Government and public-sector developments across the GCC are increasingly setting new benchmarks for sustainable, people-centric workplaces. Employee wellness is now a business priority, and acoustic comfort is increasingly being recognised alongside air quality, daylight, and thermal performance. In the UAE, the wellness economy is valued at approximately $40.8 billion, while 90% of residents say they prioritise healthy living and working environments. For sustainability-led government buildings in particular, sound is a headline requirement.

Answering that brief at one of the region’s flagship developments, Europhon Acoustics® has completed a large-scale acoustic installation at the Al Shera’a Headquarters for Dubai Electricity & Water Authority (DEWA), widely recognized as one of the world’s most advanced sustainable government buildings. Europhon Acoustics supplied and installed approximately 5,000 sqm of MELO® Acoustic Plaster across the building’s lobbies, gym and office spaces, achieving a stringent NRC 0.90 sound absorption target across a series of architecturally complex, curved spaces without a single visible joint or panel line.

Amna Khazi, Senior Executive Manager at Europhon Acoustics®, commented: “The DEWA Al Shera’a project was an important milestone for Europhon Acoustics®, It showcased our ability to deliver large-scale, high-performance acoustic solutions on one of the UAE’ s most prestigious and sustainable developments. The project involved complex acoustic and architectural requirements, demanding close coordination, technical expertise and a genuine commitment to quality. Successfully contributing to such a landmark project reinforces our reputation as a trusted specialist in acoustic systems, and our capability to support iconic projects from concept through to completion.”

Engineering Silence into Complex Architecture

Large workplace environments require carefully engineered acoustic design to maintain speech clarity and create comfortable environments for employees. At Al Shera’a, this challenge was heightened by the building’s sweeping curves and non-standard geometries, which ruled out conventional modular acoustic panels.

MELO® was selected specifically for its seamless, monolithic finish, which leaves no visible joints –  a critical requirement for the clean architectural lines of the Al Sheraa HQ. Beyond aesthetics, it also delivers high acoustic performance, making it possible to meet the NRC 0.90 target without relying on modular panels or visible treatments. MELO’s standard finish was applied throughout without requiring any custom formulations, absorbing reflected sound across the lobbies and office areas to control reverberation and preserve speech clarity.

Given the complex geometries involved, installation required custom-cut profiles to accommodate curved surfaces, careful on-site coordination around non-standard wall contours, and precise on-site finishing to maintain MELO’s signature seamless look throughout. Europhon Acoustics managed the project end-to-end, handling both supply and installation, over a 12-month programme.

Acoustics as a Sustainability Metric

MELO® also contributes to the project’s LEED certification objectives, formulated with low VOC emissions to support healthier indoor air quality in line with sustainable building standards. It is an increasingly expected distinction of premium developments in the region: as WELL and LEED certifications converge around human health as much as physical sustainability, acoustic performance is emerging as a measurable ESG credential in its own right.

As government and public-sector developments increasingly prioritise employee wellness and productivity, acoustic comfort has become a key design consideration. At the same time, rising standards for sustainable and smart buildings across the region mean acoustic performance is now viewed as a core element of building quality.

A Region Tuning Into Acoustic Design

Demand for acoustic solutions is accelerating across the GCC, driven by a growing emphasis on occupant comfort, wellness, and sustainable building standards.

Beyond government projects, Europhon expects hospitality, retail, healthcare, and education to drive the next phase of adoption as acoustic comfort becomes a standard consideration in building design across the region.

Building on its contribution to landmark projects such as DEWA Al Shera’a Headquarters Europhon Acoustics continues to support the region’s vision for world-class, sustainable developments. As demand grows across government, hospitality, healthcare, education and commercial sectors, the company aims to further expand its footprint across the GCC while continuing to innovate in high-performance acoustic solutions.

Dubizzle Group, the leading online classifieds platform in the Middle East, today announced a strategic partnership and investment in Takeem, the UAE-based rent guarantee platform.

As part of the partnership, Bayut and dubizzle will be the exclusive portal for Takeem’s Rental Guarantee solution, complementing the Group’s growing suite of rental services with a more dependable way for landlords to protect rental income and reduce uncertainty throughout the leasing process.

Takeem’s Rental Guarantee is the first of its kind in the GCC. It protects landlords against tenant non-payment and includes emergency maintenance cover for urgent property repairs, helping create a more secure, structured and predictable rental experience for landlords, tenants, agents and property managers, while enabling monthly digital direct debit payments.

Founded by Rakesh Mavath and Pooja Vithlani, Takeem has scaled quickly to onboard over 100,000 units. The platform draws on a vast, dynamic proprietary database of rental data to underpin its models, with the goal of enhancing the rental experience for the market. The company has seen strong commercial momentum, with client onboarding increasing by 900% over the past two months.

“Takeem is solving one of the most important gaps in the rental journey, and what stood out to us was not only the strength of the product, but the clarity of the founding team’s vision” said Haider Ali Khan, CEO of Dubizzle Group UAE. “Their ambition mirrors our own: to make property transactions more trusted, more transparent and more dependable for everyone involved. With Takeem, we are giving landlords and agents a credible way to take default risk off the table, while Tern gives tenants a much-needed payment solution. Together, these partnerships allow us to support the full rental ecosystem, from search and discovery to payments, protection and trust.”

Rakesh Mavath, Co-Founder of Takeem, added: “Our vision has always been to make renting more secure and predictable for everyone involved. Partnering with Dubizzle Group allows us to bring Rental Guarantee to a much wider audience through Bayut and dubizzle, embedding protection into the rental journey where it matters most. Together, we look forward to helping landlords and agents reduce risk, while contributing to a more trusted and resilient property ecosystem in the UAE.”

The move follows Dubizzle Group’s recent strategic partnership and investment in Tern, the UAE-based rental payments platform. While Tern gives tenants a more flexible and rewarding way to pay rent, Takeem strengthens the other side of the transaction by giving landlords and agents greater confidence around rental income.

The investment in Takeem was made through Dubizzle Group Ventures, the Group’s early-stage arm, which backs technology founders building around its marketplaces in the GCC.

The partnership marks another step in Dubizzle Group’s ambition to build a more trusted, dependable and connected rental experience across Bayut and dubizzle, supporting landlords, agents, tenants and property managers at every stage of the journey.

Exclusive interview with Rashed Hareb, Co-Founder and CEO of Rentify

Across your entrepreneurial journey, you’ve built businesses around consumer convenience and operational efficiency. How has that experience influenced your vision for the future of housing?

At its core, housing is one of the most important services people interact with, yet many rental experiences still rely on outdated systems, fragmented workflows and manual processes. Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve consistently focused on removing friction from everyday experiences and housing is no exception.

I believe that the future of housing will be defined by intelligent infrastructure rather than isolated products. Residents shouldn’t have to navigate multiple platforms for payments, agreements, maintenance, communication and rewards. Instead, these experiences should work seamlessly together. The next generation of housing will be digital, proactive and resident-centric, creating more transparency and convenience while improving operational efficiency for landlords and property managers.

Rentify has described its latest platform as an AI-native rental infrastructure. How do you see AI transforming the residential experience over the next few years?

We are moving beyond a world where AI simply provides insights. The next phase is AI taking action.

Over the next few years, residents will increasingly experience housing that feels responsive and predictive. Rent payments, renewals, maintenance coordination, document management and communication will happen with far less manual effort. Instead of reacting to issues, systems will anticipate needs and resolve them before they become problems.

For property managers and landlords, AI will automate many of the repetitive operational tasks that consume time today. For residents, that means faster service, clearer communication and a more seamless rental experience. We see AI becoming the invisible layer that continuously optimises the rental journey while allowing people to focus on what matters most, which is enjoying their homes.

How do renting behaviours and tenant expectations in the GCC differ from those in more mature rental markets globally?

The GCC rental market is unique because it combines rapid urban growth, a highly mobile population and a strong demand for convenience. Many residents are expatriates who value flexibility, speed and digital-first experiences.

In more mature rental markets, consumers have already become accustomed to monthly rent payments, digital agreements and online management tools. In parts of the GCC, there is still

significant reliance on traditional processes such as post-dated cheques and fragmented communication channels.

At the same time, tenant expectations in the region are evolving rapidly. Today’s renters expect the same level of convenience they receive from banking, e-commerce, and mobility platforms. They want transparency, flexibility, instant access to information and mobile-first experiences. This creates a significant opportunity to modernise rental infrastructure and bring the residential experience in line with other digitally transformed industries.

Beyond simplifying payments, what does an intelligent rental ecosystem actually look like in practice for residents?

An intelligent rental ecosystem goes far beyond processing transactions.

For residents, it means having a single platform that understands their rental journey and actively supports it. Payments happen automatically, reminders arrive at the right time, receipts are generated instantly, and agreements are managed digitally. Residents can access support, track important milestones, earn rewards on everyday rental activity and receive personalised recommendations that improve their experience.

The goal is to eliminate administrative burden. Renting should not feel like managing paperwork. It should feel as seamless as using a modern financial platform. The intelligence sits in the background, simplifying complexity while giving residents greater control and visibility.

You recently described Earn AI as more than a property tool and closer to an operating system for rental real estate. What does that distinction mean, and how does it reflect the future of housing?

Most technology solutions in real estate solve individual problems. Earn AI was designed differently.

An operating system becomes the foundation through which multiple functions work together. Earn AI combines rental revenue management, payment intelligence, tenant behaviour analysis, renewal forecasting, occupancy insights and operational automation into a unified platform.

The distinction is important because the future of housing will not be powered by disconnected software products. It will be powered by integrated intelligence. By continuously learning from rental performance, tenant interactions and portfolio-level trends, Earn AI helps property managers and landlords make better decisions while automating execution.

Ultimately, we believe housing is evolving into a data-rich, continuously optimised ecosystem. Earn AI is designed to become the intelligence layer that powers that evolution.

Do you envision a future where property managers spend less time on administration and more time focusing on resident satisfaction, community engagement and experience design?

Absolutely.

Property managers entered the industry to create value, not to spend their days chasing payments, managing spreadsheets or handling repetitive administrative tasks. As AI takes over routine workflows such as collections, reminders, reconciliation, renewals and reporting, property teams will be able to focus on higher-value activities.

The most successful residential communities of the future will differentiate themselves through resident experience. Community building, engagement initiatives, personalised services and proactive support will become increasingly important.

Technology should not replace human relationships. It should strengthen them by removing operational burdens. Our vision is a future where AI handles the administration, while people focus on creating better places to live. That is where the next chapter of housing is headed.