For landowners, occupiers and investors
Buildings developed for the use they have to serve.
A building is judged by how well it does its job for the people and businesses inside it, year after year. We develop residential, commercial and specialised-use buildings from that starting point, whether the site is empty or already built on.
Use comes first
It is tempting to begin a building project with its appearance. We begin with its use: who will occupy the building, what they need it to do, how they will arrive, how it will be serviced and how long it is meant to last. Those answers set the size, depth and height of the building, its structure and services, and the way it meets the street.
Location then refines the brief. The same use needs a different building on a busy main road, inside an industrial area or on a quiet residential street. Planning rules, plot shape, access and neighbouring buildings all narrow the options further, which is why a sound brief is written with the site in hand rather than in the abstract.
Only then does the design take shape, and it tends to be better for it. A building drawn around a clear use is simpler to build, easier to run and easier to let or sell than one that tries to suit everyone.
New buildings and existing ones
New development
A new building on a prepared plot, from the brief through design, approvals and construction to handover. The clearest route when the land is available and the use is known, and the one where early decisions carry the most weight.
Expansion and redevelopment
Extending, converting or replacing a building that no longer meets its purpose. Often the better route on well-located land, it needs careful surveys, phasing and a clear view of what is worth keeping. Before choosing it, the existing building and its land have to be understood: their condition, their records and how they have been used.
When redevelopment is the better route
Redevelopment makes sense when the location is right but the building is not: floors too shallow or too low for current use, building services near the end of their life, or a plot whose planning rules now allow more than was originally built. On established streets, those sites are often worth more than empty land further out.
The first step is a condition survey and a planning check; the second, a plain comparison of refurbishment, extension and replacement, including the cost of disruption to anyone still using the building while work goes on. On land with a workshop or industrial past, an assessment of the ground belongs in that first step as well.
What to establish about an existing building
Every extension, change of use or redevelopment starts from what is already there, and four sets of questions shape the decision. Specialists and the authorities supply most of the answers; the developer's part is to ask for them early enough to make a difference.
Condition and structure
What state are the structure, the facade and the building services in, and how long are they likely to last? Whether the structure can carry extra floors, an extension or a heavier use is a question for a structural engineer, answered by assessing the building as it stands.
Records and maintenance
Are the approved drawings, permits and completion records available, and do they match what was built? Maintenance logs, inspection reports and the age of the main plant show what has been looked after and what will soon need replacing.
Current use and occupancy
What is the building used for now, is that the use it was approved for, and does it hold the occupancy certificate that use requires? Who occupies it, on what terms, and what happens to them while work goes on?
The land and its past
What has the site been used for before? Workshops, fuel storage or industrial processes can leave conditions in the ground that only a specialist assessment will find, and that assessment belongs before the redevelopment decision, not after demolition.
Building types
The three kinds of building we develop each start from a different question.
Residential buildings
Apartment buildings and residential blocks developed as long-term assets, from unit mix to shared spaces.
Commercial buildings
Office, mixed-use and multi-tenant buildings planned around floor plates, servicing and long-term flexibility.
Specialised-use buildings
Buildings designed around a process, a fleet or a technical standard, where the operation sets the requirements.
From brief to building
Brief
The use, the occupiers, the performance the building must deliver and the budget and programme it has to meet. Any area in the brief should say how it is measured, because gross floor area, built-up area and leasable area differ for the same building.
Site and approvals
The plot, its permitted use and planning limits, its access and services, and the approvals the design will need.
Design and procurement
A design developed against the brief and the site, and a construction route chosen to suit the risk, the timetable and the budget.
Construction and handover
Delivery to the plan, with the building tested, completed and handed over in a state its occupiers and operators can run.
Who we develop buildings with
Landowners
Owners of plots suited to a building who want to develop with a partner or hand the development to one. The options are set out on our page for landowners.
Occupiers
Businesses that need a building of their own and would rather have it developed around their requirement than adapt an existing one. See build-to-suit development.
Investors
Investors who want exposure to residential, commercial or specialised buildings at the development stage, alongside a developer that carries the work. See options for investors.
Building for the climate and the rules
In the UAE, heat drives much of how a building performs. Orientation, shading, facade design and insulation decide how much cooling is needed and what it costs to run for the life of the building. Getting them right early is far cheaper than oversizing plant to compensate later.
Every building also passes through approvals: planning permission for the use and form, building permits for the design, fire and life safety sign-off, and utility connections. Each authority has its own requirements and timescales. Allowing for them in the programme, and designing to them from the outset, avoids the redesigns and delays that catch out projects treating approvals as a formality.
Work on an existing building adds its own questions: whether an extension or a change of use needs fresh approval, whether the existing permits and completion records are in order, and what the new use raises for fire safety, traffic and structure. Registration of a project, building permits and occupancy are three separate approvals, and one does not stand in for another.
Many hands, one brief
A building brings together designers, engineers, cost consultants, contractors, suppliers and authorities, each with their own priorities. The developer's job is to hold the brief and the budget, make decisions when they are needed rather than when they become urgent, and make sure that the building handed over at the end is the one the occupiers actually needed.
That discipline matters most when something changes. A clear brief makes it possible to judge a proposed change against what the building is for, rather than against whoever is asking for it.
Value that lasts
A building's long-term value comes less from its finishes than from decisions that are hard to change: its position on the plot, its structure, the depth of its floors, the capacity of its services and the way people and goods move through it. We give those decisions the most attention because they decide how the building ages and whether it can adapt to a new occupier or a new use.
Running costs matter as much as construction costs. Cooling, maintenance and replacement over twenty or thirty years can outweigh savings made during construction, so we weigh them from the brief onwards. A facade that is cheap to build but costly to clean, or plant that is hard to reach, is paid for many times over. In a building sold to several owners, running costs also depend on how the common parts are managed once the developer hands over, and on who takes the decisions.
Each building type also links to another part of our work. Commercial buildings meet commercial property at the street; residential buildings sit beside labour and staff accommodation, which has its own rules and its own pages; and every building starts with the land beneath it.
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