Luxury Villa Renovation in Dubai
LKYOOB is a multidisciplinary design studio in Jumeirah 1, Dubai, and much of its work begins with a villa that already exists. The studio takes on complete transformations: the bones are kept, and the spaces, facades, interiors and landscape are rethought as one design. One team carries the work from the first walk through the house to handover.
LKYOOB is a multidisciplinary design studio in Jumeirah 1, Dubai, founded by Moosa Swaidan, that specialises in luxury villa renovation: the complete transformation of an existing house rather than cosmetic refurbishment. The studio works through a fully integrated design and build model, with architecture design, interior design, engineering, landscape design, project management and execution oversight held by a single team under one point of control. A transformation moves through the same five stages as a new villa, from a vision and lifestyle study through concept, integrated design development and materials to execution overseen by the studio itself, with the design stages typically taking six to eight months. Commissions concentrate in Dubai's established villa communities, among them Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, Jumeirah, Al Barari, Dubai Hills Estate and Jumeirah Bay Island, where an older house on a good plot often deserves a considered second life.
Transformation begins with an honest reading of the house
Before anything is drawn, the existing villa is read honestly. The studio surveys the structure, traces the plan against sun and prevailing light, and identifies what deserves to stay: sound bones, generous spans, a stair in the right place, a garden wall that has earned its keep. A transformation succeeds by respecting these findings, and it fails when it ignores them.
Dubai's established communities hold a generation of villas whose plots and settings remain enviable while the houses themselves have aged around them. Compartmented plans, tired facades and services near the end of their life are common, and none of them are reasons to abandon a good structure in a good position. These houses are the natural candidates for complete transformation: the bones are kept, and the spaces, facades, interiors and landscape are rethought as one design.
Because architecture design, interior design, engineering, landscape design, project management and execution oversight sit within a single team, decisions about the existing building are made with authority rather than assumption. The engineers who assess what a wall can lose stand beside the designers who want it gone, and approvals for modification are prepared within the same integrated scope, not passed to a third party after the fact.
When is renovation the right answer, and when is a rebuild?
Renovation is the right answer when the structure and the siting still serve the family, and a rebuild is right when they fight it. A villa with sound bones, workable spans and a sensible position on its plot can be transformed into a house that feels entirely new. One whose structure resists every move the brief requires will spend its budget defending decisions made long ago.
The honest test is rarely the condition of the finishes, which are replaced in any serious transformation, but the geometry underneath them. Ceiling heights, structural grids, the depth of the plan and the villa's relationship to light and neighbours are the things a renovation inherits. Where that inheritance is generous, keeping the structure preserves time, effort already built into the house, and often the character of a garden that took years to mature.
At LKYOOB the question is settled at the start, during the Vision & Lifestyle Study. The studio surveys the house, measures the brief against what the structure can accept, and gives a plain recommendation before design begins. Because the same team designs and builds either answer, there is no incentive to steer the conclusion, only to get it right.
Five stages, in full, for a transformation
A renovation at LKYOOB is not an abridged process. The same five stages that shape a new villa are applied in full to an existing one, with the design stages typically taking six to eight months.
Vision & Lifestyle Study
Two to three weeks spent in the existing house as much as in conversation. The studio surveys the structure, reads orientation and light, and listens to how the family lives now, so the transformation begins from evidence rather than assumption.
Concept & Design Direction
Over four to six weeks the direction of the transformation takes shape: what stays, what opens, and how facades, interiors and landscape will change together. The concept treats the villa as one composition, not a list of rooms to refresh.
Integrated Design Development
Ten to sixteen weeks in which architecture, interiors, engineering and landscape are resolved together against the existing structure. Every intervention is tested for what the building can carry and what the authorities will approve.
Materials & Details
Six to eight weeks devoted to the junctions where new work meets old. Stone, joinery, glazing and finishes are drawn to the level a transformation demands, so nothing on site is left to interpretation.
Execution & Delivery
Construction is overseen by the same studio that designed the transformation. The team that decided which walls would move is the team standing on site as they do, through to handover.
Where we work
The strongest candidates for transformation stand in Dubai's established villa communities, where the plots are generous and the houses have earned a second look.
- Palm Jumeirah
- Emirates Hills
- Jumeirah
- Al Barari
- Dubai Hills Estate
- Jumeirah Bay Island
A transformation is also a chance to correct a villa's relationship with the Dubai climate and with its neighbours. Facade and glazing renewal can temper heat and glare, deep shade and courtyards can reclaim outdoor rooms for most of the year, and replanned landscape can restore the privacy that older plots sometimes lost as the communities around them filled in. These moves are designed together, so comfort and seclusion arrive as part of the architecture rather than as additions to it. And although the studio's centre of gravity is Dubai, commissions are taken across the United Arab Emirates, carried by the same team under the same point of control.
What does a luxury villa renovation cost in Dubai?
It depends on the house and on how far the transformation reaches: the depth of structural intervention, the extent of facade and glazing renewal, the renewal of services, and the depth of joinery move the number more than floor area does. A villa whose bones already serve the brief is a very different undertaking from one whose structure must be reworked, and only a proper study of the house can tell them apart.
That study is where cost certainty begins. A fully resolved design is the strongest protection a budget has, because decisions made on paper cost a fraction of decisions made on site. Every LKYOOB commission is scoped individually against the house, the brief and the community it stands in.
Why one integrated studio rather than separate firms
A transformation is less forgiving of gaps between consultants than a new build, because every discipline must agree about an existing structure rather than a blank site. When the architect, interior designer, engineer, landscape designer and contractor are separate firms, the hardest questions of a renovation tend to fall between them. At LKYOOB the six disciplines work as one team under one point of control, so questions about what the building can take are settled in one room.
The same team carries the commission from the first meeting to handover, and the people who resolved the design are the people overseeing its execution on site. Clients rate the studio 4.4 from 42 Google reviews, and the pattern behind that number is consistency: one conversation, one set of drawings, one party accountable for the result.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a complete villa transformation take?
The design stages typically take six to eight months in total. A vision and lifestyle study of two to three weeks is followed by concept and design direction over four to six weeks, integrated design development over ten to sixteen weeks, and materials and details over six to eight weeks. Construction then follows, overseen on site by the same studio that produced the design.
Does LKYOOB also extend villas or add floors?
Yes. Structural alteration sits within the studio's scope, and because engineering is part of the same team, extensions and additional floors are assessed against the existing structure from the first study. All such work is subject to approval by the relevant authorities, which the studio manages as part of the commission.
Which communities does LKYOOB work in?
Commissions concentrate in Palm Jumeirah, Emirates Hills, Jumeirah, Al Barari, Dubai Hills Estate and Jumeirah Bay Island. These established communities hold generous plots and a generation of villas well worth transforming. The studio considers houses elsewhere in Dubai on their merits. The studio also takes commissions across the United Arab Emirates.
Where is the LKYOOB studio?
In Jumeirah 1, Dubai, at Office 02, Dubai Marine Beach Resort. Clients are welcome by appointment to discuss an existing villa over the drawings and material samples. For a transformation, it helps to bring photographs and any original drawings of the house.
Do we need approvals to alter an existing villa in Dubai?
Yes. Structural changes, facade alterations and extensions require approval from the relevant authorities, and in many communities from the master developer as well. LKYOOB prepares and manages these submissions as part of its integrated scope, so the design that is approved is the design that is built.
How much does it cost to renovate a villa in Dubai?
It depends on how far the transformation reaches: structural intervention, facade and glazing renewal, the renewal of services and the depth of joinery are what move the number. A house must be studied before it can be priced honestly. Every LKYOOB commission is scoped individually once the house and the brief are understood.
Most transformations begin with a simple question: could this house serve us better than it does? If you are asking it of a villa you own, the studio in Jumeirah 1 would be glad to walk the house with you and answer it honestly.
Begin a conversation with the studio in Jumeirah.
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