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Google ‘Apartment to rent in Dubai’ and all manner of bland, featureless interiors will show up. This is not just a Dubai problem; the apartment rental scene in the Middle East has been, traditionally, one with a neutral, one-style-suits-all aesthetic. So when the interior designer Linda Boronkay invited AD to visit her latest project, a rental development in Tottenham, an up-and-coming area of north London with an industrial heritage, it piqued our interest. Boronkay never holds back on dialling up the glam… but what could a designer rental apartment building look like?
The cool, members’ club vibe that she brought to this rental apartment building signals a new direction for the sector; one that offers inspiration for rental apartment projects across the Middle East. Here are six key trends developers in the Middle East should pay attention to.
A strong design language
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“The success of members’ clubs such as Soho House shows that people love brave design, and if that’s the kind of space they want to hang out in, why wouldn’t they choose it as their home, too?” says Boronkay. “The Europeans do this kind of thing so well: if you go to Milan, you’ll find apartment buildings from the 30s, 50s or 60s that all have this really strong design language, and they’re so stylish. They have stood the test of time and they still look amazing. That was what we were aiming for.”
A bold palette
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“To be honest, we just had fun,” says Boronkay of choosing the colours for the interiors. “We wanted a base palette that would unite all the spaces, but then a different colour scheme for each room, so that people can travel through the space and have a different reaction in each room. The colours in the individual apartments are calmer, but in the front-of-house area we just went to town.”
Her theory is that a bland scheme designed to be inoffensive will not result in inspiring, uplifting interiors: “Avoiding colour is not going to make anything more digestible for the majority of people. As a company we love working with colour, we think it provides people with a sense of freedom of expression; it liberates people and brings them joy.” Design lesson: even in a rental apartment, play with colour to create a mood – and that mood will offer the potential tenant an opportunity to imagine how they might be able to live in that space.
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Top-rate wellness facilities
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Wellness and fitness were key areas of focus for Boronkay, due to an uptick of interest in such spaces since the pandemic. There’s a yoga studio with views over the park, and the large, state-of-the-art gym, rather than being consigned to the basement as is the convention, has been given a prime spot, with high ceilings allowing plenty of daylight and huge windows with panoramic views. “We really went to town with the design, with bespoke indigo-stained veneers, bespoke mirrors and lighting, and stained-glass screens,” she says. “We really wanted to create this beautiful space where people would want to take time to recharge.”
Create a community
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Boronkay, as a former design director at Soho House, has form in creating hangout spaces where people want to spend time, and the orangery, an ambitious glazed room that sits at the top of the building, bears many of the hallmarks of the members’ club aesthetic. “We really envisaged those club lounges where people are sitting with their laptops while sipping on coffee,” she says. “It’s really an extension of the residents’ apartments.” By creating a space where tenants can hang out, connect with their neighbours, or just have that elusive ‘third place’ when they don't want to be at home or the office is an attractive value-add for those looking for an apartment to rent in Dubai.
Flexibility
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The kitchen area of the orangery can be screened off by a curtain for private parties and chef demonstrations, and all of the other communal spaces similarly cater for various different functions: the yoga studio doubles up as an art gallery, events space and screening room for residents; the private dining room also acts as a conference room, and the vinyl room – a feature of many a modern members’ club – can serve as workspace, a listening room, and, with the addition of a ping-pong table, a games space.
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“As an interior designer, when someone comes to you with a brief and the brief has to do a lot of different things, the scheme just tends to fall apart because it tries to be so many different things, it ends up being nothing,” comments Boronkay. “But here, because these rooms have such strong personalities due to the colour schemes, the materials and the bespoke elements that we included, they are very flexible, but the design doesn’t suffer.”
Indoor/outdoor flow
Boronkay used a lot of natural materials throughout the interior to bring soul and texture, including stained wood veneers, natural stone, the terrazzo floor, and bespoke wooden furniture. “We also love incorporating planting in our schemes, which creates an indoor/outdoor feel,” she says. “We introduced large-scale planting in the gym, and the orangery, of course, is full of beautiful plants, so it feels like being in an oasis.” wayoflife.com
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