This Meadows home by Studio Morosi incorporates minimalist contemporary design

Inside Dubai’s The Lakes, a leafy green neighbourhood known for its family-centric lifestyle and outdoor living, a new 340-square meter villa designed by Italian Dubai-based architect Cecilia Morosi of her eponymous architecture firm Studio Morosi incorporates minimalist contemporary design with rich materials, touches of colour and an abundance of natural lighting.

Morosi’s renovation transformed the villa into a structure intended to celebrate the essence of family life in Dubai surrounded by the verdant landscapes and several bodies of water. Completed at the end of 2024, the project was conceived for a large and vibrant household – a couple and their five children – with the desire to create a place capable of welcoming both everyday life and extended family visits with ease. 

Upon entry, visitors will observe nods to Italian Mid-Century modern design found through a blend of functional, clean-lined forms with subtle, expressive curves and sculptural elements, endowing the minimalist interior with a warm and welcoming approach. Morosi’s renovation provided an opportunity to rethink the spatial balance of the house to unite daily life for a large family. The brief, explains Morosi, was clear: to design a villa that could host multiple layers of living: spaces for the children, areas for gathering, a quiet office for remote work, and a private suite where grandparents can stay comfortably when visiting. “The villa was structured to adapt to the needs of a large family while also offering everyone their share of privacy,” explains Morosi. However, at the center of the structure, with the intention to unite all, was one essential room: the kitchen, which Morosi conceived as the true heart of the home.

Rather than relying on dramatic gestures, the design seeks a quiet, subdued harmony. The atmosphere draws inspiration from the natural landscape of Dubai itself – the warmth of golden sand, the brightness of the desert light, and the calm presence of the Arabian sea. A soft palette of natural, beige and nude tones was chosen for the flooring, used both indoors and outdoors to create a sense of visual continuity. Natural oak surfaces shape the cabinetry and the integrated doors, which were all assembled locally, transforming walls into architectural elements while maintaining a warm domestic presence. Subtle touches of colour appear in selected areas such as the bathrooms – an eye-catching feature created in ceramic tiles in various shades of deep greens – adding depth without disturbing the villa’s overall sense of calm. “The owners wanted something subdued and very simple and at the same time, pure,” explains Morosi. “The bathroom was the only place where we could use a little bit of colour.”

Natural light plays a pivotal role in defining the character of the spaces. It is as if light has become itself an architectural element, moving throughout the various spaces, transforming them subtly during different times of the day. Light moves across pale stone surfaces and wooden textures, reinforcing a feeling of serenity and harmony. The interiors feel open yet intimate, minimal yet deeply warm and welcoming, ready to receive all. This is what Morosi aimed to achieve: a house designed to be lived in, day after day, and one that dialogues with its natural surroundings endowing a sense of peace to its inhabitants. 

For Morosi, the project reflects a broader design philosophy and acts as a reference for her studio’s larger vision. Launched in 2020, while Studio Morosi is still relatively young, its identity and mission are clear: design for serenity. “Design is a language,” explains Morosi. “It is the way we tell stories through space.” Rather than following trends, Morosi’s approach is guided by the client’s story, specific context and surroundings of the site, and a search for lasting coherence and balance. Morosi believes trends come and go while architectural structures remain and are endowed with evolving meaning over time.

“Every project has its own boundaries,” adds Morosi. “But that is also the most beautiful part of the process. Creativity performs at its best when it has something to push against.” This villa in The Lakes is indicative of the pursuit of balance between openness and privacy, family life and moments of quiet contemplation and solitude. At the same time the central feature, the kitchen, the equivalent perhaps of the Arabic majlis in Italian culture, is the place where everyone gathers, converses and unites from their individual spaces and lives. 

There were also constraints to the design process, explains Morosi, constraints in terms of time, budget and technicality – constraints, she believes, which gave way in a positive sense to the creativity of the design. Morosi believes that creativity often thrives precisely due to certain limits. And then, like the balance she achieved in this villa, everything suddenly becomes clear – all the spaces, colours and materials align into a state of oneness. That moment, for this project, explains Morosi, was when all elements translated into an architecture that immediately felt effortless, serene and balanced. The villa was complete when each element seamlessly catered to the larger narrative and mission for balance, serenity and unity.