< Previous20 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025In The Studio What elements of your studio are designed to support creativity and inspire? MST: Inspiration comes from the materials that surround us. Wood, with its natural grain and warmth, interacts with cement tiles to create a tactile contrast that stimulates creativity. Samples of marble, metal, glass, and fabrics are always within reach, allowing us to touch and combine textures spontaneously. The studio is conceived as a creative workshop, where materials take centre stage and every surface tells a story. The atmosphere is enriched by artworks and design objects that create visual and tactile connections fueling the creative process. Are there any eco-friendly and sustainable elements in your studio? SD: While our studio wasn’t originally designed with sustainability in mind, we are mindful of our environmental impact and make a conscious effort to reduce waste. We actively practice waste separation and recycling, ensuring that materials such as paper, plastic and glass are properly sorted and disposed of. It’s a small but important step toward minimising our footprint, and we are continuously looking for ways to integrate more sustainable practices into our work. What is your company culture? MST: Collaboration and the pursuit of beauty are the pillars of our company culture. We work closely with artists and artisans, creating a dialogue between different skills and creative visions. We believe that every project is a blank canvas where our design vision and the technical expertise of our collaborators come together to create something truly unique. What building or place in history do you wish you had created, and why? SD: I would have loved to create the Palace of Versailles, a symbol of grandeur and timeless beauty where architecture, art, and nature come together in perfect harmony. The complexity of the spaces, the richness of the decorative elements, and the attention to detail represent a vision of luxury that transcends mere opulence, creating an immersive and almost theatrical experience. It’s a testament to how design can evoke emotion and wonder.21 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025In The Studio MST: I would have chosen Villa Necchi in Milan, an extraordinary example of understated elegance and rationality. Its architectural rigour meets sophisticated details and exquisite materials, creating a perfect balance of clean lines, thoughtful proportions, and masterful use of light. It’s a masterpiece of timeless modernity, a luxury that doesn’t need to shout to be felt. What is it like bringing European design, sensibilities, and sentiments to Dubai? MST: It’s both a challenge and an incredible opportunity. Dubai is a crossroads of cultures, and our aim is to bring the elegance and tradition of Italian design into a dynamic, futuristic context. The contrast between Italian classicism and Dubai’s bold modernity creates a creative tension that leads to something entirely new and original. Which project has pushed you to your limits? SD: The Rubino Penthouse at the Burj Khalifa. Working on the 103rd oor, managing complex materials such as rare marbles, and creating an atmosphere of luxury and intimacy in such an imposing setting was both a technical and creative challenge. Whose personal style do you admire? MST: We both deeply admire Giorgio Armani’s personal style. His approach to fashion and design re ects effortless elegance and timeless sophistication. Armani’s mastery of clean lines, muted tones, and impeccable tailoring creates a sense of understated luxury that feels both modern and classic. His ability to balance simplicity with re nement, focusing on form, texture and the beauty of restraint rather than excess proves that true elegance lies in the details and in the con dence of subtlety. What is inspiring you right now? SD: More than inspiration, what truly motivates us right now are the requests from our clients, which are always different and challenging. Each project presents a unique set of needs and expectations, pushing us to explore new ideas, materials, and solutions. This constant variety keeps our creative process dynamic and allows us to grow and evolve with every piece we design. It’s this ongoing dialogue with our clients that fuels our creativity and drives us to create designs that are not only beautiful but also deeply personal and meaningful. Have you always wanted to be designers? MST: Growing up in the serene Alpine valleys of Italy, I was surrounded by nature’s untouched beauty. This environment sparked my curiosity and creativity from an early age. I spent my childhood playing with driftwood and stones, building treehouses, and crafting makeshift dams. These experiences ignited my passion for design and architecture, leading me to explore the endless possibilities within these elds. SD: From a young age, I dreamed of becoming a dancer, immersing myself in various dance styles. Alongside this passion, I found myself drawn to the world of architecture. Initially, dance and architecture seemed like two distinct realms, the dynamic ow of movement versus the structural physicality of buildings. However, as I delved deeper, I realised they share a profound connection. Both are creative disciplines that draw inspiration from imagination, intertwining in unique and vibrant ways. This realisation led me to embrace design as a harmonious blend of my interests.22 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025Tamara Taamneh AI with a soul AS SAUDI ARABIA’S built environment accelerates under Vision 2030, designers are being challenged to create interiors that are not just beautiful, but intelligent. In commercial and hospitality projects across the Kingdom, arti cial intelligence and automation are shifting from novelty to necessity. Tamara Taamneh, an associate at Roar, has witnessed this transformation rsthand. She shares: “AI-driven environmental controls have genuinely rede ned interior experiences. Smart lighting that tunes to circadian rhythms, climate systems responsive to occupancy and preferences and automated shading that adjusts to solar intensity all contribute to spaces that listen, learn and respond.” Where once interiors were static, there is now an expectation for interaction. Users no longer just move through a space; the space reacts in kind. Taamneh describes it as “UX on an architectural scale”. Growing demand, invisible integration That expectation is increasingly driven by client demand in Saudi Arabia. According to Taamneh, there is a “noticeable surge in appetite” for intelligent design solutions, particularly within hospitality and commercial sectors. She explains: “Top client priorities include voice-controlled interfaces, predictive climate zones and frictionless integration with mobile platforms. The new luxury is invisible tech, effortless, integrated and intuitive.” As technology becomes more central, so too does the challenge of embedding it without compromising on aesthetic or Roar’s Tamara Taamneh is embedding AI into interiors that adapt, respond and re ect human needs in Saudi projects23 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025Tamara Taamneh She shares: “In public or multi-use spaces, that means simplifying interfaces, offering multiple levels of control and incorporating elements like multilingual settings and tactile feedback. It’s about empathy. Our mission is to make advanced systems feel effortless and universal, not exclusive or intimidating.” The road ahead Looking forward, Taamneh sees Saudi Arabia as uniquely positioned to lead in context- aware interiors. With giga-projects in full swing and cultural identity playing a key role in design decisions, the next phase of AI in interiors could be de ned by emotional intelligence. She shares: “I see a future where AI not only powers performance but also enhances cultural and emotional resonance. Spaces will become more sentient, aware of cultural rhythms, seasonal shifts, prayer timings and even social dynamics. Automation won’t just be a function – it’ll be a feeling.” For designers in Saudi Arabia, the work ahead lies not only in mastering the tools of automation but in using them to build spaces that understand and re ect the people who use them. “AI could enhance cultural and emotional resonance” cultural nuance. Taamneh points to Roar’s approach, which leans on layered materiality and storytelling. She says: “In luxury and traditional designs, it’s about enhancing the heritage or artisanal details – not disrupting them. You hide the sensor, but not the intelligence.” Design that responds Beyond environmental controls, automation is also shaping the physical elements of interior spaces. Taamneh shares examples of projects that have incorporated responsive surfaces and modular furniture embedded with sensors that adjust layouts based on occupancy patterns. Explaining the process of working with adaptive elements, she says: “Designing these systems requires choreography: striking the right balance between tech uidity and tactile warmth. Every responsive element needs to feel like it belongs in the space, not like a gadget, but like a soul.” Ef ciency without compromise On the operational side, AI is increasingly being applied to improve energy ef ciency, predictive maintenance and space utilisation. “Spaces now ‘tell’ you when they need attention,” Taamneh notes, citing Roar’s experience with machine learning models that ag wear-and-tear before it becomes a problem. The impact on overheads is measurable, but the real value, she says, is that it frees up room for design to take the lead. She adds: “These ef ciencies don’t come at the cost of design beauty — they enable it.” Taamneh shares that making systems work for everyone means starting with the end user.24 commercialinteriordesign.comSir David AdjayeAugust 2025 SIR David Adjaye A pre-colonial reckoning By Zen Bahar25 commercialinteriordesign.comSir David AdjaAugust 202526 commercialinteriordesign.comSir David AdjayeAugust 202527 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025 David Adjaye might be the rst Black architect to receive the RIBA Gold Medal, but he’s adamant he won’t be the last. A knighthood isn’t a source of validation for this Ghanaian-British architect, it comes with the weight of expectation, scrutiny and perhaps an idea of being judged by different standards. The applause was an opportunity to draw a line in the sand, a responsibility to represent the resilience and brilliance of those who came before him. Born in Tanzania and raised in Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon before settling in London, his vernacular is both historic and contemporary, his architecture includes the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi, National Cathedral of Ghana, DREAM Charter school in the Bronx and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. Instantly recognisable, breath-taking in scale and an icon of his generation, Adjaye’s mission is civic, spiritual and deeply personal. As we watch him lay the foundation stones for a cultural reckoning in the built world, we wonder who is the real man behind the most diverse, large architecture practice in the world? Below we try to nd out. Your work centres on community, as seen in the Ideas Store in London. What are your intentions as an architect? One of the reasons I became an architect is that I had experienced rst-hand what it’s like to navigate the world with a disabled brother. For me, the role of an architect is fundamentally about shaping the conditions for life. The Idea Store was an early example in my career of that disruptive thinking. It asked a simple question: what if public architecture could be genuinely welcoming to the community. Not just functional, but intuitive, porous, and grounded in how people actually live. It was a big experiment, and it required a great client to allow that risk. I see the architect as a cultural mediator. Our responsibility is to listen, to observe, and then to respond. We have in our toolbox space and materials and with that we can have an “The role of an architect is about shaping the conditions for life” Sir David Adjaye28 commercialinteriordesign.comAugust 2025Sir David Adjaye impact, for better or worse, on how people experience the city, the home, the school or whatever. I’m interested in how architecture can shift behaviour, yes, but also how it can restore dignity, build community, and create access. Once you start to see all the ways the built environment works as a tool of exclusion, you can’t unsee it. What I have always tried to do is make it about inclusion, and you can trace that all the way through from my early buildings to the big civic projects and masterplans I do now like the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi or the 111 District Hospitals in Ghana. The intention has always been to break open the discipline. To say: architecture is a social force. Today, speed and cost dominate architecture. How has that affected society? For me architecture, at its core, is a civic act. Historically, it was rooted in rituals of gathering for the rhythms of daily life. The spaces we built were shelters at their most functional level, but they were also vessels for memory and cultural codes. Today, the speed and economics of construction often override those intentions. We’ve normalised ef ciency at the cost of emotional resonance. When buildings lack dignity or connection to place, it affects how we act as humans. The buildings we choose to make become symbols for how grounded or fragmented we are. There is a disorientation that comes from being in environments that fail to bring us together as communities. I’ve always believed architecture must return to being an empathetic act. Whether I’m designing a museum, a home, or a clinic, the goal is to create spaces that nourish the soul and af rm our shared humanity. “The goal is to create spaces that nourish the soul and af rm shared humanity”29 commercialinteriordesign.comSir David AdjaAugust 2025Next >