The Sculpted Abode, Part 4: Dubai Villa Renovation Week 1
- Dora Tokai
- Aug 10
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 15
The Sculpted Abode, Part 4: Dubai Villa Renovation Week 1 – From Shock to Momentum
This post marks the first week on site for The Sculpted Abode — our personal 10-week home renovation experiment. We’re sharing the process as both designer and homeowner, documenting the decisions, challenges, and coordination it takes to transform a 15-year-old family villa into its next chapter.
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From Shock to Momentum in the First Week of Construction
Even though interior design is what I do for a living — walking into gutted rooms, seeing spaces stripped back to their bare bones — this Dubai villa renovation week 1 felt different. I wasn’t just the designer, I was also the homeowner.
We’d lived in this house for more than a decade. It’s where my husband and I became a family, where both of our children were born, where our pets grew old, and where countless days — happy, exciting, sad, or stressful — turned into memories. This home had been the backdrop to our lives.
Our home before demolishment, and after in the 46C degree Dubai summer heat.
By the afternoon of the first day of demolition, our home with all its memories had been erased. The kitchen was gone. Four bathrooms reduced to bare walls. Wardrobes dismantled. Ceilings opened to reveal raw concrete. The spaces I knew so well were unrecognisable.
It was overwhelming — not in the way of regret, but in the way of being confronted by the speed of change that’s already in motion. Fifteen people working together like a well-oiled machine, and there’s no reversing it. Within a few days, that shock transformed into something energising: the knowledge that we were already deep into creating our new home, and every decision from here would push it forward.
Week 1 Construction in Action
We sequence the build deliberately: outside–inside–outside, and always top to bottom. We start at the roof and upper balconies with waterproofing and tiling, then move down through the floors, completing MEP/HVAC, closing ceilings, and preparing walls before flooring and joinery. The ground floor is last, so it serves as the circulation spine for all trades. Once interiors are completed and protected, we return outdoors for the final layer: landscaping, garden works, and external touch‑ups.
Beneath the emotions, the site was moving at high speed:
Full demolition of kitchen, bathrooms, wardrobes, gypsum ceilings, and HVAC (AC system).
All interior and exterior doors professionally removed by the joinery team, labelled for redesign.
New block work for reconfigured layouts began.
Balcony tiles ordered and delivered; tiling started on all five outdoor areas (four balconies and the rooftop terrace).
Bathroom tiles booked and secured for upcoming works.
Teka appliances — oven, hob, dishwasher, and wine cooler — were delivered to the joinery factory the day after confirmation, allowing kitchen manufacturing to start immediately.
Ramon Soler bathroom fixtures delivered from Barcelona by Amisa
Kitchen joinery production began at the joinery warehouse.
Final window measurements taken for production.
Twice-daily coordination meetings to resolve site issues before they become delays.
Preparation is key. Deliveries are timed carefully. Balconies are tiled.
When the Drawings Meet Reality
Demolition is when developer drawing discrepancies reveal themselves, and in Week 1, they came fast. We uncovered:
Shafts in unexpected size and locations.
Support pillars that were elsewhere on the developer drawings.
Pipes embedded so deeply in the foundation that some could not be moved.
These discoveries set off a chain reaction. We had to adapt MEP layouts, adjust shafts, reroute water pipes, shift wall placements, and tweak kitchen and bathroom joinery. And all of it had to happen immediately to keep the build moving, without losing the original design intent.
This is why having the design studio lead the renovation is critical. Our approach in moments like this is guided by four principles:
Preserve the design vision — adapt without compromise.
Keep every change functional — beautiful spaces still need to work for daily life.
Stay cost-aware — smart solutions over unnecessary expense.
Move fast — because every hour lost early on snowballs into weeks later.
We’ve Seen This Before
These surprises aren’t unique to this project; they happen in every renovation. A recent example was Harbour Home, a high-floor apartment in an Emaar development where we pushed for changes rarely approved in such buildings.
We turned a semi-enclosed kitchen into a fully open plan, reconfigured the master bathroom into an open space, adjusted the WC location, and replaced the bathtub with a shower, the shower with a bathtub. Every change involved MEP adjustments, structural considerations, and an approval process that demanded precision. And like here, once demolition began, unexpected realities forced us to adapt the design quickly while keeping the final vision intact.
That’s the nature of renovation: you plan meticulously, but you must be ready to pivot.
Takeaways for Anyone Renovating
Whether you’re a designer, contractor, or homeowner, Week 1 is a reminder that maintaining early momentum is key. My home renovation project is a rare experiment — a full home renovation in just ten weeks — made possible because I can make decisions instantly, without the pauses that naturally come when a client needs time to consider options.
In a typical high-end renovation of this scope, timelines are closer to four months, sometimes longer depending on the nature of works. For example, mosaic tiling takes longer than regular tiling because every change involves discussion, approvals, and revisions. That’s normal — and for most projects, it’s the right pace.
Here, I wanted to see just how much we could reduce the timeline when all decisions, coordination, and oversight are in one place. It’s not a realistic pace with a client involved, but it shows what’s possible when the right teams are in place and the process is uninterrupted.
Week 1 proved that surprises will come, but with clear principles, decisive action, and trust in your team, those surprises don’t derail the vision — they shape it.
The Unsung Heroes of the Build
Renovating during the summer in Dubai is no small feat. We spend hours on site, covered in dust, under the relentless heat. The reality is, construction work here is physically demanding beyond what most people imagine.
Our main contractor and his team are on site from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m., moving with precision and endurance. After just a short time at the site, I find myself retreating to stand under the AC to cool down — they push through all day, every day.
It’s worth remembering that behind every beautiful “after” photo are the people who worked tirelessly, in tough conditions, to make it happen. This week, I’m deeply grateful for them.
I brought the kids to see the house mid-demolition. My three-year-old son stopped in his tracks, shocked, eyes wide, and asked, “Mommy, who broke the house?”
I introduced him to our main contractor, and without missing a beat he pointed straight at him: “You broke the house. You fix it.”
Our contractor laughed and promised to come back tomorrow to keep working, but my son was having none of it: “No. You stay. You broke it, you fix it.”
It was an innocent but perfectly timed reminder that, to a child, a renovation can feel like a disaster before it becomes something new, and to the people building it, it’s an act of creation in the toughest of conditions.
Next week, we’ll move into a phase where the technical foundations — MEP and HVAC adjustments — get locked in, ceilings start closing, and balcony works continue. With each layer, the structure will begin to feel like a home again.
Experience the process. Watch how a vision becomes a home, week by week.
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