The Economics of Restoring a Medina Riad

Budgets, timelines and the three line items that overrun on every unsupervised medina project.

A full restoration of a 300 square metre riad typically runs eleven to fifteen months and lands between 6,000 and 11,000 dirhams per square metre depending on the level of artisanal work specified.

Three line items overrun on nearly every unsupervised project: structural consolidation of party walls, waterproofing beneath the courtyard, and electrical routing through walls that cannot be chased. All three are invisible in a first walkthrough and all three are quantifiable with a proper survey.

Craft is not where you should economise. Zellige laid by a maalem, tadelakt burnished with olive-oil soap and cedar carved on site are the elements that separate an asset commanding 4,000 dirhams a night from one struggling at 1,500.

We contract at fixed price with a defined artisan roster and report weekly with photography. Absentee ownership only works when the reporting is disciplined enough to make presence unnecessary.