Interior Design on Al Jubail Island

An island planned around nature

The developer describes Jubail Island as a low impact, low density settlement whose villages are woven across natural landscapes and marine waterways, inside a protected natural environment whose intertidal setting supports a diversity of wildlife. Shared spaces listed on the site include mangrove boardwalks, cycling tracks, kayaking stations and the Jubail Island Mangrove Park.

An interior here begins with that landscape. Views of water and mangrove are worth framing rather than competing with, so owners typically lean towards natural materials, restrained colour and lighting that stays soft after dark. It is a tendency rather than a rule, and the brief always comes from the household.

Villages, villas and apartments

Each village has an identity of its own, according to the developer, and the homes span mansions, villas, townhouses and apartments. Village descriptions on the site include a quiet residential neighbourhood of spacious villas, some on the shoreline, and a waterfront village overlooking Abu Dhabi Island with a marina, a clubhouse, boutique apartments and high-end villas.

For an interior, the home type shapes the project more than the village does. A villa or mansion allows layout changes, bespoke joinery throughout and work that extends to terraces, pools and landscape. An apartment is fitted out within the building's structure and the rules of its management. Our villa interior design page covers the fuller scope. In a brand new house, we check which walls and services can sensibly move before proposing any change, so the plan respects both the structure and whatever the developer's own guidelines allow.

Planning an interior before or at handover

A new home is the best moment to decide how it should work. Before handover, or straight after it, the rooms are still empty, so changes to joinery, lighting positions and power points cost far less than they will once the family has moved in.

We usually start from the developer's floor plans, then survey the finished home at or after handover to check the dimensions against the drawings. From there we plan the layout, storage and lighting, prepare mood boards and 3D visualisation, and specify each finish and piece of furniture so the house arrives ready to live in as a whole, not room by room.

• Space planning from the developer's plans
• Joinery, lighting and power layouts
• Mood boards and 3D renders
• Furniture, fabrics and accessories
• Procurement, delivery and installation

Materials for a waterfront island

The developer's own journal observes that waterfront architecture in Abu Dhabi is a negotiation with sun, breeze, tide and ecology, and interiors face the same forces. Salt air, humidity and strong light wear outdoor furniture, metal fittings and exposed finishes quickly, so terraces, pool surrounds and shading are specified for the setting, and fabrics beside large windows are chosen to resist fading.

Where the work reaches outdoors, our exterior and landscape design service can take in terraces, pools and planting together with the interior, so inside and outside read as one home.

Approvals on the island

Abu Dhabi runs its own authorities and approval processes, distinct from Dubai's. On a master-planned island, the developer or community management may also have requirements for alterations, and a building's management adds its own rules for apartments. We confirm the route for each address, and the approval stage goes into the programme from the first plan rather than being discovered at the end.

How much is involved depends on the scope. Loose furniture, curtains and styling usually involve little beyond access arrangements, while new joinery, electrical changes or work on terraces and pools are more likely to need drawings and consent before anything starts. We raise these points at the first meeting, so the design you sign off is one that can be approved and built as drawn.

Design only or design and build

Design only means we hand over the thinking and the paperwork: concept, renders, specifications and drawings for the builder you pick. With design and build, one team handles procurement, installation, site supervision and handover, which suits owners who live elsewhere or are still in the middle of moving. Surveys and site meetings mean a drive from Dubai, which we make whenever the job calls for it. Snagging happens before handover, and a 12-month defects liability period set out in your contract follows.

Our published projects are in Dubai. For a sense of our approach, see our 2025 Palm Jumeirah Villa, 6,500 sq ft, where we handled interior design and space planning: soft colours, simple lines and closely planned storage, a calm and practical look that sits well in a home by the water.

Budget and first steps

Our projects start from AED 150,000. On the island, the budget mostly follows the home's size, how much is made to measure, your choice of materials and furniture, and any MEP or outdoor work. Tell us a working figure early and we design within it.

Our project estimate form is the simplest way in; attach the developer's floor plans if you have them.