OVERVIEW
SKB Horizon is a full-service architecture, engineering and interior design firm based in the Middle East, that has been providing project management, construction management, design services & construction supervision for exceptional projects both in the US and Internationally. Major clients include Amtrak, Bloomberg, Google, International Monetary Fund, Swift, Uber, World Bank, Xerox, Modon, SEVEN, MASAR, Lusail, Systra, EllisDon, and many of the top legal and professional firms in the world. The firm has built and enjoys a reputation for exceptional design, service, and technical skill, creating highly thoughtful design solutions to complex problems, be they aesthetic, functional, or logistical.
Based in Washington DC, San Francisco and Chicago, SKB Architecture and Design has been providing this level of design, service and skill to clients in more than 100 countries.
It has been able to do this because SKB operates on the simple premise that the client is not fully benefiting from the firm if those people with the experience are not working on the project. SKB is led by partners and principals who have specific strengths and who share the administration of the from so that they can each spend the majority of their time doing project work. SKB offers the full breadth of professional design services, from programming, workplace strategies, and change management through architecture and interior architecture to construction supervision, furniture procurement, and move coordination.
Based in Dubai, Riyadh, Jeddah, and Amman, Horizon Group Consultancy provides full range of project management, construction management, master planning, design & design review services, land development, and advisory services throughout the Middle East.
The combination of the two firms provides the talent, experience and resources of SKB with the local responsiveness that clients require.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
Mark Baughman has led the firm’s design direction since joining in 1987. Reflecting his architecture degrees from Ivy League Columbia University and the Midwestern University of Arkansas, Mark brings a strong intellectual approach anchored by a pragmatic approach that demands that the concepts of the project make sense and that all of the decisions, whether they be selecting a color or anchoring a handrail, support the overall design concept.
Mark instills in the design teams the confidence necessary to push boundaries and ideas while not losing track of the client’s culture, needs, budget, schedule or logistics. He is able to quickly assess the large and nuanced aspects of the design problem and evaluate ideas for their suitability. Because of this confidence, SKB has been able to avoid the corporate practice pressure of sticking to a single style and force on a project. Instead, the team takes on every project with fresh eyes, anxious to see where it will go. It is why the firm has been able to adapt itself to design exceptional buildings in Madagascar and Bangladesh and high end law and tech company offices around the United States.
TECHNOLOGY
As early as the mid-1990’s, SKB has been developing technologies for working around the globe, collaborating with clients, engineers and contractors as if they were all in the same room. Long before the Covid lockdowns, SKB was operating as a single virtual office with professionals in many locations.
The primary platform for SKB’s work is Autodesk Revit, and SKB maintains all of its Revit building models on Autodesk’s collaboration cloud so all team members have immediate, fast access to the projects. SKB developed its own custom interface and templates for Revit to keep tight control over the quality of the documentation and improve upon Autodesk’s standards.
Autodesk’s companion product Navisworks has proven to be an exceptional tool for Architects like SKB who design a project with the entire building process in mind. Navisworks takes the data from the Revit Building Information Model (BIM) and allows the team to track each piece of the building and each system in whatever detailed way desired, including conflict checks, site staging and ordering and BOQ monitoring. SKB uses the Folio cloud based platform for specifying and management the FF&E procurement process.
SKB uses sophisticated tools such as V-Ray and Vantage for creating VR walk-throughs, real-time light analysis and photo-realistic rendering. SKB uses the PlanGrid platform for project management and construction administration.
PEOPLE
MARK BAUGHMAN has been a partner with SKB for 37 years. With more than 44 years of experience, he is an accomplished design architect and has been recognized by the International Interior Design Association, American Institute of Architects, DC Building Industry Association, National Association of Industrial Office Properties, and Engineering News-Record with more than 25 design awards. With a wide variety of successful projects throughout the Washington metropolitan area, the Mid-Atlantic, Silicon Valley, and overseas, Mr. Baughman is leading the firm into its 35th year of success.
Mr. Baughman’s expansive portfolio includes associations, corporations, law firms, federal and public work, residential, retail and hospitality projects. Recently, he was chosen to lead the design effort for the notable firm Morgan Lewis Bockius for their 260,000 square foot office in Washington, DC. Additionally, Mr. Baughman is also providing design leadership for Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP in Columbus, OH; Bloomberg BNA in Washington, DC; and a well-known tech giant based in Silicon Valley, CA. A registered architect in 17 states and the District of Columbia, Mark has a keen knowledge of architectural history and styles and directs the design efforts of the firm, ensuring consistency of design quality.
HAZIM ALSADEK is the founder and owner of Horizon Group Consultancy and is an experienced managing director and regional director for several of the largest international engineering and consultancy firms operating in the US and Middle East. Hazim Alsadek has over 30 years of experience managing large portfolios of infrastructure, buildings, & land development and many mega projects both in the US and Internationally.
Hazim Alsadek has proven expertise in Programs and Projects Deliveries, and successfully delivered few of the largest mega projects in the region. Hazim is experienced with various procurement Design/Build, PMOs, PPP, Lump Sum, and MDMM reimbursable Contracts.
Mr. Alsadek’s expansive portfolio includes delivering mega projects such as The Pearl, Lusail, Masar, North Obhour and Iconic Bridge, SEVEN, King Abdullah Economic City, Dubai Center for Research and Development of Fisheries, Nakheel Development groundwater management system,Presidential Guards Command, Jeddah Housing for Saudi Pension Fund, West Bay District Cooling plants and network, Kuwait City Master Plan for Utilities, and NWC Master Plans in Saudi.
PEOPLE
GLADYS COURAND, Assoc AIA is the Design Director at SKB and brings nearly 30 years’ experience in the design of high quality interiors and base building architecture. Gladys combines her technical training as an architect with her artistic talent and her strong organizational skills in a manner that allows her to lead her clients to inspired, sensible and affordable design solutions.
Prior to joining SKB, Gladys managed her own architecture firm in Washington and Lima, Peru, and held senior design positions at Perkins & Will, Fox, Davis Cater Scott and AI Architects. Gladys has won design awards for her Hilton Garden Inn in Cusco, Peru, Whitney Bradley Brown in Reston, Virginia and Sigma Tau headquarters.
Gladys served as a Principal Designer for the Sultan of Oman’s residences in Muscat, living in the region for over a year while working on the project.
ALFRED BRICE, AIA is a Principal of SKB and the Director of the Austin office. With more than 30 years’ experience as an architect leading complex project teams, Alfred employs a collaborative project approach and works closely with colleagues, consultants and clients to realize each project’s vision.
Alfred’s experience ranges from residential, institutional and mixed-use projects and a variety of commercial projects and site development. Prior to working with SKB, Alfred worked at major design firms including Gensler and Richard Meier & Partners.
TYLER MCDONALD is a Principal of SKB and a senior project manager. Tyler works on projects that demand careful coordination, attention to detail and managing multiple team members with complicated technical or logistical requirements.
Tyler is an extremely strong team-builder who has a sensitive ear to the needs of every team member and focuses on making sure that everyone has what they need to do their job exceptionally well.
JAYME PINANO is a Principal of SKB and a senior project manager. Jamie works regularly on projects with very demanding and complicated client requirements and teams, such as Google.
Jayme’s background has been both as a designer and as a client, working as a project director for DropBox prior to coming to SKB. Jayme’s projects almost always have large consultant and client teams with thousands of detailed requirements that need to be coordinated, and the clients are both sophisticated and demanding
