Waterfront Villas
Villas that hold the water more than they look at it.
Villas that hold the water more than they look at it.
- Client
- Royal Group
- Location
- Abu Dhabi
- Sector
- Residential
- Year
- 2024
Five villa typologies within a waterfront development in Abu Dhabi, designed for Emiratis seeking a second home on the water. The typologies range from four to seven bedrooms and take distinct architectural identities: Emirati, Mediterranean, Modern, Contemporary Desert and Tropical. Each draws on locally sourced materials, among them sandstone, marble and woven textiles, ensuring the development reads as specific to Abu Dhabi in material and cultural character, while accommodating the range of personal taste within the client community.
This was the project that catalysed what became i/o spark. The studio was operating within the traditional CGI revision cycle: each client change required a new render, each adjustment in viewpoint or finish meant another wait, and the sequence repeated indefinitely. The question the studio kept returning to was whether this could be done differently. The answer became the configurator at the centre of i/o spark: a workflow that enables furniture, finishes, lighting and viewpoint to be adjusted in real time, with the client present. The specific frustration generated by this project is precisely what the tool was designed to eliminate.
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