Villa renovation and extensions in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

What we do

• Villa extensions: extra rooms, a majlis, a gym, staff quarters
• New layouts with walls removed or relocated
• Structural works designed and signed off by engineers
• Replacement of windows, doors and facade finishes
• Full replacement of electrical, plumbing, drainage and air-conditioning systems
• Staircases, glass partitions and double-height spaces
• Terraces, pergolas, outdoor kitchens and landscaping around the house
• Complete interior fit-out after the structural stage

Not included: buying the plot, the work of the authorities themselves, and anything the community developer reserves for his own contractors. Structural calculations are made and signed by an engineer; we build to them.

What we check before anything is priced

We look at the house as it is and at the paperwork behind it: the approved and as-built drawings, the plot limits the community works to, the condition of the roof and its waterproofing, the state of the drainage and where it connects, the age of the air-conditioning system, the electrical load the villa already draws, and whether earlier owners changed anything without approval. An unapproved extension discovered late is the thing that stops a project halfway.

Approvals

Any change to the structure or the facade of a villa needs an NOC from the community developer and a permit from the authority that governs the area: Dubai Municipality, Trakhees or DDA in Dubai, and the municipality in Abu Dhabi. We prepare the drawings, submit them and start on site once the permit is issued. Nothing structural begins before the paper is in hand.

How the work runs

1. Free site visit with measurements, then an itemised estimate.
2. Drawings, engineer's calculations, NOC and permit.
3. Demolition, structural works and the shell of the extension.
4. Roofing, waterproofing, windows and facade finishes.
5. Electrical, plumbing, drainage and air-conditioning, then plaster and screeds.
6. Interior finishes, joinery, lighting, outdoor areas, handover.

Decisions you make, and when

The brief for an extension and the new layout is fixed before the drawings go in, because a change after submission means resubmission. Facade materials, windows and roof finishes come next and are ordered early. Then interior finishes and joinery, then lighting, then landscaping, furniture and decor.

A villa stands in a street, not on an island

Work in a community means agreed working hours, dust kept down, deliveries that do not block a narrow road, parking for the crew, protection for boundary walls and neighbouring plots, and waste taken away before it becomes a landmark. We agree this with the community management before the first machine arrives, as on Palm Jumeirah.

Estimate and changes

Every work and every material is a line in the estimate. A change during the works becomes its own line and is priced before it is carried out, so a decision taken on site is never a surprise at the end.

One team for structure and interior

A villa remodel usually goes wrong at the point where the structural contractor leaves and the fit-out contractor arrives. With us nobody leaves: the same project manager takes the house from the first day of demolition to the last curtain, and the interior is planned before the first wall comes down, as in this villa on Palm Jumeirah.

Preparing for the free visit

Have the approved drawings ready, together with any permits for earlier modifications, and a list of what the house has to do that it cannot do now: more bedrooms, a bigger kitchen, a gym, shade in the garden.