It was recently brought to my attention that companies in Dubai are often unaware of the time scale involved in the interior fit-out of offices, and are in essence, looking for the work to be completed, not today but yesterday.

In order to avoid this situation, it is essential for companies looking to move/re-design their office to be aware of the realistic time scales involved, once that all important call is made.

The timescale involved from an enquiry (contacting the interior fit-out contractor) to start up on site is approximately 8 weeks. These 8 weeks include gathering information for the project brief, site survey, space planning, concept and presentation, preparation of BOQ (Bill of Quantity), preparation of construction and MEP drawings, and approval from the authorities. A further 8-12 weeks should then be added until completion date of the project which includes the lead time for materials and furniture. Therefore, the total timescale from an enquiry until completion date is approximately 20 weeks (5 months).

These timescales are averages of the time involved and are subject to change, however as a general guide, any company who has the intention to move/re-design their office should ensure that they have allowed sufficient time for the process and integrate it into their plans accordingly.

Economic slowdown has been a recurring like the weather and a decade is usually a good indication of the timeframe for this shift.

Designers were having a field day during economic bliss, as both clients and designer could play with ideas, even to the point of being crazy.

This part of the world (UAE) produced a lot of amazing ideas that gave birth to some of the most exiting if not unusual designs and creations on such a massive scale, never before seen or “I have never seen elsewhere”.

But the real challenge in design is now! When resources are scarce and situation murky. Having said that, the world has to move on and business must continue. The need for designing an efficient economical and practical solution is the criteria.

Minimalism is not just a jargon or a fancy word, but a must. And design towards sustainability, efficiency of energy and waste management becomes a reality. not hype but by necessity. Designers have to push the limits of innovative creativity and to provide a practical solution with an aesthetic touch, maximizing all possible solution. Giving clients their every penny’s worth, squeezing creativity from Designers' every pore!

The pole has shifted in favor of the client, but there’s a responsibility or a limit to all this. Designers can only push their back against the wall but not beyond it. Looking back in the 30’s during the great depression, giving birth to to an era of Art Deco. At that time, this style was seen as elegant, glamorous, functional, and modern and new age of design was born.

Therefore this goes without saying that this is just another phase in our history books, another era and perhaps a new style?

How do we grow, how do we attain superior performance, and how can we go from good to excellent? What makes truly exceptional people and companies and what can we do to make a difference?

Ask yourself; what do you believe in, what is important to you and what are those values on which you would never compromise. The idea is not to create or set core values but to look deep within, by looking inside your organization, your department, or yourself and discover the core values that are already there. Identify what you stand for. Once you have identified your core values you must protect those core values. Anything that does not comply with those core values must be ejected like a virus as if it were a disease. In everything you do you need to remind yourself of the crucial distinction between core and noncore, between what should never change and what should be open for change, between what is truly important and what is not. In order to operate at our best when doing business or dealing with others we should never abandon our core values. This may at times be very difficult and almost seem impossible. It may make us move more slowly but we should only grow as fast as we can find people who will uphold our standards and deal with challenges in such a way that we never abandon our principles. Never compromise on your standards for the sake of expediency, opportunity, or financial gain.

Secondly, ask yourself; what is your organization’s, department’s, or your personal core purpose, your fundamental reason for being? Please do not confuse it with goals and strategies or with products and services offered by the organization or your self. Purpose gets at the deeper reason for a company’s or your existence beyond just trying to make money. Money is important for an organization’s and your own existence but it is not the reason for our being. Examples of purpose are; a psychologist’s purpose could be to help mentally challenged people reach their full potential or for Walt Disney it simply is to make people happy. Another example of purpose may be the pursuit of excellence. We do not want to create or set our purpose, we need to find it by looking inside, it must already be there somewhere at the gut level. Why is purpose so important? A purpose can never be fully realized as in the pursuit of excellence there is no finish line, as quoted by Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai. When focusing on a purpose there will be continuous change and improvement. When implemented properly it can guide and inspire yourself and an organization in the short, medium, and long term. “What is your purpose” may be difficult to define, however, it requires a “simple” answer in one or two sentences.

And last but not least there must be an envisioned future, a big audacious goal to achieve. You must commit to a risky and challenging goal in order to stimulate progress.

Evidence from research has shown that those who make a lasting contribution and give meaning to their life are more happy and make more money over the long run.

If you are a CEO, manager, or entrepreneur and wish to read more on the subject of core ideology I would recommend the bestselling author Jim Collins.

Ready made furniture is designed, engineered and manufactured to the highest standards by in-house or sometimes external designers from well known furniture manufacturers from all over the world. These designers get the support of a designated team to take their design from design stage to final product.

Of course there are many advantages of using in-house resources: they have available tools, such as factories and staff, to manufacture a long lasting product which will also be available in their portfolio for the future. The end product meets, and in most cases exceeds all relevant test criteria for strength, stability, environmental friendliness and ergonomics, ensuring fitness for purpose.

With ready made furniture, you will receive a warranty period of 1 or 2 years on some of the parts. However, they state very clearly, that their standard warranty on seating products is conditional upon the seating being used in a normal office environment and subjected to normal usage of, on average, 40 hours per week. But, you can always order extra spare parts to maintain the products to their best. There are some Dutch furniture manufactures which have been using the same superior products for over 30 years, with some minor spare part changes, they can even last that long!

For example Ahrend has proven this with their Mehes collection, which was used by Fosters & Partners for the HSBC Headquarters in Hong Kong in 1984 (the furniture is still been used today). In the year 2002, Fosters & Partners have again used the Ahrend Mehes collection to refurbish the HSBC Headquarters in London.
This means, if you ever plan to expand your office, you do not need to go for a totally different look as far the furniture is concern. You just need to give ONE call to Royal Ahrend and you will have your second order, matching your first order!! Isn’t that fantastic!

Custom made furniture is generally designed and manufactured by a local company in your country. This process will allow you to work closely with a designer (hand in hand) to design the ideal furniture piece that will fit the room, resulting in a custom made piece for your office/house/boat, etc.

Most probably, there will be only 1 piece manufactured and that is for you only! Unlike the ready made furniture, which you can find in every brochure/magazine and showroom, custom made is unique with your specific chosen finishing details.

Of course this will also be well designed, engineered and manufactured in a factory with experience and knowledge. However, usually only 1 year warranty is given on their products. The damage control with custom made furniture is lower than with ready made furniture. Because of the used materials!

In my years of experience within the industry I have found that a combination of using standard desking/seating/storage plus bespoke pieces at the reception areas and/or conferencing areas will result in a great office lasting many years and is a great solution!

We’ve recently moved to our new headquarters and showroom at the in the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and what a ‘move’ this has been!

We are now all stationed in an office space that is among the first in the UAE interior design and fit-out world to be eligible for international LEED gold certification, based on green standards that we already offer to our clients.

This was not an easy task, I must admit, but the benefits of becoming a leader in the eco-conscious building industry has definitely been worth the effort. There were some initial challenges…

Designing in accordance with the LEED rating system was a steep learning curve for us all. The greatest challenge was to design within set LEED and budget parameters while maintaining the functionality of the interiors and without compromising on the look and feel of the office.

The second challenge was working with the interior designers and project team to execute the office interior fit out in terms of finding suppliers and sourcing materials that adhere to the strict LEED specifications. And finally there is the preparation, compilation, and submission of LEED documentation for final review by the US Green Building Council prior to award of LEED certification.

In saying all of this, our team now feels ‘at home’ in the office space and we have never looked back! We now have central building management control system, we use LEED certified furniture and products as well as materials with high recycle content. Our premises now has water efficient fixtures to reduce water consumption by more than 32%, and building lighting energy has been reduced by about 54.98%. To create a healthier working environment, ventilation has been increased, providing about 30% more fresh air than the minimum specified in the standards.

Most importantly, I feel like the office environment that we now work in is much more positive… the lighting that we use now is less harsh with an abundance of natural light and open space which I have no doubt, has increased our productivity levels.

All wood used in the project was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, in keeping with the responsible management of the world’s forests. We have also designed the whole workplace to have easy access to public transport as well as provide bicycle storage spaces with changing room facilities for all of our members of staff. We have even introduced car pooling to our staff to help reduce pollution and the strain on the local infrastructure.

Having energy and environmentally friendly interiors is extremely important to Summertown and we hope to spread the word about the opportunities that are available in Dubai. If Summertown, as an interior design and fit out contractor, is to design and execute green interiors for others than we ourselves must ‘walk the talk’ and LEED by example.

Imagine that a dry wall partition is carefully erected from the floor slab to the ceiling. This dry wall partition has an isolated stud frame which has been filled with acoustical insulation and finished with multiple of layers of dry wall. During construction work an electrician/plumber uses a claw hammer to run a conduit/sprinkler pipe. You then notice that there are gaps and that the dry wall partition no longer fits properly so you issue an instruction to fill all the gaps with insulation.

At this stage it should be noted that insulation does provide sound absorption but does not provide a barrier to sound transmission through and around the wall. Although a ¾ inch gap along the top of a 10 foot wall represents only 1 square foot of an opening, filling it with insulation instead of sealing the gap can limit the walls overall performance by more than 10dB.

The most important aspect of facility design and construction is balance. There is no point installing a good quality door in a poor quality interior wall or vice versa as you will not achieve the required results.

It is crucial to note that in order to optimise acoustical performance, how the materials are put together is often more important than what materials are selected as when sound isolation requirements of a room increase, the effect of an acoustical weak link becomes more and more devastating as each of the components must meet the required performance or they will fail collectively.

At Summertown International we are dedicated to providing our clients with good quality materials thus reducing sound transmission and ensuring customer satisfaction.

With aesthetically pleasing designs at the forefront of everyone’s minds, it is no wonder that the health and safety of office employees is often overlooked.

Neck pain, shoulder pain, backache and headaches are common complaints amongst office staff that spend most of their working day sitting behind a desk.

These common complaints often arise due to poor quality office furniture and inadequate workplace design, which does not take into account the working practices of the company or the individuals.

Unlike the UK, the UAE does not have regulations in place protecting the health and safety of office employees. The regulations in the UK state that it is the responsibility of the employer to ensure that the working environment does not cause ill health to its employees. This is often achieved through the use of individual risk assessments of workstations i.e. identifying the potential risks of the workstation to the employee. Measures are then taken to reduce the identified risks by ensuring the workstation is conducive to the work being carried out and that the working position of the individual is not harmful to their health. The correct working position for a workstation is:

• Legs are at 90 degrees with feet flat on the floor (footrests may be used).
• The back of the chair should support the back of the individual (chairs should be adjustable – seat height and back of chair).
• Arms should be sitting horizontal to the desk (some chairs have armrests which support the arms – armrests should be adjustable).
• Eyes should be level with the top of the computer screen (monitor stands may be used).
• The keyboard and mouse should be within easy reach to avoid overstretching.

With the above in mind, Summertown Interiors are dedicated to providing their clients with office interiors that reflect their ability to understand their clients business needs whilst ensuring the health and safety of the employees by specifying good quality ergonomic furniture increasing both wellbeing and productivity.

Lately, there have been many reports on the lack of health and safety precautions taken in Dubai’s construction industry. Stories of unfit building sites, careless construction and unsafe disposal of building materials are sadly not uncommon in our burgeoning city. A few days ago we all were made well-aware of the potentially devastating affects of slipshod ways may have on our lives with the report of a crane collapsing on Sheikh Zayed Road. Luckily, a road sign broke the crane’s fall and no-one was injured, but it certainly did give us all a bloodcurdling wake up call. Sometimes, getting a city built at such a crazy pace can have its draw backs; short cuts can be taken and people’s lives can be put at serious risk.

Although for the most part we all try to do our part to ensure we create a safe environment for our employees, there are those who choose not to always implement those rules and regulations set in place. Yes, accidents do happen that are beyond our control, but measures need to be taken to limit those occurrences.

As the old adage goes: Knowledge is power, none more so than in workplace safety where risk and safety assessments are key. One easy way to help keep things in check and people safe is to establish regular “toolbox” meetings. These provide a great way to outline onsite safety procedures and can prove to be an invaluable allocation of time and energy. Implementing this approach will certainly improve day-to-day operations which can result in: Fewer injuries, reduced risk of lost time or damage to equipment or materials and an increased commitment from the building team.

Being a corporate interiors specialist, we also approach health and safety from a design aspect as well. With that in mind, all work environments designed need to take into consideration the user and their space. In space planning, interior detailing and interior specifications, we make sure that all accessibility codes and guidelines have been met. Designs that are based on public welfare, which involves, among other things, employing environmentally-friendly materials and practices where ever possible, are put into place to ensure a sustainable environment for future generations.

Even if a city is getting built at warp speed, time must be taken to ensure that everyone (by-standers included) feel safe and in fact are safe, and not just by the stroke of luck.

We’ve noticed that our employees’ extensive commuting time is becoming more and more frustrating, therefore we’ve (Summertown Interiors) recently introduced several opportunities to reduce commuting time. For example, the introduction of flexible business hours; which gives employees the possibility to start early and finish work before the traffic jam begins. Or work one day 8 hours and the next day 10 hours, which also give employees the possibility to avoid traffic jams on certain days and reach home at a decent hour. Or carpooling in a Summertown car to avoid public transport which take much longer.

Does anybody have other suggestions how to reduce commuting time? Should we only hire new employees living nearby the office? Which is a little difficult since we’re based in Jebel Ali Free Zone!! Should we oblige new employees to move nearby our office location? Should we employ staff who only have their own cars? Should we move our office? Of-course some of these ideas are out the question as they are completely impractical, however it gives a platform where we can start looking for real options to save time and have happier employees.

Well, for those of you who have been diligently reading our blogs know that Summertown Interiors is committed to being a leader in green interior design initiatives. Our new headquarters and showroom, which is up for gold LEED certification, will be a tangible sign of that commitment!

Keeping the momentum going, Summertown Interiors was recently nominated for the prestigious Environmentally Sustainable Design of the Year Award at the annual Commercial Interior Design Awards held a few weeks back on December 1st.

Sharing this nomination with two other renowned firms is a great feat as is being recognized as a leader among the region’s leading commercial interior designers, contractors, developers and construction industries. We strive to continue to move with the times, merging superior interior design with environmental consciousness! Keep reading this space and we’ll keep you posted on our progress.