XXII Carat is a community built around outdoor beauty, luxury, and elegance. The complex offers 22 villas and two penthouses in Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. It is being developed by Forum Group Holding with interior designs done by Transforma Design Studio. Preciosa has been working with Olga Klimova, interior stylist with Transforma to design centrepiece lighting for three of the villas.

XXII Carat Villa, Dubai

“A choice of every single element of any interior design is always determined by the general concept of this very design project,” said Ms. Klimova. “All Preciosa lights were chosen for the main areas of the villas that greet the visitor right away – these are either a central hall or a living room.”

Designs that Dazzle

Ms. Klimova first discovered Preciosa’s Signature Designs at Euroluce 2019, but has been working with the company since 2016. Signature Designs are an exclusive concept that allows designers to completely customize our lighting designs for their space.

“Let me do justice to the people who worked on the design of the stand – the stand was really fantastic and it was absolutely impossible to pass by without visiting it. Bravo!” she said. “I still remember that sensation of delight, thrill and some magic.”

Pearl Curtain was the design that made the biggest impact

“It was just the moment we were working on the design of the Show villa that was going to be presented to potential customers,” she said. “Therefore, the design of this villa had to be really impressive and striking that would make every heart beat faster at first glance.”

This is an impressive light – four metres tall and five metres wide. Four colours were chosen for the spheres: triplex opal, frosted honeycomb, frosted blush, and watercolour. Nearly 700 spheres in total make up the installation. It took some time to get the composition right, considering the suspensions to create the right level of transparency. Preciosa designer Daniel Szöllösi created the version of Pearl Curtain that matched Mrs. Klimova’s vision.

Signature Design Pearl Curtain

“Compared to the original Pearl Curtain seen as part of Carousel of Light, the new design is airy and much lighter,” he said. “We needed to create a balance that would be perfect for the space. If the design was denser it would feel heavy.”

In the end it was just as Ms. Klimova envisioned. “We received a magnificent chandelier that makes a fabulous impression on every person that sees it.”

Mr. Szöllösi was pleased as well when he saw the results. “The final design looks very good when installed in the space, even better than I imagined,” he said. “The interior itself helped a lot to complement the installation and vice versa.”

The Pearls Continue

Another Signature Design that wowed Ms. Klimova was Pearl Drop.

“As soon as we saw this concept it captured our attention and we started to think of all the nuances it could bring to our design,” she said. “This light was chosen for another villa with a “calmer” and not so striking design as compared to the previous one, which means that the light should not only perfectly fit in, but become integrated.”

Signature Design Pearl Drop

This Pearl Drop will hang in the living room. The ceiling height is six metres and the walls and ceiling feature classic stucco mouldings in light colours. Placed into this is a more than 3x3 metre Pearl Drop with six rings featuring opal spheres and gold elements.

“The fixture will seem light and as if floating in air,” Ms. Klimova said. “The combination of classic and modern elements (we consider Pearl Drop to be a modern design) is one of our favourite techniques.”

Project Number One

In the first XXII Carat villa we worked on together, Ms. Klimova chose King from our Collections portfolio and the Preciosa designed Falling Flowers. Because of the spacious size of the room, we created an extra-large version of King using opal white glass, silver glass spheres and satin nickel. It now holds pride of place in the villa’s living room. Falling Flowers is an original design featuring glass plates in frosted, crystal, and light amber hues.

Chandelier King XXL

From Russia with Love

Transforma Design Studio is based out of Yekaterinburg, Russia. The XXII Carat project is in Dubai, UAE. What design differences does Ms. Klimova find between the two countries?

“To begin with, different climatic conditions of these two countries have their influence. You must admit that designing open spaces in Russia has its specific features compared to that of the UAE, we should also consider here different daylight hours,” she explained. “We shouldn’t also forget about different sources of inspiration for a designer; such things as nature, culture and mind-set that are very peculiar for each country. But all these differences extend the boundaries of our opportunities.”

Olga Klimova from Transforma Design Studio

Design Today

2020 has been a difficult year for many industries, the design field included. Ms. Klimova thinks some areas of the design industry will be reconsidered in the light of recent events and looks on this as positive, a step forward for development.

“The design industry can be considered as art and art, in turn, is like litmus paper that absorbs all that is currently happening in the world around us,” she said.

For Transforma, watching and evaluating trends, but going their own way on design is a formula that works for them.

“We always analyse all new arrivals in the lighting sphere as we would like to make up something new and peculiar for each project,” Ms. Klimova said. “What really matters is the unique character of a new arrival. For example, we like ambitious and fresh lighting concepts with a combination of materials, e.g. a new metal finishing colours with stone inserts.”

We have collaborated on three XXII Carat villas with Transforma Design Studio and hope to continue the beautiful cooperation.

“The Preciosa lights are given a role as the central element of the composition that catches the eye, dazzles and creates the so-called wow-effect,” Ms. Klimova said. “And without any doubt each model of Preciosa light chosen by us fulfils this role beyond all praise. Generally speaking, the style of all Preciosa lights fits in perfectly with our ideas and we, in turn, are very happy about this perfect match and about our cooperation.”