Oriental Interior Design, Abu Dhabi

M.N. runs a corporate business in Abu Dhabi. When he came to us in February 2021, his brief was direct: a home with a simple oriental feel and a luxurious look.

The duplex covers 1,430 m² across the ground and first floor. The main majlis opens behind a formal entrance, where marble columns carry sculpture pedestals on either side and a wide velvet sofa sits under a linear chandelier. A separate majlis gives the women of the household their own space near the staircase hall.

The ground floor carries the entertaining rooms: a formal dining room, a living area finished in dark marble panelling under a crystal chandelier, and the main lobby that opens onto the stair hall with a fireplace and a green marble column. A cinema theater and the family’s private rooms sit on the first floor, including a bedroom finished in a quieter palette of wood and brass.

Marble runs through the ground floor in beige and grey tones, with darker marble reserved for accent walls. Brass and gold trim mark the ceiling details and furniture bases. Velvet upholstery, crystal and linear chandeliers, wood panelling and carved geometric screens carry the oriental character through form and craft rather than heavy ornament.

The project closed at the design and visualization stage, with renders and construction drawings ready for the client’s contractor.

See also: Related Gulf villa project.

M.N. lived in Abu Dhabi, where the duplex was being built, and we designed it remotely over four months. We began with his brief and references, then worked space by space, majlis, dining, living, lobby, cinema and bedroom, each set of renders reviewed and approved over video calls before the next began. Once every space was signed off, we issued detailed construction drawings covering layout, finishes and joinery. His own contractor in Abu Dhabi built the duplex from those drawings, without supervision from our side.