Office renovation in Dubai
An office renovation is rarely a blank sheet. Most of the workplaces we take on are already in use and already furnished. They are also needed back in service on a date agreed before we arrived. So we plan the work backwards from your handover day.
First we measure the floor, then we draw the joinery and build it in our workshop in Ras Al Khor. Finally we fit it with our own team. The messy cutting happens away from your building. Because of that, most clients stay open through the whole programme.
Where we carry out office renovation
Dubai’s offices are spread across business districts, free zones and community buildings, and each has its own access rules, working hours and fit-out approvals. We work in all three, and we ask about your building before we price the job.
Not listed? Send the building name and the floor, and we will confirm access, working hours and whether the landlord needs an approval before we quote.
What an office renovation covers
The joinery we install in an office is usually one of eight things. Each one starts with a measured survey, because the drawings that come with a tenancy rarely match what the building actually contains.
Reception counters and front of house
The piece a visitor reads before they read anything else. Stone, veneer or a painted finish. See reception counters.
Meeting rooms and boardrooms
Tables, credenzas and acoustic wall panelling, sized to the room rather than to a catalogue. Cable management also runs inside, so the table is not a trip hazard. See office furniture.
Storage walls and filing
Floor-to-ceiling runs that replace the mismatched cupboards an office accumulates. Doors can be flush, sliding or open shelving.
Tea points and breakout joinery
Kitchenettes, banquette seating and the counter that holds the coffee machine. Usually the busiest two square metres in the office.
Partitions and glazed screens
Timber-framed screens that separate teams without closing the light out. Sliding and pivot doors are the two we fit most. See interior doors.
Wall panelling and feature walls
Veneer, slatted timber or a painted MDF profile for the wall behind reception or the one at the end of the corridor. See wall panelling.
Doors, frames and ironmongery
Interior doors and frames that match the joinery, with hardware specified for the traffic the doorway actually takes. See our joinery work.
Stairs, handrails and balustrades
For duplex offices and mezzanine floors, including the under-stair storage that usually gets forgotten. See staircases.
The trades an office renovation needs
An office renovation rarely needs one trade. It needs eight of them in the right order. We take all eight under one contract and run them on one programme, so you are not coordinating separate companies.
Gypsum and ceilings
Partition walls, bulkheads and the suspended ceiling grid. We set the levels out first, so the light fittings, the air diffusers and the sprinkler heads all land on the same line instead of wherever they happen to fall.
Wall painting
Preparation is most of the job: filling, sanding and priming before the finish coats go on. We use low-odour paint on occupied floors and work the out-of-hours window where the tower allows nothing else.
Managed tradeFlooring
Carpet tile, luxury vinyl, engineered timber and raised access floors. The subfloor is checked for moisture and level before anything is laid, because a floor that moves shows every seam within a year.
Managed tradeTiling
Porcelain and ceramic to walls and floors, including washrooms, tea points and reception. Setting out starts at the doorway, so the cut tiles fall where they are least looked at.
Demolition and strip-out
Removing the fit-out that is already there. Services in the floor and ceiling are identified and isolated before anything is taken down, and the debris leaves through the goods lift on a slot we book with the building.
Plumbing
Tea points, pantry sinks and washroom alterations, connected back to the existing risers. Any change to the building’s own pipework also goes through the landlord’s approval, and is pressure-tested before the walls close.
Electrical
Power, lighting, data and the containment that carries them. Every circuit is labelled and tested on completion, and the test certificates are handed over with the snag list at the end of the job.
Joinery works for an office renovation
The trade we keep in-house: reception counters, storage walls, meeting-room tables, doors, panelling and fitted furniture, all cut and finished in our own workshop. See our joinery work.
Our workshopOne contract, one programme, one point of contact. Joinery is made by our own team in Ras Al Khor. The wet, electrical, ceiling and finishing trades are long-standing subcontractors we have worked with for years, and they answer to us rather than to you.
How an office renovation programme runs
We plan backwards from your handover date, then tell you which stages need the floor to be clear. Most of our office clients keep working through the build.
Survey and building rules
We measure the floor and photograph it. Then we check the access rules: goods lift bookings, permitted working hours, and whether the landlord wants an approval before work starts. The work follows the Dubai Building Code.
Drawings and sign-off
You receive the layout, the materials and physical finish samples. Nothing is cut until you approve it. A change after that costs the price of a second run.
Fixed quotation
We itemise it line by line, so you can add or drop a piece without renegotiating the job. We also state what is excluded, and name the parts the building’s own contractor has to carry out.
Manufacture
We cut, assemble and finish everything in Ras Al Khor. This is where most of the calendar time sits, and it is also what keeps the noise and the dust out of your office.
Out-of-hours fitting
Most towers restrict noisy work to evenings or weekends, so we fit in those windows. The team protects lift lobbies and floors, and clears the area before your staff arrive.
Snag and handover
We walk the job with you, list what needs adjusting, and return once to close it out. Then we hand over the care instructions for the finishes we used.
Finishes for an office renovation
An office finish has to survive more traffic than a home one, so we specify for wear first and appearance second. Three options cover most of the work.
Veneer with a hard lacquer
- Best for
- Reception, boardrooms and anywhere the grain should carry the room.
- Wear
- A matt or satin lacquer over the veneer. Repairable on site for small marks.
- Watch for
- Direct west light. We specify a UV-stable coat so the tone holds.
Sprayed lacquer on MDF
- Best for
- Storage walls, tea points and the flat seamless faces modern offices lean on.
- Wear
- Any matched colour, matt to satin. Repaints cleanly in a later refurbishment.
- Watch for
- Corner chipping. We round the edge rather than specify a sharp one.
Solid timber and stone tops
- Best for
- Reception counters, boardroom tables and anything that takes weight or impact.
- Wear
- Hardwax oil, or a stone top that can be re-polished rather than replaced.
- Watch for
- Movement in air-conditioned floors. We acclimatise stock before machining.
Office renovation, project by project
Seven plates from recent commercial work. Every one was drawn for a specific floor, which is the only reason any of them fit.
FAQs about office renovation
Can we keep working during the office renovation?
Yes, and most of our clients do. Because we cut everything in the workshop, the on-site work is assembly. We fit it into evenings, weekends or one cleared zone at a time.
Do we need landlord or free zone approval?
Usually yes for anything fixed to the structure. Each free zone and tower has its own process, and we have worked through most of them. We supply the scope, drawings and trade documents, so you can submit the application.
How long does an office renovation take?
A single reception or meeting room runs about four weeks from approved drawings to handover. A full floor is nearer eight. Because the workshop carries the long part, the on-site phase is usually days rather than weeks.
Do you handle the ceiling, MEP and flooring too?
Our scope is the joinery and the finishes we build and fit ourselves. We state clearly what is excluded. We can also coordinate with your MEP and flooring contractors.
Can you match joinery we already have?
Often yes. Bring a photograph, an offcut or the original specification, and the drawings will match the existing veneer, edge profile and ironmongery.
Do you work outside normal hours?
Yes. Most towers restrict noisy work to evenings and weekends, so those are our normal fitting windows for occupied buildings. Out-of-hours working is priced into the quotation rather than added later.
What does an office renovation cost?
It depends on the run lengths, the finish and how much of the floor is being changed, so we quote after the survey. The survey and drawings are free, and we itemise the quotation so each element carries its own price.
Planning an office renovation?
Send the floor plan, or a photograph of the space, with the building name. We will confirm the access rules, tell you what the floor will take, and arrange the free measured survey.