Journal
Notes from the studio on planning, designing and building workplaces in Dubai.
Design · 25 October 2026
Acoustic ceiling systems for an open-plan office: how to choose
The right acoustic ceiling for an open-plan office depends on what is above you: a suspended grid takes absorbent tiles or plaster, an exposed soffit takes rafts or baffles. Choose by ceiling height, services and the look you want.
Furniture · 24 October 2026
Office storage walls and credenzas: joinery that hides the clutter
A storage wall works when it is planned from what it must hold, not from the wall it fills. Flush doors, one band of open shelving and a credenza where the desk needs it keep an office tidy without looking like a filing room.
Furniture · 23 October 2026
Designing a reception counter: materials, dimensions and details
A reception counter is a piece of furniture that is touched, leaned on and looked at all day. Get the heights, the accessible section, the hidden working side and the materials right, and it will carry the front of the office for years.
Furniture · 22 October 2026
Lacquer, veneer or solid wood: furniture finishes compared
Lacquer gives colour and the toughest, easiest-to-clean surface; clear-finished veneer shows real timber on wide, stable panels; solid wood suits edges and parts that are handled and repaired. Good office furniture uses all three.
Furniture · 21 October 2026
Walnut, oak or ash: choosing timber for office furniture
Walnut gives depth and warmth and suits executive rooms; oak is the hardest-wearing of the three and the safest choice for desks; ash is light, strong and keeps open floors bright. Pick one and use it throughout.
Furniture · 20 October 2026
Bench desks vs individual desks: choosing a workstation system
Bench desks suit teams that sit together, share desks or grow quickly; individual desks suit fixed seats, varied roles and layouts that change often. Most offices are best served by a clear main system with a few exceptions.
Design · 19 October 2026
Choosing colours for an office: one accent, used well
Build the office palette from its materials first, keep the walls and large surfaces quiet, then choose one accent colour and use it in a few places where it does a job: guiding, marking or welcoming.
Design · 18 October 2026
Focus rooms and phone booths: how many does an office need?
There is no fixed ratio. Count how many people are on calls or doing deep work at the busiest hour, add a margin, and mix one-person booths with small focus rooms placed close to the desks they serve.
Design · 17 October 2026
Designing an office pantry and coffee point people actually use
A pantry people use sits on a natural route, has enough counter and seating for the morning rush, keeps noise away from desks and is built from finishes that survive daily spills.
Design · 16 October 2026
Biophilic office design in a desert city: plants and materials that last
Biophilic design in a Dubai office works when it starts with light, views and natural materials, then adds a few robust plants placed where they can actually survive air-conditioning and low light.
Design · 15 October 2026
Lighting an office for Dubai's sun: glare, blinds and layered light
Good office lighting in Dubai starts with controlling the sun, not adding fittings: orient desks across the light, layer sheer and dim-out blinds, then add soft ambient, task and accent light inside.
Design · 14 October 2026
Acoustic design for open-plan offices, without the panel clutter
A quiet open-plan office comes from planning first and treatment second: separate loud and quiet activities, absorb sound at the ceiling and floor, block it with furniture and screens, and let timber, textile and joinery do the work panels usually do.
Design · 13 October 2026
Reception design: what the first ten metres of your office should do
A good office reception does four jobs in a few steps: it shows visitors where to go, gives them somewhere comfortable to wait, protects the privacy of the team behind it and tells them, through materials and light, what kind of company they are visiting.
Design · 12 October 2026
Boardroom design guide: table, seating, acoustics and screens
A good boardroom starts with the number of people it must seat, then sizes the table, leaves room to move behind the chairs, quietens the room and places the screen where everyone can see it and the camera can see everyone.
Design · 11 October 2026
Executive office design: planning a private office for video calls
A private office that works on video calls puts the light in front of you, the camera at eye level, a calm wall behind you and soft surfaces around you. Plan those four things first, then design the room around them.
Design · 10 October 2026
How to brief an interior designer for an office project
A good office design brief explains how your team works, what the space must hold, what it should feel like, and the limits on budget, programme and lease. It describes the problem, not the solution.
Fit-out guides · 9 October 2026
Make-good and reinstatement clauses in Dubai office leases
A reinstatement clause says what condition you must hand your office back in when the lease ends. Read it before you design, because it decides what your fit-out will cost to remove as well as to build.
Fit-out guides · 8 October 2026
Phased office fit-out: renovating while your team keeps working
A phased fit-out divides the office into zones and rebuilds them one at a time, so the team moves around the works instead of out of the building. It costs time and coordination, and it rewards careful planning.
Fit-out guides · 7 October 2026
Moving office in Dubai: a checklist for the six months before
A good office move in Dubai starts about six months out: notice on the old lease, a test fit on the new floor, design and approvals, then IT, furniture and the move itself. The order matters more than the speed.
Fit-out guides · 6 October 2026
How to read your building’s fit-out guide before you sign a lease
Ask for the building’s fit-out guide before you sign, and read it for four things: technical limits, working rules, design restrictions and end-of-lease obligations. Each one can change what your office costs, or whether it fits at all.
Fit-out guides · 5 October 2026
Shell and core vs Cat A vs Cat B: what a Dubai office lease gives you
Shell and core is the bare floor, Category A is a finished but generic office, and Category B is the fit-out that makes it yours. Which one your lease hands over decides how much you build, and how long it takes.
Fit-out guides · 4 October 2026
Office fit-out timeline in Dubai: the stages from brief to handover
A Dubai office fit-out moves through six stages: brief, design, technical drawings, approvals, construction and furniture. Its length depends less on the size of the floor than on how well those stages overlap.
Design · 4 October 2026
How to make an office feel warm, not corporate: a materials guide
The difference between an office that feels like a home and one that feels like a lobby is mostly material. A short palette of timber, stone and textile — and the discipline to stick to it — does most of the work.
Fit-out guides · 3 October 2026
Office fit-out approvals in Dubai: who signs off, and when
Before a single wall goes up, a Dubai office fit-out passes through the landlord, an authority and Civil Defence. Here is the order they come in, and how to design so you only go through it once.