SCALE AND SERENITY

Set across 16,835 square feet in Umm Al Sheif, this four-level Dubai villa is a study in scale, softness and considered restraint. Designed for a multi-generational Emirati family, the home includes four principal bedrooms, four guest suites and a series of interconnected family spaces shaped for both formal hosting and quiet retreat. A private cinema, gym, treatment room and pool complete a lifestyle-rich composition of privacy and comfort.

But the true identity of this home lies not in its scale, but in its atmosphere.While layering into elements of the existing contemporary basebuild, Elicyon introduced a refined spatial rhythm softening transitions, creating intimacy within open plan volumes and redefining the balance between grandeur and repose.

At the heart of the villa, an expansive open-plan living space unfolds, delineated not by walls but by light, proportion and the language of surfaces. Laminated washi paper panels filter the space between the formal living and dining zones, their quiet translucency recalling the serenity of Japanese interiors.

Above, a chandelier releases porcelain petal forms across the double-height ceiling, echoing the floral motifs that branch throughout the villa. These details repeat quietly across wall reliefs, textiles, embroidered bedding and painted headboards, creating a consistent yet unforced rhythm.

Chamfered edges, pearlescent finishes and tonal repetition support this sense of calm continuity. Every material is in conversation with the next, from oak underfoot to polished marble accents, forming a visual language that ebbs and flows across the home.

Open-plan, shaped for togetherness

A MODERN MAJLIS

In Gulf and wider Middle Eastern tradition, the majlis is more than a room. It is a space of welcome, of presence, of shared history. Rooted in the values of hospitality and connection, it remains the emotional anchor of the home.

With the Dubai Family Villa, Elicyon was invited to reimagine the majlis for a contemporary Dubai family. The result is a formal space that honours tradition while introducing a new architectural clarity. Dignified yet warm, grand yet intimately scaled.

The room is divided into two zones, a central setting and a side majlis, allowing the space to flex across different modes of gathering. Natural light moves through the double-height space, settling on a palette of pistachio, celadon green and soft yellow. Silk-textured walls and wave-patterned washi panels lend depth without disruption.

Curved edges and chamfered profiles repeat throughout the architecture and furniture. From the form of the console table to the custom wall panelling, this recurring language brings coherence across adjoining spaces, including the dining and powder rooms.

Underfoot, oak flooring and Calacatta Sponda marble introduce warmth and natural grounding. Each piece of furniture was designed with both comfort and poise in mind.

WHERE OLD-SCHOOL GLAMOUR MEETS COMFORT

A STUDY IN BESPOKE FORM

At the centre of the Dubai Family Villa lies one of our most expansive and considered custom furniture portfolios to date. While the studio has long been familiar with working in Dubai and has completed a number of residences across the city, this project stands apart for the sheer depth and breadth of its tailored design.

An archive of intention. With over 150 individually crafted pieces, the home becomes a living catalogue of how space can be shaped by the people who inhabit it. Each piece is developed not in isolation, but as part of a wider architectural language, where proportion, material and purpose are held in careful balance.

This approach unfolds across every level of the villa. In the cinema, a bespoke single chaise is paired with a custom side table, precisely engineered to sit between the seating and discreetly accommodate wiring for table lamps, allowing light to appear without interruption. In the family TV lounge, bespoke travertine console tables frame the TV unit, made to fit perfectly within the joinery and detailed with concealed apertures so that cabling disappears entirely from view.

In the Formal Side Majlis, custom furniture establishes a dialogue between craft and composure. A bespoke nesting coffee table combines inlaid onyx with veneered finishes, while a tailored sofa side table continues the same language, introducing a green onyx inlay set into a veneered base. These pieces echo one another subtly, reinforcing cohesion through repetition rather than statement.

At the heart of the Formal Central Majlis, a bespoke coffee table becomes a focal point of craftsmanship. Mother-of-pearl ginkgo leaves were free-issued by a specialist supplier, with the layout carefully composed by Elicyon’s design team before being sent to the manufacturer for insetting. The result is a surface that reads as both precise and poetic, where materiality and pattern are guided by hand and intent.

Elsewhere, bespoke elements continue to shape daily rituals. A walnut TV unit inlaid with mother-of-pearl is hand-finished by a specialist artisan in India. The principal ensuite is clad in Opal Blue Marble, its Sakura mosaic flooring offering a delicate reference to falling petals. In the Principal Suite, a crescent bench is custom-built to curve around the circular bath, completing the architecture of the room with quiet assurance.

These are not decorative gestures. These are expressions of everyday life, made permanent through crafted form and artisanship from Dubai and beyond.

STILLNESS SHAPED IN STONE

GLOBAL INFLUENCES ROOTED IN PLACE

While distinctly Emirati in spirit, the Dubai Family Villa is defined by a dialogue of cultures. The villa draws on a constellation of global influences, each connected through a shared reverence for craftsmanship, proportion and restraint. Rather than a fusion, the result is a considered conversation, where memory and material are layered with intent.

Objects and artworks are curated to feel collected rather than installed. Pieces sourced from Maison & Objet in Paris sit alongside expressive forms from Vessel Gallery in London, creating an atmosphere of lived-in elegance.

Walls throughout the home are finished in specialist plasterwork, grounding the interiors in locally rooted technique. The Formal Dining Room features a ceramic installation by Dubai-based craftsman, a piece that introduces material depth while remaining attuned to its architectural surroundings. The staircase, a sculpted spine linking all four levels, is dressed with fluted balustrades and bas relief wall panels that add rhythm and permanence. Suspended at its centre, a glass installation by Czech atelier Sans Souci shifts gently with the changing light, echoing the interplay of shadow and sun across the desert landscape.

In the Principal Bedroom, floral motifs bloom across hand-embroidered wall coverings by Fromental and De Gournay. The headboard, hand-painted in gold leaf, nods to the Japanese traditions of sansui and sumi-e painting. These references continue subtly through chinoiserie-inspired lines, delicate curves and poetic landscapes that flow across surface and textile.

This is a home composed with care. Grounded in culture, shaped by rhythm and elevated through detail.

LIGHT AND LAYERED MASTERED SUITE

AN OASIS COMPOSED IN TONE AND TEXTURE

Set against the golden intensity of Dubai’s desert light, the interior palette at the Dubai Family Villa offers an intentional contrast. The villa’s palette is purposefully calming, a counterpoint to the desert heat. Ivory, taupe and alabaster provide the base notes, layered with tones of soft sand, dusty grey-blue and deep ink. These colours flow across walls, furniture and textiles in a way that feels harmonious and assured.These tones unfold across walls, furnishings and flooring in a way that feels harmonious and still.

This is a palette that speaks to restraint, but never austerity. Ca’maser oak flooring offers quiet strength underfoot, anchoring each space with natural depth. Marble surfaces and antique brass touches add moments of quiet gleam, while bespoke joinery introduces both rhythm and refinement.

Throughout, textures are placed with intent. Bespoke joinery offers both rhythm and resolution. Linen and silk, suede and polished wood, each material contributes to a landscape of softness and structure. It is a composition tuned to the region’s rhythm. Cooling but not cold. Still, yet quietly expressive. An interior oasis, crafted to hold calm.

A CONSIDERED GATHERING SPACE

Find out more about the project via. our projects page. If you’re planning a project in the Middle East and are interested in working with Elicyon, we’d love to hear from you. To learn more about our studio and approach, visit our Studio page. For specific project enquiries, we invite you to contact our Client Relationships Director, Tess Cavendish, directly at tcavendish@elicyon.com.

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