Dubai-based founder and creative director of the homegrown, award-winning interior design studio Roar, Pallavi Dean, is an active member within the UAE design community, part of a team including designers that have emerged from and within the UAE as well.
With a very clear mission “to create unforgettable experiences through design”, the boutique interior design agency has built an award-winning international portfolio spanning three continents and four sectors: hospitality, commercial, residential and education.
Throughout past editions of Dubai Design Week, Pallavi Dean has showcased her talent and love for design as part of Downtown Design as well as contributing to the important dialogue of design in the UAE at talks and panels, some of the most notable works include the launch of her very first furniture collection, since heading her own interior design firm - the ‘Tension’ collection, debuted at Downtown Design, as part of the second edition of Dubai Design Week. The 2017 biophilic installation-led booth for leading carpet tile brand, Interface - based and titled on the concept of ‘metamorphosis’ and the 2018 installation realised a graphic and vibrant installation for Sharjah-based Oasis Paints, capturing the essence of its factory with pillars that mimic large paint drums.
Dean believes her designs reflect the influences of being born in India, raised in Dubai and working for several years in London. Having trained as an architect and a sustainability specialist, along with her women-led team from very different origins, together they thrive on diversity and bring together the best of local and global.
Most recently the Dubai Design District (d3)-based interior design firm outlines how restaurants will be designed and operated post-COVID 19, featuring a focus group of hospitality industry experts - designers, operators, journalists - and physiologists.
The White Paper is based primarily on a panel discussion with the focus group also supplemented by an online survey of 170 industry professionals. According to the report, the contactless trend will have multiple impacts –some relating to objects, others to people. Sharing mezze with close family members will likely endure – but sharing platters at large corporate functions may not.
However, people are a different matter. “Since the dawn of restaurants, a charismatic maitre d’, waiter, chef, barman or patron has been the lifeblood of a good restaurant - nowhere more than in the Middle East, where I grew up," says Pallavi Dean. The White Paper concluded that this physical familiarity will ultimately endure.