscape
04SEVEN AbhaPublic realm · Interiors
05Imittou 79Architecture · Interiors
06NAVAExperience strategy · Digital product · Identity
How We Think
Connection is a design variable.
We look at design as a system of relationships: between people and place, identity and memory, movement and information, intention and experience. The aim is not to add complexity, but to understand where connections matter, where friction exists and where one intervention can influence the whole.
Reduce distance
Good design shortens unnecessary distance between people, information, movement and decisions. We look for where a clearer relationship can make the experience more immediate and coherent.
Recognise readiness
Not every condition needs intervention. We identify where change is possible, where the system is ready to move and where design can create a meaningful shift without forcing one.
Build resilience
The strength of a place is not only in how much is connected, but in how those relationships are organised. We look for dependencies, overlaps, gaps and alternative routes so the system can remain clear and adaptable.
Think beyond the object
A design decision rarely ends where it is made. We consider how it travels across journeys, touchpoints, teams, operations and future decisions, extending its value beyond the immediate space.
Protect the core, allow change
Consistency does not require repetition. We define what must remain recognisable, then allow the expression to adapt across context, scale, medium and use.
Connect what matters. Remove what does not. Build systems that remain clear as they move, grow and adapt.
HYRAX Process
Research becomes method, not style.
The process is spatial, visual, operational and human. We read the context, map the relationships that shape it, identify where intervention can matter most, and translate that understanding into coherent design across scales. Evidence strengthens judgment; it does not replace it.
Read the field
Understand the place before proposing the response: people, context, culture, behaviour, constraints, opportunities and what is already there.
Map the structure
Identify the relationships that shape the experience: physical, spatial, operational, visual and human, and understand where they reinforce or obstruct one another.
Find the threshold
Determine where intervention can create meaningful change: what is ready to move, what should remain, and where design can have the greatest effect.
Design the connection
Translate that understanding into architecture, interiors, identity, wayfinding, information and service, connecting the parts into one coherent experience.
Extend the reach
Design beyond the immediate object or space. Consider the complete journey across scales, touchpoints, channels, operations and future uses.
Test, adapt, repeat
Protect the core idea while allowing the solution to respond to context. Test the experience people actually have, learn from it, and refine where necessary.
Place • Identity • ExperienceEvidence → Connection → Design → Experience