Spotlight On…..Kirolos Kamal

When draughtsman, Kirolos Kamal, engages in office banter the joke goes that he has to put one of his three ‘language’ brains into gear – Arabic, formal English or informal English!

Kirolos, who’s been in the UK since March 2011, worked on some of the largest hotel projects in Egypt after graduating from Cairo University with a degree in architectural engineering.

But since arriving in London and then Retford in the East Midlands, he has been grappling with the complexities of the English language!

“On the one hand I have to learn very structured English in order to pass the various exams that will help progress my career in the UK, whilst on the other I have to be aware of turns of phrase or ‘slang’ that would have no place in an exam room!” he said. “Separating all three, certainly the latter two, can be difficult!”

Kirolos, who lived within a 10 minute walk of the pyramids in Giza, worked on the $580m Golden Pyramids Plaza Project in Cairo, a huge hotel, commercial and residential scheme in the Egyptian capital, as well as other premier developments in his home country.

According to his colleagues, he fits in with the HBPW team perfectly. “We sphinx he’s a star,” said one of them! Puns not to be confused with proverbs….or is it similes?