Dubai’s Design Businesses and How Studios Turn Ideas Into Products

A traditional folding table can give a designer the shape for a collection of bowls and lights. An origami study can become a chair made of teak and felt. A furniture catalogue can show the dimensions of an armchair that will be made after the buyer confirms an order. Three Dubai studios show what changes when a design becomes a collection, a numbered edition or a piece made to order.

For a buyer or commissioner, start by asking what the studio is offering. A portfolio image shows what a studio has designed. An edition record can identify a particular example. A product specification and written order confirmation tell you which version will be made, what it costs and when it can be delivered.

Fadi Sarieddine takes one table detail across a collection

Fadi Sarieddine Design Studio dates its founding to 2013 and lists its location in Building Eight in Dubai Design District. Its Damascus Revisited portfolio explains the starting point. A traditional Damascene table uses a brass tray and folding wooden legs. The studio drew from the beaded shape of the base and applied it to coffee tables, platters, bowls, wall lights and candleholders. It added glass and marble to the wood and brass palette.

The studio's images show which detail carries across the pieces. The rounded forms recur beneath a tray or bowl and in the base of a candleholder. The studio also describes maps etched into wood or brass tops, including Damascus, Beirut, Al Quds, Amman and Baghdad. It presents Dubai maps as a reference to the city that received generations of people from elsewhere. The form and the surface give a buyer two distinct reasons to enquire about a piece.

The portfolio identifies several individual objects as limited editions. If an object suits a room or a collection, send the name of the piece and ask for its dimensions, materials, available edition and delivery terms. If you want to adapt it, ask whether the studio accepts variations and who would make the proposed version. The studio address establishes where the practice is based. Ask where the specific piece is fabricated if that matters to your brief.

Aljoud Lootah makes a folded form into a recorded edition

Aljoud Lootah's Oru Chair page describes origami as the starting point for a collection of geometric furniture and decorative objects. The official image shows faceted pink planes and visible timber edges. A fold that can be demonstrated on paper becomes a three-dimensional seat with materials, joints and measurements that can be recorded.

The National Gallery of Victoria record identifies its Oru chair as a 2015 piece made of teak and felt and records Dubai as the place of execution. It gives edition 1 of 5 and accession number 2016.53. The record says the museum's example is currently off display. The gallery's exhibition labels connect the chair and lamp to Design Days Dubai in 2015. The studio page is the place to start if you want to enquire about an example.

The studio's commission portfolio includes tableware for Vacheron Constantin and Etihad Tebr coffee cups. An edition enquiry can start with the piece, its number and what paperwork accompanies it. A commission should start with a brief that describes quantity, intended use and who approves the design. Ask how the studio handles samples, revisions and changes after approval.

Studio Curio confirms the details before making the piece

Studio Curio describes itself as designing in Dubai and making its furniture in the UAE. Its Hold armchair page lists AED 5,900 and a standard size of 85 cm wide, 76 cm deep and 70 cm high, with a 40 cm seat height. The chair uses velvet upholstery and a drum base. Use the dimensions to check the footprint, then ask the studio how a different fabric or size would change the quote.

The studio's written terms describe prices on the site as indicative. The buyer requests an invoice and confirms the order through written confirmation and payment of the deposit. A 50% deposit starts production and the balance is due before delivery. The published standard lead time is two to eight weeks from receipt of the deposit. The studio says bespoke details, imported materials or demand can lengthen it. Ask for the price, confirmed lead time and delivery requirements in writing before settling the deposit.

The studio also uses exhibitions to put finished work in front of potential buyers. In an 11 November 2026 post, Studio Curio and founder Donna Taha showed Common Grounds, a tiled coffee table, at Isola Space. The organiser's No Ordinary Things listing scheduled the exhibition for 3 November to 4 December 2026, listed free entry and identified the table among the works. The event is a dated chance to see the piece. For later viewing or purchase, use the studio contact route. See the Studio Curio exhibition post.

Compare the written offers before paying for production

Start by identifying whether the studio would supply an existing object, make a standard piece after the order or design something new. For an existing work, confirm the exact piece and documentation. For made-to-order furniture, check which size and finish the quote includes. For a new commission, give the studio a floor plan or dimensions, intended use, quantity and a realistic delivery date.

Ask who approves samples and what happens if a material changes. Check whether delivery includes installation, whether the piece will fit through the access route and when the balance falls due. If you need several identical pieces, ask what the studio can repeat from an approved sample. Those details give you a way to compare offers that may look similar in a photograph.