Under Pressure: How Dubai Designers Are Adapting

I’ve lived in the UAE for 45 years, so I’m used to Middle East instability. Iran may be just 50km from the closest border, but military action always felt “over there.” Israel is 2,000 km and a three-hour flight away. 

But since late February, some 1,900 Iranian drones and missiles have targeted the UAE. Despite well over 90% being intercepted, six people have died.

Better qualified commentators can debate the whys and wherefores of the conflict. Here I simply address the question: how is the city’s growing community of architects and interior designers coping? 

To answer it, I’ve broken our industry’s work down into five key functions, and explained what’s business as usual vs what’s business unusual. They are design, construction, money, travel and people. (Short answer: so far things are slightly but not very different).

For context, Roar is a mid-sized firm with about 30 people in Dubai, 10 in Cebu (Philippines), and two in Riyadh. Most of our work is interior design, with some architecture. Chatting with friends and peers in the industry, our experience seems fairly typical.

1: DESIGN

Business as usual: This is the most normal part. If you walked into our Dubai studio at Alserkal Avenue at 11am on a Tuesday morning, you wouldn’t notice much difference. Designers, CAD technicians and the commercial peeps are all doing their thing; even our pet dogs are still coming! The cafes and restaurants around us are open and busy. Basic stuff we take for granted like power, water, and the Internet – we still take them for granted.

I was actually with our team in Cebu when the conflict started on Saturday, February 28, and they’re unaffected. Riyadh, I’m told, has faced some attacks but fewer than UAE.

Business unusual: For the first few days we all worked from home. Since then, we’re mainly in the studio. A couple of times a day we get an alert on our phones saying “potential missile threat, seek immediate shelter.” We don’t evacuate but follow the official advice, which is to stay indoors. 

2: CONSTRUCTION

Business as usual: I’ve been surprised that cranes are still moving, and construction sites are the usual bustle of activity. I half expected a lot of clients to hit the pause button, but of the 20 or so UAE projects on our books, nothing has been put on hold. Yet.

Business unusual: I did have one site visit in Abu Dhabi (about an hour’s drive from Dubai) cancelled last minute. The missile alert sounded, and the project manager decided it was safer to postpone. 

We’re starting to see delays in delivery of furniture and material, especially from Europe. That’s because the Strait of Hormuz is closed and container ships can’t dock in Dubai. There are alternative ports on the Indian Ocean and Red Sea, so goods can be trucked from there. For building construction, a lot of big ticket items like steel and HVAC systems come from China. All of this will surely be slower and more expensive.

3: MONEY

Business as usual: As a company owner, your second thought (after “is my family safe”?) is “what does this mean for business?”. The sharp economic slowdown from COVID is fresh in our minds. So far, as I mentioned, nothing’s been cancelled. It’s early days, but payments are coming in as normal.  

Looking forward, while I’m obviously concerned, I’m comforted by the fact that government departments and companies are our biggest client in the UAE. And the UAE economy is rock solid. One economic statistic from our director (my husband Richard, a journalist): Abu Dhabi alone has US$1.8 trillion in its Sovereign Wealth Funds, which is effectively ‘rainy day’ money. If they choose to keep spending on construction to keep the economy moving, they can. 

Business unusual: We typically get 15 – 20 RFPs per month. So far in March, we’re about normal. Kathryn Athreya, our managing director, says new business signings are “a little slow, which is typical during Ramadan when signatories are less available. We’ll have a clearer picture in early April.”

A number of conferences in Dubai have been postponed. I expect a slowdown in capital spending from multinational companies, so fewer new offices and regional headquarters. I also expect a slowdown from the hospitality industry, as hotel revenues in particular will be down. I’m hearing chatter that some hotels may take the opportunity to close for refurbs, but nothing concrete.

As a firm we’ve done contingency planning with our finance director for “what if” projects do get cancelled and new business dries up. So we’re watching money closely: an AI research project we were just about to sign off on has been put on hold, as are pay rises and hiring.

4: TRAVEL

Business as usual: About 50% of our work is outside the UAE, so no change there. Our main market is Saudi Arabia, but we also have active projects in Bali (luxury hotels and villas), the US (offices in Chicago and Boston), and Europe (office in Frankfurt). 

Indeed, I’m writing this article on Saturday, March 14, from Dubai Airport, waiting to catch a flight to Chicago. This was a planned trip. It’s not absolutely essential that I go, but I feel it’s important to “show not tell” our international clients that UAE companies are operating normally. Passengers are buying champagne in Dubai Duty Free, and I’m at the salon getting my eyebrows done. One of my US clients is a fan of Dubai Chocolate, so I’m stocking up.

Business unusual: Capacity is down with airlines like Emirates, though creeping back to normal-ish. Some international airlines such as KLM and Cathay Pacific have suspended flights to the UAE. Flights in and out of UAE airports are using a special ‘safe corridor.’

Some fragments from intercepted drones have landed close to or at the airport. I’m not trivializing what’s going on – these are clearly worrying times. But I’m also conscious to not over-catastrophize.  

5: PEOPLE

Business as usual: We’re back in the office, commuting to and from work with little interruption aside from those phone warnings. The UAE President went for coffee in Dubai Mall the other night, in a high profile display of BAU.

I was in Asia when the conflict started, and worried that I wouldn’t be able to get back. But I found a flight via Bangkok to Abu Dhabi with Etihad Airways. It’s pretty easy to get in and out of the UAE if you want to.

Business unusual: Some staff are nervous about the situation. Understandably so. We’re simply abiding by the directives issued by the authorities, which is to carry on as usual unless there’s a specific warning. 

The schools have been closed since the conflict began, and the Spring Break brought forward. So that does cause some disruption for parents (I have two teenagers). Like many creative service firms, we have a hybrid system – mainly work from the office, with some flexible work from home. While design can be done from anywhere, construction is a contact sport. We’re telling staff that site visits are not optional. 

Final thought. Right now, the day-do-day business is running I’d say 85% as usual. But there is definitely an air of uncertainty.

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