Where the pools sit on the Mokattam plateau
Mokattam is built on a limestone plateau above the city, in three levels: the upper, middle and lower plateau. Uptown Cairo, a large compound, sits up there too, with villas, townhouses, apartments and a golf course. Around Street 9 and Nafoura Square the district mixes apartment buildings with villas. Much of the ground is sloping and rocky, and the western edge looks out over Cairo. The whole plateau is inside the area we cover. You can send us the plot details and we will book the first visit against them.
Villa pools on hilltop plots of the upper and middle plateau
Plots near the western edge can be terraced, falling away toward the city. A pool on one of them sits in cut rock, on a terrace held by a retaining wall, or across both. Our structural engineers design the shell, the retaining wall and the terrace as a single structure. The fall of the plot is measured on the first visit, and where the ground drops past the pool, an overflow or infinity edge becomes a real option.
Private villa and townhouse pools in Uptown Cairo
Uptown Cairo has villas, twin houses and townhouses laid out around its golf course, and a plot there can carry a level change. Where the garden is already finished and planted, the gate, the route for machines and the protection for planting are settled before a date is set. A pool set into an existing level change gets the same structural design as a hilltop plot. If a jacuzzi, lighting or a water feature might come later, we plan the pipes and power for it in the first build, so the garden is opened once.
Shared compound pools on the plateau
Clubhouses and apartment phases on the plateau run shared pools for a lot of residents. If you manage one, every closed day brings complaints, and somebody in management answers for anything that happens in the water. We trace a fault to its cause and fix it once. Readings get logged on every visit for your inspection file. Any shutdown is booked into your quietest weeks, and compound management contracts with us directly, on commercial terms.
Rooftop pools on Mokattam apartment buildings
Apartment roofs around Street 9 and the middle plateau get the same city view, and some of them carry a pool. A roof pool keeps water above the flats underneath. Slab capacity, waterproofing and roof drainage get checked together before anything is quoted, and one named person in the building receives the readings after each visit.
What rock and slope change about the work
Excavation on the plateau means breaking out limestone. That takes heavier equipment and more days, so it goes into the quotation as its own line. Sound rock gives the shell a firm base that stays put for decades.
On a sloping plot the retaining wall is designed first. Drainage goes behind it, and the load of a full pool on the terrace is calculated by our own structural engineers.
Water leaving a hillside pool runs downhill, toward the next terrace or a neighbour's wall. Backwash, overflow and rainwater all get a planned route. The waterproofing is designed for water against the outside face of a wall as well as the inside, using Sika or BASF Master Builders Solutions systems.
The road up decides the method: how big the breaker can be, how the concrete arrives and how the spoil leaves. Access is surveyed on the first visit and written into the programme. Where a large machine cannot reach the plot, smaller equipment and pours in sections do the job.
A pool facing west takes the afternoon sun, and the water is warmest late in the day. Lighting gets planned so you can swim at night and still see the city.
Call or WhatsApp +20 102 626 1818 and we will book the survey of your plot.
Why plateau owners choose us
- Structural, hydraulic and MEP engineering in house, so the rock, the retaining wall and the plant room are designed in one office.
- Our own site teams, on our payroll, from the first cut to handover.
- Infinity and overflow edges built to the fall of your plot, with the balance tank sized for the number of people who actually swim.
- Uptown Cairo is on our published list of developer partners.
- The same team on every maintenance visit, on the day agreed, with readings left in writing.
- Building and servicing pools in Egypt since 2001.
- A written warranty on every pool we build: 25 years on the structure, 10 on the waterproofing, 5 on the electromechanical works.
- A 90-day programme for a standard residential build, written into the quotation. Builds with heavy rock work or retaining get their own programme.
- Milestone payments, or a deposit and six monthly instalments against post-dated cheques.
- Hayward, Pentair and AstralPool equipment with Schneider Electric automation, and the spares are sold in Cairo.
Hillside pools another company built
We take on plateau pools that other contractors built, in whatever state they are in. A crack in a hillside pool can come from the ground moving under it. So the first visit checks the retaining, the drainage and the terrace along with the water, the shell, the tiling, the pipework and the plant room. Each part then gets a written verdict: sound, needs work now, or can wait. Repairs to another company's pool carry a warranty term agreed for that job and written on the quote.
How a hillside pool gets priced
Rock, the fall of the plot, the retaining wall and the road up all move the cost of a pool on the plateau, and none of them show up on a drawing. So we price after a site visit. The visit is free, and the quote is free, written and dated. Our configurator gives a starting figure from our own rate book if you want one before the visit.
Owners who should call a different company
If you want a price per square metre over the phone for a hillside plot, we will not give one. If you want digging to start before anyone has checked the rock and the retaining, we will turn the job down. And if the lowest figure is what decides it, a cheaper contractor will win on price.
Reaching our office from Mokattam and Uptown Cairo
We come up to the plot, so you never need to come down to us. The office is open by appointment if you want to look at tiles, finishes and equipment first.
We are at 15 El-Lewaa Mahmoud Samy Basha, Al Mintaqah as Sādisah, in Nasr City, just off Abbas El-Akkad.
- From Street 9 or Nafoura Square: come down off the plateau into Nasr City and pick up Abbas El-Akkad.
- From Uptown Cairo or the Mokattam Corniche: come down off the plateau into Nasr City and pick up Abbas El-Akkad.
- From the upper or middle plateau: come down into Nasr City and pick up Abbas El-Akkad.
Ring +20 102 626 1818 when you are close and we will guide you in. Office hours are Saturday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. Closed Friday.
The same office covers the pools in Nasr City around our office, older villa pools in Maadi and escarpment and golf estate pools in Katameya, on the same terms.
Frequently asked questions in Mokattam and Uptown Cairo
Do you cover Uptown Cairo and The Fourteen Golf Residences? Yes. Uptown Cairo, The Fourteen Golf Residences, Street 9, Nafoura Square and the upper and middle plateau are all inside the area we cover.
Can you build a pool on rocky ground? Yes. The limestone is broken out with equipment sized for it, and the excavation is priced as its own line once the plot has been surveyed.
My plot slopes. Can it still take a pool? In most cases, with the retaining designed first. Our engineers measure the fall, then design the wall, the terrace and the shell together.
Is my plot right for an infinity edge? If the ground falls away past the pool position and the view runs west over the city, it often is. The survey settles it, and where the drop is too sharp for a catch basin we suggest a different edge.
Can you put a pool on the roof of my Mokattam building? Yes, once the slab, the waterproofing and the drainage have been checked together. Our rooftop pool construction work sets out how the slab gets assessed.
We manage a compound pool on the plateau. Do you work on commercial terms? Yes. Faults get traced to the cause, readings are logged for inspections and shutdowns go into your quiet weeks. Our compound and club pool work covers new shared pools and ones already running.
Can your machinery reach my plot? Access is checked on the first visit and the method is planned around it: smaller equipment, pours in sections, or materials brought up in stages.
My hillside pool has cracked. Can it be repaired? Often, yes. The ground, the retaining and the drainage get checked first. If the ground is stable, the shell is repaired and waterproofed again.
How much will it cost? That depends on the rock, the slope and the access, so we price after a free site visit. The quote is free, written, and dated.
Do you give a warranty? On pools we build, yes, in writing: 25 years on the structure, 10 on the waterproofing, 5 on the electromechanical works. On a repair to another company's pool, the term is agreed for that job and written on the quote.
Call us about your plot
If you want a swimming pool company Cairo owners can hold to a written programme on a hillside plot, call or WhatsApp +20 102 626 1818 and tell us where the plot is and which way it falls. Or email info@arcgroup-eg.com.
Al Rowad Constructions & Pool Services, 15 El-Lewaa Mahmoud Samy Basha, Al Mintaqah as Sādisah, Nasr City, Cairo Governorate 10506, Egypt.