Office fit-out in Dubai

Two offices of the same size can need completely different fit-outs. A sales team on the phone all day needs acoustic separation. A design studio needs light and large screens. A company that meets clients needs a meeting room that impresses and a reception that does not feel like a corridor. Before any finish is chosen, an office fit-out should answer a few plain questions: how many people sit here now and in two years, how often they meet and in what group sizes, what needs a door, and what equipment and data the space must carry. The rest follows from that. Moving into a new lease is the natural moment for a fit-out; updating an office you already occupy is closer to an office renovation, which we cover separately.

Offices in Dubai are leased in different states, and the state at handover decides how much of the work is yours. Our guide to shell and core, Cat A and Cat B explains the terms in full. For an office, in short:

• Shell and coreA bare unit with services brought to its edge. Before any office layout can be built, the fit-out has to add the ceiling, lighting, AC distribution, floor finish and walls.
• Cat ACeiling, lighting, AC and finished walls are in place. The existing ceiling grid and AC outlets limit where new walls and meeting rooms can go, so we check them against your layout first.
• Cat BThe layer designed around your team and your brand: workstations, meeting rooms, reception, pantry, joinery, signage and IT.
• A previous tenant's fit-outPartitions, glass and carpet left by the last occupant can sometimes be reused. We check their condition, and whether they suit your layout, at the site visit.

Project Door Step

Silicon Oasis, Dubai · 112 sqm · October 2022 - December 2022

Workspaces and meeting areas with soundproofing; the slatted walls and reception counter are our own joinery.

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Project Design

Silicon Oasis, Dubai · 112 sqm · February 2020 - July 2020

An open-ceiling office with frosted glass partitions, custom kitchen wrapping, carpeting, flooring, design painting and CCTV cameras.

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More of our work: YouTube · Instagram · our Google reviews

Reception, meeting rooms and an executive office from Project Door Step and Project Design in Silicon Oasis.

Walk through the office fit-outs shown above in their project films.

Office fit-outs in Dubai usually need the building's consent, and often an authority approval as well. Which ones apply depends on where the office is and what the work changes, and we apply for them ourselves. These pages explain each one:

• Building management NOCThe written consent of the landlord or the building's management, which reviews the work before it starts.
• Fit-out and renovation approvalsAn overview of the approvals in Dubai and what decides which apply: the location, the type of unit and the scope.
• Dubai Civil Defence (DCD)The fire and life safety authority. Our DCD page explains where its approval usually comes into a fit-out.
• DDAThe Dubai Development Authority issues a fit-out permit for offices in the zones it regulates, and the contractor obtains it before work starts.
• TrakheesWithin the jurisdiction of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation, Trakhees' published procedure requires approval before fit-out works start and a completion certificate once they are finished.

• Number of enclosed roomsEvery partitioned room adds walls or glass, a door, lighting, cooling and often acoustic work.
• Ceiling approachKeeping an existing grid, installing a new one or exposing the slab each carry different work.
• FlooringCarpet tiles, vinyl and tile differ in price and in floor preparation needed. For a showroom or a workshop area, a seamless epoxy resin floor is another option.
• Joinery and feature wallsReception counters, storage walls and slatted or clad feature walls. These are made in-house by our fit-out and joinery team.
• ServicesExtra power and data, moved AC outlets, CCTV and pantry plumbing.