UK-based interior architecture firm Pringle Brandon said it is putting its distinctive design stamp on the expanding Gulf market with fit out contracts valued at over $9.6 million secured through its Dubai office.

Pringle Brandon has over 25 years experience creating tailored and sustainable workplace and hospitality environments, from small boutique offices to headquarter buildings exceeding one million square feet.

The company initially entered the UAE market in late 2010 in response to increasing demand from high profile multinational and regional clients.

Commenting on the firm’s decision to launch a dedicated design resource for the Mena region, managing director, Steven Charlton, said: “International expansion into the region has been on our radar for several years, and with the world’s leading financial institutions heading to Dubai, as well as a rebounding hospitality sector primed for aggressive development, the time was right.”

A recent report published by industry specialist UBM Built Environment, estimated that the GCC interior design and fit out market would witness $8.6 billion worth of contracts in 2011, a 40 per cent increase over the $5.1 billion awarded in 2010.

Furthermore, a study by UAE-based business advisory, Ventures Middle East, claimed that spending on interior design and fit out in the commercial sector alone in the UAE would reach $821 million in 2011, up from $709 million last year, while the UAE hospitality sector also shows impressive growth, awarding $1.3 billion worth of contracts in 2011, compared with $406 million in 2010.    

Pringle Brandon’s expertise covers multiple industries and markets, with a particular focus on the banking, legal and hospitality sectors, said the top official.

Its turnkey services cover all the bases of workplace design and fit-out from location research and identification to space planning, refurbishment and interior design, Charlton noted.

“We aren’t just space designers; our strategic approach focuses on working with the client from the very beginning with location sourcing, then developing the value chain from pricing analysis and costing through to delivering a bespoke design and fit-out,” he added.

While the company is a relative newcomer in the market, the UAE design team is made up of seasoned industry practitioners, all of whom are intimately familiar with the regional markets - therefore enabling them to jump straight in and move benchmark projects forward in order to deliver on time, on budget and on spec.

By the end of the first quarter of this year, the total project fit out value reached over $5.5 million, covering more than 250,000 sq ft, said Charlton.

This included the 300-key Radisson Blu hotel in Sharjah, Pfizer headquarter buildings for Jeddah and Riyadh, Hill International’s and Norton Roses’ offices in Abu Dhabi, and a number of Dubai projects including Royal Bank of Scotland and Goldman Sachs, he added.

According to him, a healthy forecast for the rest of 2011 moving into 2012 is envisaged with fit out contracts valued in the region of $4.1 million across 109,000 sq ft.

Pringle Brandon’s burgeoning client list includes Microsoft office projects in Abu Dhabi, Boeing Abu Dhabi, as well as research agency TNS in Dubai and headquarters for Halliburton Dubai.

“We’re also seeing growing interest from the wider African continent, with the 100-key Starwood hotel development in Nigeria’s commercial and financial capital, Lagos, giving us a foothold in the region,” remarked Charlton.

Pringle Brandon’s design discipline is also supported by its own UK-based research division, which publishes regular reports covering a range of industry topics from market trends and effective space utilisation to environmental issues.-TradeArabia News Service