Insights
Plain answers from our engineers to the questions owners ask before a project begins.
- Articles
- 24
- Topics
- 6
Architectural Design
About this serviceClassic or contemporary: choosing the character of a villa
What separates a classic villa from a contemporary one in plan, facade and detail, what each costs to build well, and how to choose.
2 min readDesigning a villa for the UAE climate: shade, orientation and glazing
How orientation, shading, glazing and outdoor space make a villa cooler, cheaper to run and more pleasant to live in under the UAE sun.
2 min readHow a villa is designed: the stages from first brief to construction drawings
The four stages of designing a villa, what you decide at each one, and why skipping a stage costs more later than it saves now.
2 min readWriting a design brief your architect can work with
What to put in a brief for a villa or a commercial space, what to leave open, and the questions a good architect will ask you anyway.
Interior Design
About this serviceDesigning a café that works: layout, light and the counter
The decisions that make a café work as a business and a place: the counter, the flow of customers and staff, seating, light, and the facade.
2 min readPlanning dressing rooms and laundry rooms that actually work
How to size and lay out a dressing room and a laundry room: hanging and folding space, light, ventilation, services and the details people forget.
2 min readWhat an interior designer delivers, stage by stage
From the first meeting to installation: the drawings, visualisations and specifications an interior design service produces, and what each one is for.
2 min readLayers of light: planning the lighting of a home interior
Ambient, task and accent lighting, colour temperature, glare and controls: how to plan lighting so a home works by day and feels right at night.
Construction Supervision
About this serviceInspections before a concrete pour: what the consultant checks
Why the inspection before concrete is poured matters so much, and what is checked: reinforcement, cover, formwork, embedded services and readiness.
2 min readMaterial submittals and approvals: why they matter before anything is installed
How materials are proposed, checked against the specification and approved before installation, and what goes wrong when the step is skipped.
2 min readAn owner's guide to site visits: what to look at and what to ask
How to make the most of visiting your own construction site: when to go, how to stay safe, what to look at, and the questions to ask your consultant.
2 min readWhat the supervision consultant does on site, and why the owner needs one
The supervising consultant's role during construction: inspections, checking works against the approved drawings, material compliance and coordination.
Building Safety Report
About this serviceCracks in walls and ceilings: which are cosmetic and which need an engineer
How to read cracks in a villa or building: hairline plaster cracks, cracks at openings, diagonal and stepped cracks, cracks in beams and slabs, and what to do.
2 min readBefore you buy an older villa: what an engineering inspection checks
What an engineer looks at before you buy an existing villa: structure, roof and waterproofing, damp, services, unauthorised additions and documents.
2 min readNon-destructive testing of concrete: what each test tells you
Rebound hammer, ultrasonic pulse velocity, cover meter, half-cell potential, carbonation and cores: what each test measures and its limits.
2 min readWhat a building safety report contains, and when you need one
The parts of a building safety report: documents reviewed, visual inspection, tests, risk assessment and recommendations, and the situations that call for one.
Building Maintenance & Rehabilitation
About this serviceCrack injection: what it treats, what it doesn't, and when to use it
How crack injection with epoxy or polyurethane works, which cracks it suits, why the cause must be diagnosed first, and what a proper repair involves.
2 min readWater ingress in villas: find the source before you repair
Where water gets into villas, roofs, wet areas, tanks, facades and the ground, how the source is traced, and why repairing the stain fails.
2 min readSpalling concrete and corroding reinforcement: causes and proper repair
Why concrete breaks away and reinforcement rusts in UAE buildings, how the damage is assessed, and the steps of a lasting concrete repair.
2 min readStructural strengthening: when a building needs more than repair
Why buildings are strengthened, from new loads to lost capacity, and the main methods: section enlargement, steel elements, fibre-reinforced polymers and new supports.
Legalization Services
About this serviceAs-built drawings: what they are and why legalization and maintenance need them
What as-built drawings record, how they differ from design drawings, how they are produced for an existing building, and why their accuracy matters.
2 min readBefore you build an annex or extension: getting it right the first time
What to check before adding a room, annex or extension to a villa: the approval, the structure, the services, the design and supervision, so it never needs legalizing.
2 min readLegalizing an extension built without approval: the engineering steps
How an extension, annex or modification built without approval is assessed and regularised: inspection, engineering assessment, drawings and the municipality.
2 min readTechnical compliance for non-conforming buildings in industrial and commercial facilities
How companies bring non-conforming buildings in a facility into technical compliance: inventory, assessment, prioritisation, remedial design and regularisation.
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