Isabelle McKinnon

Director of Architecture and Head of Design Guardianship

Isabelle McKinnon is an accomplished architect with more than 25 years of international experience across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. She has held senior roles at several of the world’s leading architecture practices and is currently Director of Architecture and Design at Gerber Architekten International, based between Riyadh and Berlin. Isabelle joined Gerber Architekten in 2021 to lead the design of the public infrastructure for King Salman Park. This role subsequently led her to relocate to Riyadh as Head of the Design Guardianship, where she oversees design quality, coherence, and delivery across multiple disciplines and work packages for one of the world’s most ambitious and complex urban park developments. Through this position, she has developed extensive experience in design leadership within highly complex, multi-stakeholder environments. She began her career in Canada, gaining early recognition for her work in sustainable architecture at respected firms such as EVOQ and Cardinal Hardy in Montréal. Her expertise in sustainable design and LEED consulting established a strong foundation for an international career. She later joined globally renowned studios including Foster + Partners, Sauerbruch Hutton, and KSP Jürgen Engel, contributing to major cultural, institutional, and industrial projects. She has also collaborated with Pritzker Prize laureate Francis Kéré on a significant cultural landscape project in Bamako, Mali. Her portfolio spans museums, public institutions, production facilities, and large-scale urban developments, and is distinguished by technical rigor, environmental performance, and sensitivity to cultural context. Fluent in German, English, and French, Isabelle has been professionally active in Germany since 2008 and is currently based in Riyadh, bringing a seasoned, global perspective to complex multidisciplinary design environments.