By Noor Al Muhaideb, Founding Partner – Opaal Interiors

There is a moment, walking through a beautifully finished apartment, when something feels slightly off. The marble is flawless, the joinery bespoke, the lighting calibrated to do exactly what it should at exactly the right hour, and yet the space refuses to settle. Somewhere beneath the surface finish, the city persists. A low thrum, a neighbouring conversation. The sound of a lift motor somewhere in the core. A home can be gorgeous and not feel like a sanctuary.

This is the problem that the UAE’s most discerning residential clients are beginning to name, and it is quietly changing how the region’s top design practices approach a brief. For years, luxury here has been defined by what you can see: the calibre of stone, the provenance of fixtures, the intricacy of a ceiling detail. Those things still carry weight, but the conversation in design studios from DIFC to Abu Dhabi’s waterfront has shifted toward something that doesn’t photograph, the quality of silence a home can actually hold.

This shift is supported by a wider understanding of how design affects wellbeing. A 2026 review reinforced how the physical environment influences mental well-being, including the way people respond to sensory comfort. Sound plays a major role in that experience, shaping concentration, sleep, privacy, and the ability to unwind. Poor acoustic planning can make a home feel busy even when it is empty, while thoughtful design creates a quieter rhythm for daily life.

What clients are actually asking for

Designers working at the top of the market describe a shift in how clients come to the table. The mood board still arrives, but it is increasingly accompanied by something more specific: a set of conditions the home needs to meet. A study that genuinely separates from the rest of the house. A bedroom that earns its keep as a place of actual rest. Living spaces that can hold the noise of a full household without letting it spill everywhere at once.

This is partly a post-pandemic recalibration. When the home became the workplace, the gym, the school, and the social hub simultaneously, its acoustic shortcomings became impossible to ignore. But in the UAE, there is an additional driver that might surprise you. Roughly one in three younger buyers and renters are now evaluating properties based on their suitability for content creation, recording, and professional video calls. The home office is no longer a corner with a desk for a growing cohort of entrepreneurs, digital nomads, and consultants, it is a broadcast environment. To them, acoustic quality is therefore infrastructure.

The design language of quiet

The best executed examples of acoustic design are invisible in the most literal sense. You experience the result without registering the mechanism. Upholstered wall panels absorb without looking clinical. Layered curtains manage reverberation while reading as pure textile luxury. Double-height ceilings with acoustic treatment become a canvas for lighting design rather than a utilitarian fix. A home designed with sound in mind tends to feel more composed and more genuinely calm, which is exactly what luxury clients are reaching for, even when they cannot quite articulate why.

Leading design practices in the UAE are already positioning acoustic engineering alongside circadian lighting systems, biophilic planning, and wellness rooms as part of a coherent philosophy of residential wellbeing. This is the right instinct. Silence is not a niche feature, it is a quality-of-life proposition, and in a market projected to be worth an estimated $70 billion by 2030, home to some 86,000 millionaires in Dubai alone, the clients commissioning these homes expect their designers to understand that.

Sound as part of spatial luxury

The most memorable spaces, the ones that stay with you long after a walk-through, tend to have something in common: they feel curated all the way down. Not just in the choices you notice immediately, but in the ones you absorb without knowing it. Acoustic design is precisely that kind of detail. It does not photograph and does not make a mood board. But it is what separates a home that looks exceptional from one that actually lives that way. In a region that has always known how to do beautiful, learning to do quiet is the next frontier.

By Amir H Greiss Founder & CEO, SharpMinds Consulting Engineers

A Region Building at Scale

Across the Middle East, construction is advancing at a pace that reflects both the scale of regional ambition and the complexity of delivering it. The project pipeline has grown to over $4 trillion, with Saudi Arabia alone accounting for a $1.5 trillion backlog of unawarded work, according to real estate consultancy JLL. The appetite for development is clear. Translating that into consistent delivery performance, however, remains a work in progress.

A 2025 PwC survey of capital projects and infrastructure professionals found that 81% of respondents experienced cost overruns in the past year. Separate research by Alvarez & Marsal puts the figure even higher, with 85% of projects in the MENA region running over budget, averaging 28% above initial estimates. Timelines present a similar picture: on average, regional projects take 83% longer than planned, compared to a 68% overrun globally. These are patterns that point to structural challenges within the delivery process, not isolated incidents.

Smarter Design Delivers More Efficient Buildings

Efficiency in construction is not primarily a procurement issue, it happens during design phase. A building that proves expensive to construct was typically costly from its earliest concept as it simply takes a quantity survey and several months to surface that reality.

Engineers and architects who consistently deliver within budget tend to achieve this through considered decisions at concept stage: a sound understanding of structural logic, selection of systems that perform over time, and early stress-testing of assumptions before they are embedded in working drawings.

Dubai’s January 2024 mandate requiring Building Information Modelling (BIM) for certain building permit applications reflects a growing regulatory recognition of this principle. BIM integrates coordination and clash detection into the design process rather than leaving those issues to be resolved on-site, where corrections carry significantly higher costs. The underlying logic holds beyond software: investing analytical effort early in a project is consistently more economical than addressing challenges during construction.

Understanding Client Priorities at Design Stage Pays Off

Client alignment is equally important and, at present, not always given sufficient attention. Cost overruns in the region are frequently linked to owner-imposed variations. PwC’s 2025 survey identified these as the fourth most common driver of overruns, cited by 35% of respondents changes requested mid-construction by clients who were not fully engaged during the design phase.

This is not solely a client challenge. It also reflects an industry dynamic in which the brief is sometimes treated as an administrative step rather than a genuine discovery process. When a client’s core priorities operational flexibility, tenant experience, future adaptability  are understood and embedded in the design from the outset, late-stage changes become less frequent and considerably less costly when they do arise.

The Long-Term Return on Investment Case

Lifecycle value is another dimension that warrants greater attention in regional project conversations. The growing emphasis on sustainability certifications from LEED to Estidama is beginning to orient some projects toward longer-term thinking. The UAE alone hosts the highest concentration of LEED-certified buildings globally, with over 2,100 green-certified structures.

Smarter design does not mean more expensive design. It means design where complexity is purposeful where every material choice, structural system, and mechanical specification has been evaluated against performance criteria and long-term operational reality.

Addressing the Challenges at the Right Stage

The factors constraining project performance in the region are broadly understood: insufficient early-stage coordination, limited client engagement during design, and decisions that are not adequately tested against long-term operational needs. The greater opportunity lies in addressing these consistently at the stage where it is most effective before construction begins, rather than during it.

With the regional construction market projected to reach over $712 billion by 2033, the demands placed on project teams will continue to grow. Meeting those demands means establishing stronger processes around design quality, client alignment, and lifecycle performance not as aspirational targets, but as standard practice. The evidence for why this matters already exists. The next step is applying it with greater consistency across the industry.

Casagrand HERMINA, the debut UAE development by leading real estate developer Casagrand, draws on more than 22 years of residential development experience and a portfolio of over 180 completed and ongoing projects across India.

This established track record has translated into strong investor confidence, with the development now surpassing the 50% sales milestone, reflecting demand for experienced, delivery-led developers in the UAE off-plan market.

The momentum has been further reinforced by Casagrand HERMINA being named “Off-Plan Project of the Year” at the Gulf Business Real Estate Summit & Awards 2026, marking recognition of the development’s positioning, design approach, and overall proposition within the residential market.

Luthfullah K, Director Dubai, Casagrand, said: “Surpassing the 50% sales milestone at Casagrand HERMINA is incredibly rewarding, and it is gratifying to see that legacy resonate in our first development in the UAE. It is a reflection of the trust that investors and homebuyers have placed in our vision. For more than 22 years, we have been committed to creating homes and communities that put people first. We are grateful for the confidence shown in Casagrand HERMINA and remain dedicated to delivering a waterfront community that reflects the quality, care, and customer-first approach that have earned us the trust of more than 55,000 families.”

Located at Dubai Islands, Casagrand HERMINA continues to attract sustained interest from regional and international buyers seeking long-term value in a waterfront residential destination. The sales performance reflects demand for developers with established delivery credentials, operational scale, and execution capability.

The strong performance of Casagrand HERMINA reinforces Casagrand’s long-term commitment to the UAE market. The project forms part of the company’s broader regional growth strategy, with more than 6 million sq. ft. of planned residential and mixed-use developments in the UAE over the next three years.

Investor demand continues to come from a diverse buyer base across the UAE, GCC, India, Europe, Canada, and the United States, with participation from investors prioritising long-term appreciation, product quality, and developer credibility.

Casagrand HERMINA remains on track for completion in Q2 2028, with construction progressing at pace as the project continues to take shape