Bathroom Design in Dubai, From Master Suites to Powder Rooms

Master bathrooms, guest bathrooms and powder rooms

Most villas have several bathrooms, and each has a different job. Planning them as a set, rather than repeating one design everywhere, lets the budget go where it counts.

Master bathroom

Space, privacy and a morning routine for two

Often planned with twin basins, a separate WC compartment, a walk-in shower and sometimes a freestanding or jacuzzi bath. We look at who gets ready when, where towels and toiletries live, and how the room connects to the dressing area and the master bedroom.

Guest bathroom

Comfortable, simple and easy to keep ready

A good shower, generous shelf space for a visitor's things and finishes that stay fresh with little upkeep.

Children's bathroom

Durable and forgiving

A bath for younger children, a hand shower, anti-slip floors, rounded edges where possible and storage low enough for them to reach their own things.

Powder room

The bathroom guests actually see

A WC and basin near the reception rooms or entrance, where the design can be bolder: a sculpted stone basin, a dramatic wall finish, careful lighting. It rarely has a window, so extraction matters here too.

Wet areas and waterproofing

Water finds every weakness. Before any stone goes down, the floor and lower walls of a wet area need a continuous waterproof membrane, turned up at the walls and carried higher inside the shower, with corners, pipe penetrations and drain connections properly sealed. We ask for the membrane to be flood tested before tiling, because a leak found later means lifting a finished floor, and in an apartment it can mean damage to the unit below.

Floors are laid to falls towards the drains so water never pools. Level access showers and linear drains look clean and help anyone with limited mobility, but they need depth in the floor. In a villa that depth can sometimes be found in the slab; in an apartment the floor is often raised instead, which affects thresholds and door heights, so we check it early.

• A continuous membrane under the floor and up the walls in wet zones
• Flood testing before any tiles are laid
• Floor falls to every drain
• Sealed junctions at pipes, drains, niches and glass fixings
• Access panels for traps and valves that may need attention

Ventilation and humidity

Warm, humid air trapped in a bathroom leads to mould on grout and ceilings, swollen joinery and mirrors that never clear. Every bathroom needs an extract fan ducted to the outside, not just into the ceiling void, sized for the room and left running after a shower through a timer or humidity sensor. A small gap under the door or a grille lets replacement air in so the fan can work properly.

Bathrooms here usually sit within air conditioned suites, and moist air meeting cold surfaces can condense. We plan the cooling so the room stays comfortable without cold air blowing onto someone stepping out of the shower, and we specify vanities, doors and ceiling boards that tolerate moisture.

Stone and porcelain

Natural marble gives a bathroom depth and a feel that copies rarely match, and it suits feature walls, vanity tops and bath surrounds. It is also porous and sensitive to acids, so some cleaning products and cosmetics can mark it, and it needs sealing and gentle care. Porcelain is harder wearing and far less absorbent, now comes in large slabs with convincing stone patterns, and suits busy family bathrooms and shower floors.

Many of our bathrooms combine the two: marble where it is seen and touched, porcelain where it is walked on and splashed. On any floor that gets wet we look for a slip resistant finish, honed or textured rather than polished. At Imperial Avenue Apartment, a timber vanity sits against a stone feature wall, bringing warmth to a scheme of creams and soft taupes.

Water heaters and supply

Hot water needs planning early, because the heater has to go somewhere. Apartments often have an electric storage heater above the bathroom ceiling, while villas may have individual heaters, a central system or solar heating on the roof. Whatever the system, the heater needs a proper access panel, a tray or drain to catch any leak and a position that keeps pipe runs short, so hot water reaches the basin quickly.

Because a roof tank can leave the cold supply warm in summer, thermostatic mixers make showers far easier to set. Where pressure varies between floors of a villa, a booster pump may be needed for rain showers and body jets to perform as expected. New heaters and circuits can change the electrical load, which can bring approvals into scope; our authority approvals service covers that side.

The shattaf and the WC

The bidet spray, or shattaf, is fitted beside the WC in a great many UAE bathrooms, and it deserves the same care as any other fitting. We place its outlet and hook on the side the user finds most natural, within easy reach from the seat, and give it its own isolating valve so a leaking hose can be shut off without closing the supply to the whole room.

Because the spray is used daily, the floor and wall around the WC should be finished for water, with sealed junctions and, in many bathrooms here, a floor drain close by. A valve that blends hot and cold is more comfortable than cold only. Wall hung WCs with concealed cisterns make the floor easier to clean and leave room to hide the shattaf valve behind a neat access panel.

Lighting and mirrors

Bathroom lighting has three jobs: general light for cleaning and moving around, task light at the mirror that falls evenly on the face, and softer light for a bath or a night visit. Downlights directly above the mirror cast shadows under the eyes, so we prefer light from the sides or from within the mirror itself, at face height.

Fittings in and around showers and baths need the right protection rating for their zone, and switching follows the safety rules for wet rooms. A heated demister pad keeps the mirror clear after a shower, and a warm night light at low level saves switching on bright light in the small hours.

• Even light at face height for shaving and make-up
• A demister behind the main mirror
• Night lighting at low level
• Fittings rated for their position in the room
• Mirror cabinets recessed into the wall where depth allows

Bathrooms in our projects

At MK Villa on Palm Jumeirah, part of our design and build work, the bathroom pictured at the top of this page pairs a jacuzzi bath with marble and gold fittings, in keeping with the glossy finishes and golden accents used across the villa. Our 3D visualisation for Jumeirah Villa 23 takes a lighter approach, with a glass enclosed shower in a calm, pale scheme.

Renders like these let you walk through a bathroom before it exists, and they are often where layout questions, such as whether a bath is really wanted, get settled. Our 3D visualisation service covers this stage.

What shapes the cost of a bathroom

Bathroom cost depends on scope more than size. The main drivers are whether drainage and the WC move, how much of the room is stripped back to the slab, the floor build-up needed for level showers, the stone chosen and how much of it there is, sanitaryware and brassware, glass, joinery and lighting control. Our villa renovation page shows how bathrooms fit into a wider renovation, and an estimate request is the place to start.

Guides from the studio

• Bathroom Renovation in Dubai: Cost Drivers and Design