Private Residence · Banyan Tree Residences · JLT, Dubai
A client who came to us drawn by a single piece. Then made something entirely her own.
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Client Private residence Confidential |
Scope TV Unit · Coffee Corner Two signature pieces |
Finish Microcement Applied inhouse, RAK |
Origin Made in UAE xzpace®, Ras Al Khaimah |
The piece that started it
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“I want that — but mine.” |
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Falls I is one of xzpace®’s signature pieces - a sculptural shelf unit defined by a sinuous, continuous wave that snakes between fixed horizontal shelves. It exists in cobalt blue, in bone white, in burgundy. It draws people in. Our client at Banyan Tree Residences, JLT was one of them. |
She came to us through the piece, but she did not want the piece itself. She wanted the idea behind it - that sculptural language - applied to her space, in her way, at a scale that worked for her apartment. |
the brief
In essence, the client wanted three pieces. A full TV wall unit with a sinuous shelf element integrated into the structure - the wavy DNA of The Falls embedded into a functional, floor-to-ceiling system. A coffee corner in a recessed niche separating her kitchen from her living room, with a curved custom element inside, set into a warm wood-panelled wall. Both in microcement. And lastly, an engineered version of a cabinet-cum-vanity desk that she fell in love with online but was unable to source easily in the UAE.
| Banyan Tree Residences, JLT · High-rise apartment · The custom designed wavy shelf unit, coffee corner, and cabinetry with vanity for bedroom were scope items in this apartment. |
Design
For this case study, we will deep dive into the inspired Falls TV Unit simply because, its a classic case of taking something that stemmed from our creativity and transformed into individually the client's. So many of our relationships evolve in this way, and every time, it surprises us just how far we can take one idea into countless iterations until all of us come to resonate with it, and most importantly, the object itself resonates with the space.
So, in true explorer fashion, this time too, several proposals were developed. The brief was specific: the unit needed to feel like an architectural piece, not furniture. The primary variable was how the sinuous element sat within the frame; whether it ran as a central divider, shifted to one side, or carried across the full height of the unit. The proportions of the shelving bays changed with each option, as did the relationship between the unit and the TV console below. Multiple configurations were explored before settling on the right balance of visual weight, shelf utility, and proportion against the wall.
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The challenge
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“The unit would be taller than the elevator.” |
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A full-height TV wall unit in a high-rise apartment presents a constraint that has nothing to do with design: it has to fit in an elevator. The unit, as designed, exceeded the interior height of the lift at Banyan Tree Residences. Building it in one piece was not an option. |
The solution was engineered into the joinery from the outset, not as an afterthought. The unit was designed to break at a precise structural node, with interlocking connections that align perfectly and disappear once assembled. No visible seams. No compromise to the silhouette. The sinuous wave reads as a single continuous form on the wall, because it is , it just arrived in two sections. |
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Height constraint The finished unit exceeded elevator interior height. The design was engineered to transport in sections. |
Intelligent joinery Break points were designed into the structure — interlocking connections that vanish once assembled, leaving no visible seam. |
One continuous form The sinuous wave reads as a single unbroken element on the wall. It arrived in two sections and assembled as one. |
Made in RAK
All the items were fabricated at xzpace®’s facility in Ras Al Khaimah. The microcement finish, a material that demands controlled application conditions and expert hand-finishing, was applied entirely in-factory before the pieces left for site. Arriving pre-finished, the installation was structural fixing only: no wet trades on the client’s floor, no curing time, no dust. Of course, as is standard with our usual project delivery and sales support, we went back to touch up comments to clean up any minor defects that may have been caused during on-site installation.
The result
The unit sits against the wall of the living room at Banyan Tree Residences, overlooking JLT. The vertical members rise full height, the sinuous wave divides the shelving, the microcement surface reads dark, matte and tactile.
It is not The Falls.
It is something that came from the same place, a piece that carries the same DNA but belongs entirely to this apartment and personify the people who inhabit it. Quirky, forward, experimental, unapologetic, and creative.
We find that those who take a leap into creating custom pieces for their homes are those unafraid to be wrong until they get to the right answer. It is time, taste and nuance coming together to create something that uniquely and loudly emits their energy. As people, we respect and resonate with this translation of identity. As xzpace®, we can't get enough.
TV unit and coffee corner element in microcement finish. Fabricated by xzpace®, Ras Al Khaimah. Transported in sections via intelligent modular joinery and assembled on site at Banyan Tree Residences, JLT.
Work with xzpace®We work with clients who have a clear vision and need a maker who can realise it. Custom furniture, joinery, microcement — conceived and made in the UAE. Start a conversation |