PROJECTS | 5 MINUTE READ
FIRST GLIMPSE AT A COLLABORATIVE MASTERPIECE
How Global British interior design studio Accouter and French fine jewellery house Vandrel created a unique destination experience in Dubai.
In the heart of Jumeirah, Dubai, an understated villa gives little away about the world within.
This sense of discovery was fundamental to our vision for Villa Vandrel, the Dubai home of French high jewellery house Vandrel, founded by Arthur Baudin. Conceived as a private destination rather than a conventional retail space, the villa brings together French heritage, European craftsmanship and the intimacy of a beautifully considered home.
From the outset, we wanted the experience to unfold gradually. The exterior remains deliberately discreet, while beyond the front door, colour, materiality, art and craftsmanship begin to reveal themselves room by room.
It is our interpretation of a sequence of unexpected discoveries, a space where the pleasure lies as much in what is revealed along the way as it does in the final destination.
BEYOND THE TRADITIONAL JEWELLERY HOUSE
For Vandrel, jewellery is deeply personal. The environment surrounding it needed to feel equally so.
Rather than creating a traditional showroom centred solely around display, we designed Villa Vandrel around the experience of being hosted. Private lounges, suites and dining spaces allow clients to spend time within the villa, moving naturally between viewing jewellery, conversation and hospitality.
The result has more in common with an intimate members’ club or private residence than a conventional boutique.
This approach reflects a broader idea of luxury that feels particularly relevant today. As more of our everyday lives move online, the opportunity to spend time together in a private, thoughtfully designed setting carries new significance.
For Villa Vandrel, that meant creating somewhere clients could form a genuine connection with the house and its jewellery, with an experience shaped around them from the moment they arrive.
FRENCH HERITAGE, TOLD THROUGH MATERIALITY
Vandrel’s French identity provided a rich starting point for the interior.
Rather than interpreting this heritage too literally, we looked to materials, craftsmanship and collected objects to establish a sense of history throughout the villa.
Pierre Frey and Dedar fabrics introduce cotton velvets and silks, while carefully selected marbles bring natural variation and depth. Exotic woods, including burl maple, sit alongside solid brass ironmongery, creating a tactile material language that continues from one space to the next.
Each material was considered not only for how it looks, but for how it contributes to the experience of the rooms.
There is richness throughout, but it is revealed through detail rather than spectacle.
A POWDER ROOM DESIGNED TO SURPRISE
Perhaps nowhere captures the spirit of Villa Vandrel quite like the powder room.
We approached this smaller space as an opportunity to create one of the villa’s most memorable moments.
Bespoke marble basins are paired with solid brass sanitaryware, while the floor takes inspiration from the Palace of Versailles. Ambient lighting brings warmth and depth to the materials, but it is the walls that transform the room entirely.
A panoramic wall covering, reimagined from a 17th and 18th-century tapestry discovered within the archives, wraps around the space. The scene positions the viewer at the edge of a forest, where an opening through the foliage draws the eye towards birds, a distant landscape and a castle sitting on a promontory beyond.
Printed onto straw with metallic reflections, its changing surface gives the room an almost jewel-like quality.
The effect is immersive and unexpected, precisely the feeling we wanted guests to encounter throughout the villa.
A HOME FOR OBJECTS WITH A PAST
Alongside the architectural details and bespoke finishes, art and antiques play an important role in giving Villa Vandrel its character.
Rather than treating these pieces as decoration, we curated them as part of the villa’s story.
A vintage French fashion sketch from the 1950s sits alongside a print of the Vue de Chaillot and antique brass wall sconces sourced from the antique market in Albi, France. Elsewhere, vintage Italian landscapes, an antique English leather traveller’s writing set and an original French tapestry wall hanging from the 1900s add further layers of history.
These are pieces intended to be discovered gradually.
Together, they create the feeling of a collection assembled over time, giving the villa the warmth and individuality of a private home while quietly connecting it back to Vandrel’s European roots.
DESIGNING WITH LIGHT
The atmosphere of Villa Vandrel also needed to change throughout the day and according to how the house was being used.
Working alongside John Cullen Lighting, we considered light as an integral part of the client journey, using it to create depth, draw attention to craftsmanship and change the character of individual rooms.
A tunable lighting scheme was developed around three settings: Standby, Presentation and Party.
The villa can therefore transition from a quiet private appointment to the focused presentation of a jewellery piece, or into an atmospheric setting for a larger event.
Rather than remaining static, the interior responds to the moment.
“What I love most about Villa Vandrel is the sense of discovery. From the outside, it’s quiet and discreet, but once you step through the door, this whole world begins to unfold through the colours, materials and craftsmanship.
It’s been a truly collaborative project, working closely with Arthur, the Vandrel team and John Cullen Lighting to bring the vision to life. For us, it was about creating something deeply personal, where clients feel genuinely welcomed and hosted, and where the experience stays with them long after they leave.”
Charlotte Munn
Design Director
“Villa Vandrel is a brilliant example of what luxury in Dubai is becoming, more personal, more private and centred around meaningful experiences. It’s been incredibly rewarding to see our team work so closely with Vandrel and John Cullen Lighting to create a space that feels completely individual to the brand.
For us, this project is also an exciting reflection of the work we’re building here in Dubai, bringing together local insight with the craftsmanship and design expertise that sits at the heart of Accouter.”
Thom Atkins
Director
“Working with Accouter, we wanted to create an intimate setting that truly transcribes this vision into a space, one that reflects the same care and detail we bring to every piece we make.
Private and intimate spaces are definitely the future of luxury retail. We see a lot of big brands using this approach for their high jewellery events, and with the world more online than ever, the need for private, in-person relationships is becoming a true luxury."
Arthur Baudin
Founder of Vandrel
CREATING AN EXPERIENCE AROUND THE CLIENT
Villa Vandrel ultimately represents two disciplines brought together by a shared appreciation for craft.
For Vandrel, that craft is expressed through jewellery. For us, it is expressed through interiors, materials, objects and the many details that shape how someone experiences a space.
But the most important part of the project is neither the jewellery nor the interior in isolation. It is the client at the centre of both.
We wanted every element of Villa Vandrel to contribute to the feeling of being personally welcomed into Vandrel’s world. From the moment the front door opens to the discovery of an antique, the changing light of a room or the presentation of a piece of jewellery, the experience is designed to feel considered and individual.
In a world where luxury can increasingly be accessed through a screen, Villa Vandrel offers something distinctly human: privacy, time, conversation and personal connection.
And perhaps that is where the future of luxury lies, not simply in what we acquire, but in how the experience makes us feel.