Apartment renovation and fit-out in Dubai Marina

The towers and what is inside them

Dubai Marina grew in waves, and the towers show it. The early buildings along the promenade have been lived in and let for well over a decade: beige porcelain floors, a closed galley kitchen, builder-grade wardrobes, bathrooms whose fittings have seen several tenants. The recent towers, Marina Gate and Vida Residences among them, hand over a neutral, sound apartment that simply has no character yet. Between them sit studios, one- to four-bedroom flats and duplex penthouses, all with a balcony and all repeated floor after floor.

What owners here usually ask for

• Turn a standard developer finish into a considered interior: wall panelling and mouldings, new lighting, flooring and doors
• Open the kitchen towards the living room where the wall is not structural and the building allows it
• Built-in wardrobes, kitchens, TV walls and dressing tables made for the exact room
• Bathroom renovation with new waterproofing under the tiles
• Blackout and sheer curtains that keep the view but control the afternoon glare
• Full furnishing and styling, including apartments prepared for letting

Character in a standard layout

In a tower your floor plan is repeated in dozens of apartments above and below, so interior design here has to build character out of the finishes. In both of our Marina apartments mouldings do that job: in Vida Residences slim arches are painted the same dusty teal as the wall behind them, and everything in front is black, white and grey; in Marina Gate classic panelling in warm grey is broken once, by a block of oxblood red that climbs the wall and crosses the ceiling over the sitting area.

Working in a tower

In a high-rise the difficult part is rarely the work itself: it is the logistics. Every building has its own management office and its own conditions — a contractor NOC before anything starts, a refundable deposit, permitted working hours that are usually shorter at weekends, protection boards in the corridors and lift car, and a service-lift booking for every delivery and every removal of debris through the loading bay. Contractor parking in the basement is limited, and the roads around the Marina run in slow one-way loops, so deliveries are scheduled outside the peak hours and materials arrive in batches that fit one lift booking.

Towers are cooled by a district cooling network, so draining a riser or moving a fan-coil is arranged with the building rather than decided on site. Sprinkler heads, smoke detectors and ceiling access panels to valves stay where the building needs them, and any change to them is approved first. We handle these steps and keep the noisy work inside the permitted hours.

For owners who live abroad

Many Marina apartments belong to owners who live outside the UAE, and a project can be run remotely: drawings and material samples are approved online, and the site team sends regular photo and video reports.

Before the first site visit

The site visit with measurements and an itemised estimate is free. Bring the floor plan from the handover pack, the title deed or tenancy contract, and your building's fit-out rules if the management has already sent them. It also helps to know whether a tenant is still in place, whether the home is for living in or for letting, and which pieces of furniture you want to keep. From there the work can be a single room or a full turnkey renovation and fit-out of the apartment.