The annual Dubai Design Week wrapped last week, but design activity in the region is still buzzing. Premium building work in and around the area has seen the market for the 11-year-old brand Bentley Home, a partnership between the UK’s Bentley Motors and the Italian-based Luxury Living Group, rise rapidly.
Inside Bentley Home in Dubai
This November sees the launch of Bentley Home’s first flagship in Dubai, following the success of two in Riyadh, one in Jeddah and its main base in Milan close to Luxury Living’s factory in Forli where the products are fabricated. This new space, opening 19 November, is a generous, light-filled 150sq m showroom at the Dubai Mall Zabeel in the financial district, positioned advantageously at street level with a dominating four-window façade adjacent to other luxury retailers.
'It’s become clear there is a demand for Bentley Home in this marketplace,' says Chris Cooke, head of design collaborations at Bentley Motors, who works alongside Luxury Living’s Monique Zappala, creative director of Bentley Home. 'We’re currently involved in several high-profile developments in the area including Mira Villas, 36 five-bedroom homes for which we’ve furnished all the interiors. This is what Bentley stands for in terms of our level of craft and innovation – everything that the cars have been doing for so many years. The retail space is a direct reaction to what is resonating with people locally.'
The store itself, a collaboration with local retailer The Mattress Store, has been designed by Zappala’s Milan team with input from Cooke in the UK. 'Aesthetically, it feels very connected to the Milan flagship: modern and contemporary,' explains Cooke. 'We’ve created a lot of contrast of material and colour to give it a bit of drama but also it ties into our core brand which is about polarity and harmony – those two worlds working together.'
The glass-fronted showroom is full of light, walls are lined with Bentley Home finishes including a vertically engraved Pietra d’Avola stone boiserie as well as silk wall art from the Bentley Home wallpaper collection. The polished resin flooring becomes a backdrop for the collection including the dynamic Wilton desk and Bollington desk chair by Francesco Forcellini, the first pieces from the home office collection which launched earlier this year during Salone del Mobile.
'My own favourite piece is the Ramsey sofa,' adds Cooke. 'It’s a timeless piece we launched a few years ago and is one of our most successful. It’s very simple, beautifully lightweight with panelled pieces and trimmed in leather with a slim profile. The cushions are very large, padded – we spent a long time getting the language of its interior and form right, to feel comfortable without looking heavy. It’s been very popular.'
The UAE as a marketplace is known for its love of strong colour and ultra-luxury finishes, so the store is merchandised accordingly. 'We’ve created individual, domesticated moments; these spaces that feel like whole rooms,' explains Cooke. 'We find the level of customer here will walk in and want the entire thing as it is – down the books on the shelves, so, we’re presenting it in a finished, effective, high luxury environment.' The showroom also offers a customising service for those looking for something more personalised.
'Sometimes our clients might want pieces completely individualised so we can do that – we have an incredible portfolio of finishes,' says Cooke. 'The result of collaborating with a customer is that we always come up with something wonderful and unexpected. These are the pieces we hope people will keep for their entire lives – it helps having that emotional connection to the design process. A level up from that is our Furnished by Bentley Home service: our team will come into your home and design absolutely everything from fine-crafted walls and floors to the lighting and furniture – it’s a complete 360.'
