Guests enter the majlis hall first, the largest and most formal room, arranged for receiving visitors along its length. From there the dining room opens, centred on its long table, and a smaller sitting room follows in warmer tones, more intimate in scale. The details gather towards the end of the sequence: screens glowing in the pilasters, and the washroom with its basins set on stone.
White veined marble covers the dining room wall as well as the hall, so the reception rooms share one continuous stone. The star screens, lit from behind, turn the pilasters into sources of soft, patterned light. Blue tufted upholstery on the ottomans adds depth and comfort against the pale marble. In the washroom, brass vessel basins carry the gold of the hall into a smaller room. This residence is in Al Awir, Dubai.