Commercial Interior Design Dubai and Across the UAE
Renovel is a commercial interior design company in Dubai working on spaces that trade: retail shops and showrooms, restaurants and cafes, clinics, salons, gyms, and mixed commercial units. We design for the way the business operates, then take the project through Dubai Municipality, Trakhees, free zone, and landlord approvals to a unit that is ready to open. This page covers what the service includes, how design fees are structured in 2026, the approvals your sector needs, and realistic timelines.
What Commercial Interior Design Covers, and Who It Is For
A commercial interior is judged on whether it helps the business trade. A retail unit is measured on conversion and dwell time, a restaurant on covers turned per service, a clinic on treatment rooms occupied and on passing licensing inspection first time. Design decisions that ignore those numbers produce a space that photographs well and works badly.
Our commercial interior design service is built for tenants and owners taking on a new unit, brands rolling out a second or third location, and operators refitting a space that is already trading. It runs from the first survey to the day the doors open, and it covers the parts most tenants underestimate: MEP coordination, landlord fit-out manuals, and authority approvals.
Looking for office or corporate workspace design?
Offices are a specialist commercial category with their own cost bands, free zone fit-out manuals, and workplace planning method, so we keep them on a dedicated page. If your project is a workplace, head straight to office interior design in Dubai for corporate interior design services, per sq ft fit-out pricing, and DIFC, DMCC, and JAFZA approval detail. For refits of an existing workplace, see office renovation. This page covers everything else on the commercial side.
Commercial Sectors We Design in Dubai
Each sector carries a different technical brief and a different approving authority. We scope the project around both before the concept work starts.
Retail Shops and Showrooms
Mall units, street-front shops, car and furniture showrooms, and pop-up concepts. Shopfront line, display density, lighting levels on merchandise, and the mall tenant design criteria drive every decision.
Restaurants, Cafes and Cloud Kitchens
Front of house, back of house, and the extraction and grease line that connects them. Cover count, service route, kitchen adjacency, and Dubai Municipality food safety zoning are settled before the concept is finalised.
Clinics and Medical Facilities
Dental, dermatology, aesthetic, physiotherapy, and general practice clinics. Reception, waiting, consultation, treatment, and sterilisation zones have to be laid out to DHA standards before licensing inspection.
Salons, Spas and Wellness
Beauty salons, barbershops, nail and lash studios, and wellness rooms. Wet services, ventilation, station spacing, and washable finishes matter more than mood boards here.
Gyms and Fitness Studios
Free-weight zones, studio rooms, changing facilities, and reception. Floor loading, impact flooring, acoustic separation, and air changes set the technical brief.
Mixed and Multi-Use Commercial
Showroom plus office, retail plus cafe, clinic plus retail dispensary. Mixed units need a clear licensing split and separate service strategies inside one shell.
Hotels, resorts, serviced apartments, and larger food and beverage operations inside them are covered by our hospitality interior design service.
The Commercial Design Process, End to End
Ten stages take a commercial unit from a signed lease to a trading space. Because we design and build, the drawings are produced by the people who will have to install from them, which removes the usual gap between design intent and what actually gets built.
Commercial Brief and Business Case
We start with the numbers that shape a commercial interior: trading hours, staff and customer headcount, cover count or treatment room count, average transaction value, and the fit-out budget the business can carry. A commercial brief is an operational document, not a style questionnaire.
Site Survey and Shell Condition Report
We survey the unit, record the shell and core condition, and pull the landlord or mall tenant fit-out manual before design starts. Ceiling void, riser positions, grease duct availability, incoming power capacity, and drainage falls decide what is actually buildable.
Space Planning and Test Fits
Circulation, queueing, sightlines, and staff routes are planned first. In retail that means the decompression zone and the path to the till. In F&B it is the cover layout against the service run. In a clinic it is the clean and dirty separation the licensing inspector will look for.
Concept, Brand Integration and Materials
Mood direction, material palette, and brand application across signage, joinery, and finishes. Commercial concepts are tested against wear, cleaning regimes, and replacement cost, so the scheme still looks right in year three.
3D Visualisation
Photoreal renders of the trading areas, front of house, and any brand-critical zone. These are also what the landlord, franchise partner, or investor signs off, which is why they come before the technical set.
Technical Drawings and MEP Coordination
Partition and setting-out plans, reflected ceiling and lighting layouts, power and data, drainage, HVAC and extraction, fire strategy, and joinery sections. MEP coordination is where most commercial fit-outs are won or lost.
FF&E Specification and Procurement
Loose furniture, fixtures, equipment, and shopfittings written into a schedule with supplier, code, lead time, and cost. Long-lead items such as imported stone, refrigeration, and specialist lighting are ordered during the approval window, not after it.
Authority and Landlord Approvals
We prepare and submit the drawing set to Dubai Municipality, DDA, Trakhees, or the relevant free zone, plus Dubai Civil Defence and the landlord or mall management, and we handle comments and resubmissions.
Fit-Out and Site Supervision
Our team runs the trades, holds the programme, and checks work against the approved drawings at every stage. Mall units often mean night works and strict material movement rules, and we build that into the programme from day one.
Testing, Handover and Trading Readiness
Commissioning, fire and life safety sign-off, inspection support for food safety or DHA where applicable, snag closure, and handover with as-built drawings, warranties, and a maintenance schedule.
What Commercial Interior Design Costs in Dubai
Two numbers sit in every commercial proposal and they are often confused. The design fee pays for the planning, the drawings, and the approvals package. The fit-out cost pays for the build. Dubai studios structure the design fee in one of three ways.
| Fee model | How it works | 2026 Dubai range | Typically suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of fit-out value | The design fee is a share of the total fit-out and FF&E cost. The usual arrangement on commercial projects where the scope is still forming. | 8 to 15 percent of fit-out value | Retail chains, F&B groups, clinics with an evolving scope |
| Per square foot design fee | A rate applied to the leased area. Clean when the unit area is fixed and the deliverable set is defined. | AED 175 to 550 per sq ft for a full design service | Single units with a settled area and brief |
| Fixed design fee | One agreed number for a defined package: space plan, concept, 3D visuals, technical drawings, FF&E schedule, and approval drawings. | Agreed after the site survey | Tenants who need budget certainty before board or landlord sign-off |
Fit-Out Build Cost by Sector
| Sector | 2026 range | What moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| Retail, standard shop or showroom | AED 150 to 500 per sq ft | Basic units sit near the bottom of the band. Premium retail runs AED 500 to 800 per sq ft and flagship stores pass AED 1,000 per sq ft. |
| Restaurants and cafes | AED 400 to 1,800 per sq ft | Driven by concept. A quick-service unit sits low, casual dining mid, and fine dining with full kitchen equipment, extraction, and premium joinery sits at the top or beyond it. |
| Clinics and medical | Above the general commercial band | Medical gas, sterilisation zoning, lead-lined rooms where imaging is involved, and the MEP required to pass DHA inspection push clinics past a comparable retail unit of the same size. |
| General commercial interiors | AED 100 to 500 per sq ft | A wide band across sectors and specifications. The unit condition matters as much as the finish level: a shell and core unit carries the full MEP cost, a fitted unit does not. |
| Offices and corporate workspace | AED 220 to 650 per sq ft | Covered in detail with standard, premium, and luxury bands on our dedicated office interior design page. |
VAT at 5 percent applies to design and fit-out services in the UAE. Ranges are market orientation, not a quotation: we issue a fixed number after the site survey, once the shell condition and the authority route are confirmed. For a fuller breakdown of how the numbers are built up, see our Dubai interior design cost guide.
Approvals: the Part That Sets Your Opening Date
Commercial fit-out approval in Dubai is not one submission, it is a sequence, and the authority depends on where the unit sits rather than what you do in it. Drawings rejected at first submission are the most common reason a launch date slips, so the compliance requirements are written into the drawing set from the beginning rather than patched in after a rejection.
Dubai Municipality
The default authority for most commercial buildings in mainland Dubai. Drawings are submitted through the BPS portal, and since 2026 projects above 200 sqm must include energy performance documentation.
Dubai Development Authority
Applies in DDA-governed districts including Dubai Design District, Dubai Internet City, and Business Bay free zone plots. DDA carries its own MEP drawing layer requirements.
Trakhees
The authority for Dubai World communities such as Palm Jumeirah, Jebel Ali, and the Waterfront developments. Trakhees applies its own CED permit route and EHS conditions.
Dubai Civil Defence
Fire and life safety NOC covering detection, suppression, escape routes, and material fire ratings. Required for the fit-out permit and again for the final trading approval.
Mall and landlord fit-out manuals
Malls issue their own tenant design criteria covering shopfront line, hoarding, signage, working hours, delivery windows, insurance, waste disposal, and inspection stages. These sit on top of, not instead of, authority approval.
DM Food Safety for F&B
Food establishments need a food safety permit alongside the trade licence. Allow 4 to 8 weeks, and expect HACCP flow separation between clean and dirty routes to be checked closely.
DHA for clinics
Healthcare fit-outs need layout approval and a facility licence through the Sheryan portal, alongside the municipality fit-out permit, the Civil Defence NOC, and the medical trade licence.
DEWA and free zone authorities
Power and water connections, load increases, and the individual fit-out manuals of DMCC, JAFZA, DIFC, and other free zones where the unit sits inside one.
Choosing a partner who can actually carry this is half the job. Our guide to fit-out companies in Dubai explains what to check before you appoint one.
Materials Specified for Commercial Wear and UAE Conditions
A commercial interior takes in one month the wear a home takes in a year, and it takes it in a climate that swings between 45C outside and dry conditioned air inside. Specification written for a residential project fails early in a trading unit, usually at the floor, the door edges, and the wet areas.
Floors rated for commercial traffic
Large-format porcelain, commercial-grade LVT, and epoxy or resin systems in back of house. Domestic-rated flooring fails quickly under trolley wheels, heels, and a daily wet clean.
Wall protection where it is needed
Corner guards, impact-resistant board in circulation routes, and washable coatings behind service counters. The alternative is repainting the same three metres every quarter.
Humidity and salt-air specification
Dubai runs above 45C for months with coastal humidity of 70 to 90 percent, while conditioned interiors hold 30 to 40 percent. Moisture-resistant board, marine-grade ply in wet zones, and stainless or coated hardware in seafront units.
Surfaces that clean to a standard
Non-porous, jointless, and easily sanitised surfaces in F&B prep areas, clinics, and salons, specified so they satisfy the inspecting authority rather than only looking clean.
Acoustics in trading environments
Absorptive ceilings and soft surfaces in restaurants and salons, and rated partitions where consultation rooms need privacy. Noise is the most common complaint in a finished commercial space.
Lighting for merchandise and food
Correct colour temperature and rendering index on displays and plated food, and glare-controlled fittings in treatment and consultation rooms.
Realistic Timelines for a Commercial Fit-Out
Design takes 5 to 10 weeks. Approvals and procurement overlap where the programme allows. The figures below are the ones we plan against, and they assume drawings that clear the authority without a full resubmission.
| Stage | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| Brief, survey and space planning | 1 to 2 weeks |
| Concept, materials and 3D visualisation | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Technical drawings and MEP coordination | 2 to 4 weeks |
| Authority and landlord approvals | 3 to 6 weeks, sometimes 1 to 3 weeks for a simple unit |
| Retail shop or showroom fit-out | 4 to 12 weeks |
| Mall boutique including operator approval | 14 to 20 weeks |
| Restaurant of 80 to 150 covers | 14 to 20 weeks, up to 24 for complex kitchens |
| Food safety permit for F&B, runs in parallel | 4 to 8 weeks |
What Is Included, and Why Renovel
Included in a commercial design scope
- Site survey, shell condition report, and review of the landlord or mall fit-out manual
- Space planning, test fits, and operational flow studies
- Concept design, material palette, and brand integration
- Photoreal 3D visualisation of trading and front of house areas
- Technical drawing set with MEP, fire, and joinery coordination
- FF&E and shopfitting specification with lead times and costs
- Authority and landlord submissions, comments, and resubmissions
- Fit-out execution, site supervision, and programme control
- Commissioning, inspection support, snagging, and as-built handover
Why businesses appoint us
One contract from design to trading
Design, drawings, approvals, and fit-out sit with one team, so nobody is arguing about design intent while the lease clock runs.
Approvals treated as a design input
Fire strategy, food safety zoning, DHA layout rules, and mall criteria are built into the first drawing set rather than bolted on after a rejection.
Specification written for trading conditions
Floors, wall protection, and wet-area detailing chosen for commercial traffic and for Dubai humidity and salt air.
Fixed scope and fixed number after survey
You get a defined deliverable list and a firm price once we have measured the unit and confirmed the authority route.
Want the background before you brief anyone? Read our guide to commercial interior design in Dubai, or see the full range of our interior design services.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does commercial interior design in Dubai cover?
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Commercial interior design covers any space used to trade or deliver a service: retail shops and showrooms, restaurants, cafes and cloud kitchens, clinics and medical facilities, salons and spas, gyms and fitness studios, and mixed-use commercial units. The work runs from space planning and concept through technical drawings, MEP coordination, FF&E specification, authority approvals, and site supervision to trading handover. Office and corporate workspace projects are handled on our separate office interior design page.
How much do commercial interior design services cost in Dubai?
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Design fees on commercial projects are usually 8 to 15 percent of the fit-out value, or AED 175 to 550 per sq ft for a full design service, or a fixed fee agreed after the site survey. Build cost sits separately and depends on sector: general commercial interiors run roughly AED 100 to 500 per sq ft, standard retail AED 150 to 500 per sq ft, premium retail AED 500 to 800, and restaurants AED 400 to 1,800 depending on kitchen scope. VAT at 5 percent applies. Our Dubai interior design cost guide breaks the numbers down further.
Which approvals does a commercial fit-out in Dubai need?
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Most mainland commercial units go through Dubai Municipality via the BPS portal, with DDA or Trakhees applying instead in their own districts. On top of that you need a Dubai Civil Defence NOC, landlord or mall management approval against the tenant fit-out manual, and DEWA for power and water. F&B premises add a Dubai Municipality food safety permit, which takes 4 to 8 weeks. Clinics add DHA layout approval and a facility licence through Sheryan. We prepare and submit the drawings and manage the comments on your behalf.
How long does a commercial interior project take in Dubai?
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Design runs 5 to 10 weeks from brief to an approved technical set. Authority and landlord approvals typically add 3 to 6 weeks, though a straightforward unit can clear in 1 to 3 weeks. On site, a retail shop or showroom takes 4 to 12 weeks, a mall boutique 14 to 20 weeks once the operator approval period is included, and a restaurant of 80 to 150 covers 14 to 20 weeks, stretching to 24 for a complex kitchen. Drawings rejected at first submission are the single most common cause of delay.
Do you handle commercial interior renovation of a space that is already trading?
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Yes. Refits of trading units are phased so the business keeps earning: we zone the works, run noisy and dusty trades outside opening hours, agree hoarding and material movement with the landlord, and hand the space back area by area. Mall units almost always mean night works under the operator rules, which we programme for rather than discover halfway through.
Can Renovel work as a commercial interior design company across the UAE?
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Yes. We deliver commercial interior design and fit-out in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, including mall units, street retail, F&B venues, clinics, and wellness spaces. Each emirate and each free zone has its own approval route and fit-out manual, so we confirm the authority and the landlord criteria at survey stage and build compliance into the drawings from the first sketch.
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