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Over the past few years, British-born designers Hasan and Husain Roomi of H2R Design have been creating dynamic, innovative hotels and commercial spaces, while scooping up prestigious design awards along the way. TEXT: caThErinE bElbin
orking with major clients like Emaar Properties, Imkan and Roya International, the brothers of Middle Eastern origin will soon be rolling out new projects, including the Vida Hotel in Umm Al Quwain. The luxurious Burj Crown residence and Arabian Ranches villas will follow in a couple of years. Completed projects include Tom & Serg, Two Cafe, Symphony, Rose Poudré, Brew, Ushna, Anar and Asma, to name but a handful. Since opening your studio in 2014, you have executed several projects. Which is your most memorable? That’s a hard one to answer, as over the years we feel like we have gone from strength to strength. However, 2017 is quite dear to our hearts, as our work took quite a leap forward. Off the back of our work on Symphony and the Vida Hotel in Umm Al Quwain, we were given several opportunities such as Al Alamein Hotel in Egypt, thereby confirming our team resilience and commitment to succeed. Your work has won numerous design awards. How would you describe your interior style? Over the years, we have received numerous acknowledgements. [However,] we never focus on providing a design that ‘meets trends’, to be honest. Our philosophy is simple: understand the consumer the space is targeting and immerse them with an environment that subtly reflects that story.
Through doing that as thoughtfully as possible, we tend to end up with an organic approach to a design that feels bespoke to the intended environment. This approach allows for the space to weather the trends that come and go. You have carved a niche in the F&B sector; was this deliberate or did it happen organically? We deliberately aimed ourselves into the F&B and hospitality sector; [it was] our initial and primary focus. It was tough to stick to our guns and say ‘no’ to private projects, as exciting as they were. However, the core of what we do and what we believe in is creating environments for more substantial footfall; [we are] very passionate about understanding how we create more significant social impact, adding further to the communities they [the projects] surround. How has your mixed Anglo-Arab heritage influenced your portfolio? We can see things from two sides of the table instead of one. More specifically, designing environments within the region has allowed us to respect and acknowledge the social expectations of the local area. At the same time, [we are] adapting to the fast-moving shifts of design from the metropolitan influences of major design hubs such as New York, London, Berlin, etc. Now we can confidently say that Dubai has become the place that the West views for inspiration, too!
