Around half of Dubai’s luxury villa buyers are acquiring properties with renovation already planned, according to Imperium Group, a multidisciplinary design consultancy active in the emirate’s high-end residential market.
The trend reflects a shift in buyer logic: securing the right address has become the primary objective, with the home itself treated as a starting point rather than a finished product.
Imperium says it has delivered approximately 30 to 40 luxury renovation projects over the past three years. These go well beyond surface upgrades. Current briefs typically cover architectural and structural redesign, building systems, smart home integration, landscaping, and dedicated spaces for wellness, work and entertaining.
“For many luxury buyers, the existing villa is no longer the finished product. It is the starting point. They are purchasing properties based primarily on location and then reconsidering almost every aspect of the home. Renovation has become part of the acquisition strategy itself, allowing owners to secure a preferred address without compromising on how they ultimately want to live,” Karim Karam, Founder of Imperium Group said in a statement.
A Palm Jumeirah project in Imperium’s portfolio illustrates the scale of ambition now entering the brief. The consultancy has developed the concept for a four-bedroom beachfront villa spanning approximately 1,173 square metres of built-up area, with an estimated AED 8 million construction and fit-out budget, excluding land acquisition.
That figure covers construction, interior fit-out, building systems, external works, landscaping, a swimming pool and specialist facilities.
The programme includes a gym, massage room, hairdressing and manicure salon, cinema and rooftop office. A show kitchen handles everyday family use; a separate industrial catering kitchen is built for large-scale entertaining. The beachfront pool incorporates an integrated spa.
The layout separates family, guest, wellness and service areas while maintaining functional connections between them. Staff accommodation, dedicated service circulation and storage are built into the plan, with the central living area linking the entrance to the pool, garden and beachfront.
Imperium is responsible for both the architecture and interior design of the Palm Jumeirah residence, which remains at concept stage. The consultancy says increasingly specialised requirements are shaping not just the rooms included in high-end homes, but their infrastructure and circulation from the earliest planning stages.
