Founder and Managing Director of Cipher Architects — an international practice spanning architecture, interiors, façades and master planning.
Jalal El-Ali is the design principal and owner of Cipher Architects. He oversees the design process and the quality of every project in the portfolio, with computational design, parametric modelling and BIM embedded throughout production — from early concept through engineering and delivery.
A graduate of the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Jalal began his career at Buro Happold, where working as an architect within an engineering consultancy sharpened his understanding of how complex buildings are resolved in practice. Over seven years he contributed across disciplines and established the in-house Generative Geometry group, focused on optimising and simplifying demanding geometries into engineered, buildable forms.
He subsequently joined Zaha Hadid Architects in London, gaining a distinct perspective on design ambition and client communication. He was part of the competition team for the Nanjing International Youth Cultural Centre in China — a major mixed-use development of hotel towers, conference facilities and urban public realm completed in 2018.
In Dubai, Jalal spent two and a half years with RMJM on the W Hotel & Residences at Palm Jumeirah, a waterfront hotel and residential complex of approximately 100,000 square metres. The relationship with the client led to further private villa commissions in Dubai and Morocco.
In Kuwait, he joined SSH as Design Principal responsible for the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Cultural Centre — a 360,000 sqm landmark comprising four connected buildings, among the most prestigious cultural projects built in the region since the Kuwait Water Towers. After the design phase, Jalal supported contractor Al Hani in coordinating external works and developing parametric models to execute the complex steel and cladding packages across all four structures.
Cipher Architects was founded to bring that same technical rigour directly to clients. In partnership with Sign Design, the practice has delivered more than 36 projects — from interiors to fully developed master-planning schemes — with offices today in Beirut, Lisbon and London.