Exclusive interview with Eddy Nemri, Vice President, Object 1

Your journey spans architecture, entrepreneurship, and real estate leadership. Looking back, what has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned about creating homes that are not only visually appealing but also enhance everyday living?

The biggest lesson I have learned is that a building can be an art piece without becoming difficult to live in. At Object 1, we see the UAE as an open-air gallery, where every development adds something to the character of the city. But beauty alone is not enough. A home has to work naturally around the people inside it.

My background in architecture taught me to notice how light enters a room and how someone moves through a space. Real estate taught me to look beyond the drawing and consider daily routines. The best homes feel distinctive when you first see them, then comfortable and intuitive once you begin living there. That balance is what gives design lasting value.

With your background in architecture and design, how has your understanding of how people interact with spaces influenced the way you approach residential developments at Object 1?

My understanding of space begins with observation. People rarely experience a home as a finished composition. They experience it while entering with shopping bags, moving between rooms, working near a window or looking for a quiet corner at the end of the day. At Object 1, this shapes how I review a residential plan. I pay attention to circulation, furniture placement, storage, privacy and the transition from the apartment into shared areas. A beautiful lobby matters, but so does the feeling of arriving home. Amenities should sit naturally within a resident’s routine rather than feel added for display. Architecture becomes meaningful when it understands behaviour and gives people room to live in their own way.

RA1N Residence marks Object 1’s first completed residential project and the successful handover of homes. Beyond achieving this milestone, what does this completion represent for the company’s design philosophy and commitment to homeowners?

RA1N Residence represents a promise fulfilled to the people who placed their trust in Object 1. Purchasing a home before completion requires confidence in the developer’s ability to deliver the design and quality presented at the beginning. With RA1N, residents can now see those commitments reflected in the completed apartments and communal spaces. The handover also allows us to understand how our design decisions perform in daily life, from the entrances and layouts to the co-working, fitness and family areas. This experience helps us see what works well and where we can improve. It also reinforces that our responsibility does not end when construction finishes. Each completed project should strengthen our accountability and make us more precise in the homes we create.

The development brings together co-working spaces, wellness amenities, family facilities, and social areas under one roof. How important has it become to design communities that support different aspects of modern lifestyles rather than simply providing residential units?

Designing a complete living environment has become closely tied to the long-term value of a development. People are more likely to stay in a community when the building can continue to support them as their routines and lifestyles change. Investors are also thinking about whether a property will remain attractive to future tenants. That is why we see shared facilities as an important part of the residential experience. At RA1N Residence, residents have spaces to work, exercise, spend time with their children and meet their neighbours. This also reflects the UAE’s 2025 Year of Community, which focused on stronger social connections, as well as the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan’s emphasis on liveable, well-connected neighbourhoods.

Many homeowners appreciate a space as a whole but may not notice the countless design decisions behind it. Is there a particular detail within RA1N Residence, whether in the layouts, material selection, or communal spaces, that you’re especially proud of because of the impact it has on everyday living?

We are especially proud of the apartment layouts because they have such a direct impact on everyday comfort. At RA1N Residence, we focused on bright, efficient spaces with clear zoning, so each area has a purpose without making the home feel rigid. Kitchens were planned around practical storage and easy movement, while living areas remain open enough for dining, relaxing or working from home. We also paid close attention to wardrobes and concealed storage to reduce clutter and make the spaces easier to live in. Alongside this, we selected contemporary European finishes for durability as much as appearance. For us, good residential design is when all these decisions work quietly together and the homeowner simply feels that the space makes sense.

As urban lifestyles continue to evolve, flexibility has become a defining feature of residential design. Were there any specific design decisions within RA1N Residence that were made with adaptability and future living trends in mind?

For us, adaptability also starts with where a project is located. RA1N Residence is in JVC, which already gives residents access to established schools, parks, retail and everyday services, while connecting easily to Al Khail Road and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road. That was important because people increasingly want to spend less time travelling between different parts of their lives. We also look at how an area is likely to develop over time. JVC continues to benefit from wider infrastructure investment, and Dubai’s approved Gold Line is planned to serve the community in the future. So future living is not only about flexible interiors. It is also about choosing a location that can become more connected and convenient over time.

By Igor Karpikov, Chief Commercial Officer at R.Evolution

We have become careful about what enters our bodies. We read food labels, track sleep, count steps and invest in treatments designed to help us stay healthier for longer. Yet one of the biggest influences on daily wellbeing is often treated as background. People spend about 90% of their time indoors, and levels of some pollutants can be two to five times higher indoors than outdoors. Studies also suggest that genetics account for around half of the variation in human lifespan, leaving environment and behaviour with an equally important role. Beyond how a home looks, what does it quietly do to the people living inside it every day? That question sits at the heart of EYWA and its approach to longevity-led living.

Design for longevity

A building cannot diagnose illness or replace clinical care. It can, however, support or undermine sleep, breathing, recovery and stress levels every day. For a long time, the relationship between architecture and health received limited attention beyond basic building standards. This is where design choices come into play. Research has found that cognitive scores were 61% higher under green building conditions than in conventional space. Separate studies suggest that biophilic interiors can support recovery from stress and anxiety.

Material selection is equally important. Low-VOC, non-toxic and durable materials can help protect indoor air quality while reducing the need for frequent replacement. At EYWA, materials such as travertine and terracotta were selected for their natural qualities and  durability.

However, longevity cannot be reduced to one plant, one curved wall or one air filter. It comes from the combined effect of many decisions working together. Natural light can support sleep and the body’s daily rhythm while creating a stronger connection to the changing conditions outside.

Acoustics must also be carefully balanced. Too much noise can create stress, but complete silence is not always the goal. The sounds of water, nature or life within a community can create comfort and connection, while quieter spaces give residents the privacy and calm needed for rest and recovery.

Passive and active support

Design creates the foundation, but supporting longevity also means thinking about how the home functions once people begin living in it. This can be achieved through two forms.

The first is passive support. It is built into the architecture, materials, air, water, lighting, acoustics and technology. Residents do not need to activate it or add it to their schedules. The intention is for the home to handle many of these fundamentals quietly in the background.

At EYWA, this principle is carried through the everyday systems residents rarely need to think about. Air is continuously refreshed and filtered, with additional sterilisation and cleaning measures built into the ventilation system, while water passes through multiple stages of purification. The same thinking extends to the materials used throughout the building, with choices considered for toxicity, mould prevention and how they perform over time.

The second is active support, where the environment makes healthier routines easier to choose.  Pools, movement spaces, saunas, treatment rooms, meditation areas and shared community spaces make recovery and physical activity easier to include in daily life. A Health and Longevity Concierge adds a human layer by helping residents navigate suitable wellbeing, recovery and preventive health programmes. The purpose is to make healthier choices more accessible.

From wellbeing to longevity

Wellbeing and longevity are closely connected, but they are not the same. Wellbeing often describes how someone feels today. Longevity looks further ahead. It asks how people can preserve their health, independence and quality of life over time.

Healthcare is gradually moving from treating illness after it appears towards prevention, early detection and maintaining health for longer. Consumers are responding by investing more in sleep, nutrition, movement, mental wellbeing and recovery. McKinsey found that up to 60% of consumers across the markets it surveyed consider healthy ageing a top or very important priority.

Real estate forms part of this shift because the home is where healthy routines either become part of everyday life or remain difficult to sustain. The built environment influences the air residents breathe, the water they use, their exposure to natural light and noise, how well they sleep and how easily they can move, recover and connect with others.

This is also beginning to change the definition of luxury. Location, views and square footage remain important, but buyers are increasingly looking beyond what they can immediately see and asking how a home may support their quality of life over the long term.

Can buildings heal?

Not in the medical sense. Buildings cannot replace doctors, treatment or personal responsibility. But they can reduce environmental pressures, support natural rhythms and create conditions that allow the body and mind to function more effectively.

Over the next 10 to 20 years, this may become the expected standard. Homes may no longer be judged only by how well they shelter and comfort us, but by how intelligently they support cleaner air, better water, deeper rest, recovery and social connection.

EYWA was created around that possibility. Its philosophy is that the home should not be a passive container for life, but an active partner in living well.

The future of real estate will not be defined by one wellness room, device or certification. It will be defined by how intelligently architecture, nature, technology, services and human behaviour work together. That is the benchmark luxury developments must now aim for.

haus & haus, one of the UAE’s leading real estate agencies, has launched a wholesome new campaign to help rehome pets in the region.

In a first-of-its-kind campaign for the UAE property sector, haus & haus is turning the idea of finding a home into an opportunity for rescue pets too, digitally placing around 50 rescue dogs and cats into home settings inspired by real property listings to help them find their forever families.

Animal shelters across the UAE are facing unprecedented pressure, with many operating at capacity and struggling to accommodate abandoned animals. The situation has placed additional strain on rescue organisations and volunteers already working tirelessly to care for abandoned animals.

haus & haus has set itself a “pawsome” target to rehome fifty animals in partnership with established UAE-based rehoming organisations, K9 Friends and Animals & Us, Fujairah. The campaign is rooted in the belief that a pet can transform a house into a home – and haus & haus Marketing Director, Lucy Nickerson, hopes the campaign will tug at the heart strings of home buyers.

Lucy Nickerson commented:

“At haus & haus, we’re in the business of helping people find a place to call home, so supporting animals searching for a loving family felt like a natural extension of what we do. People visit our website every day imagining the next chapter of their lives, and we realised that same journey could also help rescue animals begin theirs.

We know that for many people, a pet is what transforms a house into a home. Knowing the challenges rescue organisations are currently facing, we wanted to use our platform in a way that genuinely supports the incredible work organisations like K9 Friends and Animals & Us are already doing. If this campaign encourages more people to consider adoption, raises awareness of the vital role these organisations play, and helps more rescue animals find the loving families they deserve, then we’ll know we’ve achieved exactly what we set out to do.”

The initiative will see rescue animals digitally integrated into AI-generated home environments inspired by haus & haus property listings. Dogs and cats will appear in natural living environments, including in living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms – inspiring potential adopters to imagine not just their future home, but also their future furry companion to share it with.

Just like a home listing, each animal will be given a bio adjacent to the images, alongside a direct, clickable link connecting haus & haus website users to the relevant pet rehoming organisation – helping drive traffic to the organisations’ websites while raising awareness of the incredible work they do across the region

Siddhi Mulaokar, Volunteer at K9 Friends, commented:

 “It’s brilliant to see haus & haus stepping up and bringing a creative solution to help tackle the issue of pet rehoming. Pets do make a house a home and being able to put animals front and centre on home listings is sure to capture the attention of new home owners. Every successful adoption changes two lives – the animal’s and the family’s – while also creating space for rescue organisations to help the next pet in need.”

Charlie Bannan, Managing Director at haus & haus, commented:

“We’re always looking for new ways to connect with our customers, and this campaign gave us an opportunity to do something genuinely meaningful along the way. If more rescue animals find loving homes because of it, that’s a fantastic outcome.”

Michelle Francis Mathanda, CEO at Animals & Us, Fujairah, commented:

 “We’re delighted haus & haus approached us with such a smart campaign to help tackle a problem that rehoming organisations across the region are facing. Home listings are the perfect platform to encourage people to consider rescuing an animal at the same time as looking for a new home, and I’m confident this initiative will end in lots of beautiful rehoming stories.”