In use · since 2024
IMI at One Za’abeel
- Area
- 5,000 sqft
- Value
- AED 4.2M
- Programme
- 28 weeks
- Rate
- AED 840/sqft
Open the IMI file →“Great feeling walking into this beautiful office.”
Office renovation · Dubai
Office renovation in Dubai: the floor you have, replanned zone by zone.
Fajr Interiors is an office renovation contractor in Dubai: we replan and refinish an office you already occupy. Office renovation means replanning and refinishing an office you already occupy. We survey how the floor is really used, pin what fails and tag every part keep, rework or replace. Then we rebuild zone by zone, with the team still working on the floor. Approvals, build and furniture run under one contract.
- Keep
- Works as it is. It stays.
- Rework
- Stays, but moves or changes.
- Replace
- Fails the new plan. It comes out.
- R-012,000–20,000Sqft per office floor we take on
- R-022–4 weeksLandlord and authority approvals, inside the programme
- R-036–7 monthsA vacant-floor programme, before any phasing
- R-0450+Projects delivered since 2011
The real problem
It’s rarely the square footage. It’s the floor’s function.
Why an office stops working before it runs out of space.
Most offices that feel too small were laid out for a headcount or a way of working that has since changed. Assigned desks sit empty while one boardroom is booked solid, and nobody can find a quiet room for a call. A renovation redraws the floor around what it is asked to do now, before any finish is chosen.
Survey note
A repaint and new carpet on the same plan bring the same complaints back within a year.
Office renovation design starts from how teams use the floor, not from the finishes. Noise still carries across the floor, there is still no room to think, and the meeting rooms are still full while desks sit empty. Finish spend rarely fixes a layout that is fighting the work, so we start from how the teams move and concentrate, and choose finishes after the plan is right.
What usually gets redrawn
- Desks
Assigned desks weighed against shared and focus space, by how many are actually used.
- Meetings
One boardroom split into rooms sized for the meetings the team really holds.
- Noise
The loud functions moved away from the desks that need quiet.
- Light
Desks turned and moved so screens work with the daylight, not against it.
- Breaks
Breakout and focus rooms given a place on the plan, not a leftover corner.
Floor diagnosis
Read the floor before you redraw it.
Office floor survey — a worked example, not a client floor.
A diagnosis walks the lived-in floor and pins every symptom where it happens: the call everyone hears, the glare on the window desks, the row of empty assigned desks, the one boardroom booked all day. Each pin is tagged keep, rework or replace, so the new plan changes what fails and leaves what works.
Sheet D-01 · Floor diagnosisAs found — six pinsReplanned — two kept, two reworked, two replacedWorked example · not to scale
Six pins on this floor
Keep 2Rework 2Replace 2
Pin 01 · Open floor · Rework
Calls carry across the desks.
- Found
- The busiest team sits under a hard ceiling with nothing between the desk runs, so every call is heard four desks away.
- Rework
- The desks and the ceiling grid stay. Acoustic treatment goes into the ceiling, screens go between the runs, and calls get small rooms of their own.
Concept visualisationPin 02 · Window desks · Rework
Screens face the glare.
- Found
- Desks along the window wall face the glass, so the blinds stay down all day and the daylight is wasted.
- Rework
- The desk runs turn 90° to the glazing and the lighting is re-aimed against the new layout, so the blinds can go up.
Concept visualisationPin 03 · Assigned rows · Replace
A row of desks nobody uses.
- Found
- Assigned desks for a team that now works on site two or three days a week sit empty most of the time.
- Replace
- The rows come out. Fewer shared desks replace them, and the space won becomes two small meeting rooms.
Concept visualisationPin 04 · Boardroom · Keep
One boardroom, booked solid.
- Found
- The only meeting room on the floor carries every call, interview and four-person catch-up, so it is always full.
- Keep
- The room itself works, so it stays. The two new meeting rooms from pin 03 take the small meetings off it.
Concept visualisationPin 05 · Reception · Replace
The first thing a client sees is worn.
- Found
- Laminate desk chipped at the edges, carpet tiles gone flat along the traffic lines, lighting yellowed with age.
- Replace
- The position works, so the power and data behind it stay. The desk, floor and lighting are replaced. See the pair below.
Concept visualisationPin 06 · Glass offices · Keep
Glazed offices in good condition.
- Found
- Full-height glass fronts and doors along the window, sound, square and still useful to the new plan.
- Keep
- They stay where they are, and one becomes a bookable focus room. Kept glazing shows as its own line on the quotation.
Concept visualisationPin 05, visualisedThe same reception position, before and after. Concept visualisations, not a client floor.
Concept visualisation
Concept visualisationThe reuse ledger
Keep, rework, replace: what the survey decides.
Office refurbishment in Dubai — what can be reused.
Every element on the floor leaves the survey with one of three tags. Keep means it stays as it is. Rework means it stays but changes: moved, re-aimed, re-covered or re-connected. Replace means it comes out. The ledger below shows what usually happens to each layer, and the quotation lists reused items line by line.
- Base buildRaised floor, ceiling grid, base cooling, sprinklers, base lighting
The landlord’s base build, handed over with the lease. We work to it and alter only what the new plan needs.
- GlassGlazed fronts and doors
Condition, and whether the new plan still needs a wall in that line. Glazing on rooms that stay is usually kept.
- DrywallSolid partitions
A solid wall that moves is a wall rebuilt. It is kept only where the room behind it stays.
- CeilingTiles, bulkheads and fittings
Tiles lift for services and go back; fittings are re-aimed or changed to suit the new desk layout.
- ServicesPower, data, HVAC and fire detection
They follow the new rooms. Every wall that moves moves something above the ceiling with it.
- JoineryReception, pantry, storage
Fit and wear. Worn front-of-house joinery usually goes; pantry water and drainage usually stay where they are.
- Floor finishCarpet tile, vinyl, stone
Tiles gone flat along the traffic lines rarely survive a replan. The raised floor underneath stays.
- FurnitureDesks, task chairs, storage, AV
Chairs, storage and screens in good condition are listed for reuse; desks are checked against the new layout.
The line between the landlord’s base build and your own fitout has a name: Cat A and Cat B. Cat A and Cat B, defined →
Zone by zone
The diagnosis sets the order of the zones.
Renovating an occupied office in Dubai — worked example.
Once every pin is tagged, the floor is split into zones and the order is set by what each zone needs. The team in the first zone moves into the rest of the floor while it is rebuilt and handed back, then the next zone opens. Dust screens separate works from desks, and the loud work runs after hours.
Zone A
The pins with the most replace tags go first.
The team in zone A moves into zones B and C. A dust screen goes up on the A–B line, and zone A is stripped, rebuilt and snagged behind it.
Zone B
Zone A back in use, the screen moves on.
The team moves into the finished zone A. The screen moves to the B–C line, and zone B follows the same order, with the loud work after hours.
Zone C
Last to close, last to be tested.
Zones A and B are working. Zone C is where the final trades, testing and snagging run before the floor is signed off.
Whole floor
Every zone back in use.
Furniture, IT and AV in place and the handover file issued. The team has worked on the floor from the first zone to the last.
Approvals by change
Approvals follow the change, not the floor.
Office renovation approvals in Dubai — a general guide.
What needs approval depends on what the renovation changes. Finishes alone usually need only building management and the landlord. Moving partitions, services or ceilings usually adds the authority with jurisdiction and Civil Defence, because walls move exits, detection and sprinklers. Structural openings go to Dubai Municipality. We prepare and submit each package inside the programme.
The changeLandlord and building managementAuthority with jurisdictionCivil DefenceDubai Municipality · structural
Finishes onlyPaint, flooring, furnitureRequiredNot usuallyNot usuallyNot usually
Partitions and doorsNew or moved roomsRequiredRequiredRequiredNot usually
MEP alterationsHVAC, power, lightingRequiredRequiredWhere fire detection or sprinklers are affectedNot usually
Ceiling changesFeatures, bulkheads, gridRequiredRequiredWhere fire detection or sprinklers are affectedNot usually
Structural workOpenings, stairs, slabsRequiredRequiredRequiredRequired
Usually requiredWhere fire detection or sprinklers are affectedNot usually
General guide only. Your building’s fitout guide decides the exact route, and approvals run 2–4 weeks inside the programme.
Choosing a contractor
Choosing an office renovation company in Dubai.
Choose on licence, approvals and how the floor keeps working, not on the finishes board. Fajr Interiors holds Dubai trade licence 648890 for interior contracting, is a G+1 approved contractor with Dubai Municipality, and is registered with Emaar, Nakheel, DDA, Trakhees and Dubai Civil Defence. Whether you call it office refurbishment or remodelling, one design-and-build contract carries the survey, the landlord and authority approvals, the build and the furniture.
Vacant or occupied
Empty floor or working floor: the same stages, a different calendar.
How long an office renovation takes in Dubai.
A renovation runs the four stages of any fitout: 4 weeks of planning, 2–4 weeks of approvals, 16–18 weeks of build and 2 weeks to furnish, or 6–7 months on a vacant floor. With the team still on the floor, the build is split into zones and takes longer in calendar time. The zone plan sets those dates.
Programme, in weeksVacant floor against occupied floor
Vacant floor · published programme6–7 months
Occupied floor · phasedSet at survey
The vacant-floor bar is drawn to scale. The phased bar is illustrative: its length depends on the number of zones and the share of after-hours work, and is set against your lease at survey.
Vacant floorOccupied floor
BuildOne run of 16–18 weeksSplit into zones, one after another
Loud workScheduled across the working dayMoved after hours
Team movesOne move, at the endOne move per zone, on a dated plan
ProtectionStandard site protectionDust screens between works and working desks
SuitsA floor the team can leave for the whole buildA team that cannot leave the floor
On site
Between the strip-out and the handover.
Office fitout and renovation work, photographed mid-build.
Most of the work happens where no finished photograph looks: services moved above the ceiling, the plan set out from the drawings, ceilings and partitions framed, then the details built in. These are Fajr sites, mid-build, in the order the work runs.
01Services first
Pipework and ducting fixed from the scaffold, before anything closes over them. 
Zeeshan Patel on the open floor, services exposed overhead. 02Set out from the drawing
The layout drawing pinned to a column, read on the floor by the site team. 
Levels taken with the laser while the ceiling framing goes up. 03Ceilings and partitions
Curved bulkheads framed and boarded, materials staged on the floor. 
Under the ceiling framing, before it is boarded. 04The details
A curved portal frame fixed and checked, trade by trade. 
The portal framed, before the finishes go on.
On film
Film · Fajr HQWalk the plan before it is built.
The layout marked out on the slab and checked against the drawing with a laser, before a partition goes up.
Instagram · Design reviewMarked up live. Not emailed.
The layout changed on screen while the client stood there: one session instead of four rounds of email.
Instagram · Opus TowerJoinery going in at Opus Tower.
The point where a site starts to feel like the space you designed: a walkthrough of the custom joinery installation.
What it costs
What moves a renovation’s number.
Office renovation cost in Dubai.
A renovation is priced from the survey, because what stays moves the number as much as what is new. Every kept item takes a line off the quotation; strip-out, protection of a working floor, after-hours trades and extra zones add lines. Each shows separately, inside the same published bands that apply to any office fitout.
An office fitout in Dubai starts at AED 350 per sqft for shell-to-occupied — partitions, ceilings, flooring, MEP alterations and joinery. Turnkey, with FF&E, IT, AV, automation and appliances included, runs AED 600–850 per sqft. IMI at One Za’abeel landed at AED 840 per sqft; Opus by Omniyat, in its final weeks before handover, is contracted at AED 726.
−Takes lines off
- Kept glazing and doorsGlass fronts that stay in the plan are not bought twice.
- Reused furnitureChairs, storage and screens in good condition go back in.
- Base build worked toThe ceiling grid, raised floor and base services stay.
+Adds lines
- Strip-outRemoving what the plan does not keep, back to the base build where needed.
- A working floorDust screens, floor protection and a separate route for the trades.
- After-hours workLoud trades and moves scheduled outside the working day.
- More zonesEach extra zone adds a move, a screen line and a handback.
Proof
On file: one floor in use, one in its final weeks.
Office floors with published numbers, and site films.
Two executive floors carry published numbers. IMI at One Za’abeel is 5,000 sqft, built in 28 weeks for AED 4.2M. Opus by Omniyat, 6,200 sqft, is under construction in its final weeks before handover, on a 24-week programme contracted at AED 4.5M. Both run as design and build under one contract.
Under construction · final weeks
Opus by Omniyat
- Area
- 6,200 sqft
- Contract
- AED 4.5M
- Programme
- 24 weeks, contracted
- Rate
- AED 726/sqft, contracted
Turnkey, from client brief to handover. A floor with little natural light, so glass partitions are planned to carry borrowed light to the core.
Open the Opus file →A renovation runs on the same trades, drawings and approvals route as these floors, with the survey tags and a zone plan added. All office projects →
Live floor: setting out and glass going in
Acoustic panels and ceiling finishes
Renovation FAQ
Before the survey: six questions.
Office renovation FAQ — Dubai.
01What does an office renovation survey look at?
How the floor is used, not only its condition: which desks are occupied, which rooms are always booked, where noise and glare land, and what state the partitions, joinery, ceilings and services are in. Each finding is pinned on the plan and tagged keep, rework or replace before anything is redrawn.
02Can we keep working during an office renovation?
Usually, yes. The floor is split into zones, each zone is handed back before the next one opens, and loud trades work after hours, so the disruption stays inside one zone at a time. The zone plan and its dates are set at the survey.
03Which renovation changes need approval in Dubai?
Building management and the landlord review every alteration. Moving partitions, services or ceilings usually also needs the authority with jurisdiction and Civil Defence, since walls change exits, detection and sprinklers. Structural openings go to Dubai Municipality. Your building’s fitout guide sets the exact route, and we prepare and submit each package.
04Can you reuse our glass partitions and furniture?
Where they fit the new plan and are in good condition, yes. The survey records glass fronts, doors, joinery, ceiling tiles and furniture, and the plan is drawn to keep what works. Reused items appear as their own lines on the quotation, so you can see what keeping them changes.
05How long does an office renovation take?
On a vacant floor the published programme is 6–7 months: 4 weeks of planning, 2–4 weeks of approvals, 16–18 weeks of build and 2 weeks to furnish. On an occupied floor the build is split into zones, which adds calendar time. The zone plan sets those dates at survey, against your lease.
06What changes the cost of an office renovation?
Mostly what stays. Every item kept takes a line off the quotation, while strip-out, protection of a working floor, after-hours trades and the number of zones add lines. The published per-sqft bands give the range a floor sits in; the survey and the drawings give the number, itemised line by line.
07How do I choose an office renovation contractor in Dubai?
Ask who signs the landlord and authority submissions, whose licence is on the permit, how the floor keeps working zone by zone, and what the quote itemises, including strip-out, protection of the working floor and after-hours trades. Fajr Interiors runs all of it on one contract under trade licence 648890.
Start in the right order
Tell us how the floor is actually used.
Send the floor plan, the headcount and what isn’t working: the noise, the light, the rooms nobody can book. We come back with a diagnosis, a zone plan and a straight number.
Trade licence 648890 · Interior contracting, G+1 approved contractor (Dubai Municipality) · Registered with Emaar, Nakheel, DDA, Trakhees, Dubai Municipality and Dubai Civil Defence · DMCC, DIFC and JAFZA free zones