Neritum Office, Dubai

Pallavi Dean Interiors designed the private offices of a company located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The office was designed as an office space with elements of a hospitality project.

Made up of contrasting values, the design team paired “hard corporate values” such as professionalism, integrity, quality, excellence and efficiency with “softer, more human values” such as nourishing and nurturing people and relationships; courtesy; maturity and authenticity.

The trick was to blend them together seamlessly. For this client, the corporate and the human values aren’t separate, they co-exist. The same had to be true of the office. You see this particularly in the material and colour palette – the mood boards look more like a hospitality project than a typical office.

We’ve gone for natural white travertine, the veins in the stone draw you into the office space. There’s a light oak herringbone floor and custom designed walnut joinery that sections the space. The glass walls partition the space while allowing natural light to flow throughout.

To make sure the space didn’t feel echoey and hollow, we’ve balanced these hard surfaces with an overload of soft finishes like rugs, upholstery, wallpaper and plants and a minimally detailed plasterboard ceiling. The colours are predominantly neutral browns, creams and taupes. In short, we sidestepped the latest fads in favour of timeless elegance, intelligent design, quality materials and craftsmanship.

The effect is that the first thing you feel when you walk through the door is a sense of quality and excellence. But not in an intimidating way, it’s warm and welcoming with a sense of calm authority. This is not an office designed to impress. It’s a serene environment that inspires people using it to think, collaborate and create their best work.