Wall panelling
Fluted and slatted timber, book-matched veneer, painted mouldings, fabric and acoustic panels — set out for your walls, made in our own Al Quoz workshop and installed by the same team, with the concealed doors, lighting and sockets planned into the pattern.
Search for wall panelling here and you will find WPC and PVC planks sold by the metre, fitted by whoever is available. They are quick and cheap, and they look like it: the joints land wherever the plank runs out, the socket sits in a hole cut on site, and the door in the middle of the wall is a door with planks either side. Panelling that makes a room is set out from the wall’s dimensions, so the pattern is symmetrical, the joints are hidden, and the door disappears into it.
We design, make and fit panelling in our own workshop in Al Quoz Industrial First, the same floor that makes our wardrobes, media walls and furniture. That means a veneer wall and the sideboard in front of it come from the same flitch, the fluted headboard wall and the wardrobe fronts share a profile, and the concealed door is hung by the people who made the panels.
Panelling types
Chosen for the room and its use. A majlis wants something different from a meeting room, and both from a bedroom.
Solid or veneered slats on a backing, with the slat profile, spacing and finish drawn to the wall so the pattern lands symmetrically and the end slats are full width.
Large-format veneered panels, book-matched or slip-matched, with shadow gaps or flush joints and concealed doors hidden in the grain.
Sprayed MDF panels with applied mouldings, wainscoting and dado rails for transitional and classical schemes, arched niches and alcoves included.
Upholstered panels for bedrooms, majlis and cinema rooms, made by our own upholstery team on the same panel module as the timber.
Slats over acoustic felt and perforated panels for offices, restaurants and cinema rooms, plus slatted, coffered and parametric ceilings from the same workshop.
Headboard walls, majlis walls, entrance features and media walls with LED profiles in the shadow gaps and the sockets and switches set into the pattern.
How it is done
Six stages. The setting-out is where the difference is made; the rest is making sure what was drawn is what gets fixed.
Book a surveyWe measure the wall at several points, because walls in Dubai villas are rarely plumb, and record every door, window, socket, switch, AC grille, thermostat and skirting. The panel module is then set out so joints and slats land symmetrically about the centre or the feature, and the end panels are full width rather than a sliver.
Elevations of each wall showing every panel, joint, shadow gap, moulding, concealed door, hatch and lighting position, with sections through the sub-frame. Sockets and switches are relocated into the pattern on the drawing, not cut around on site.
Timber species, veneer leaf, slat profile, lacquer colour and sheen, fabric or acoustic felt are agreed against physical samples, and against the other joinery in the room where we are making it.
Panels are machined, veneered or sprayed and, where needed, upholstered in our Al Quoz workshop. Slatted panels are assembled on their backing with the spacing jigged. Everything is dry-fitted in the workshop before it goes to site.
A levelled timber or metal sub-frame is fixed to the wall, taking out the wall’s irregularity so the panels sit flat. Electrical points, lighting feeds and any AC grille extensions are moved into the panel layout.
Panels are fixed to the frame with concealed fixings, scribed to the ceiling and floor, concealed doors hung and adjusted, lighting commissioned. Snags are closed by the team that made the panels.
Recent work
Villas, residences and offices where the panelling was made with the rest of the joinery.
Specification & cost
We price panelling from the setting-out drawing, wall by wall, rather than per square metre of product. These are the decisions that move it.
Sprayed MDF is the most economical. Veneer on a stable core, matched across the wall, costs more and needs more care in setting out. Solid timber slats cost the most in material and machining. Fabric adds the upholstery stage.
A flat veneered panel with shadow gaps is simpler than a fluted slat wall, which is simpler again than a curved or parametric surface. Mouldings add machining and hand finishing.
A door hidden in the panelling needs a concealed frame, pivot or concealed hinges and a touch latch, and the panel pattern has to carry across it. Each one is drawn and priced as its own item.
LED profiles in shadow gaps and niches, relocated sockets and switches and any AC grille extension are electrical works priced on their own lines, and wired at first fix behind the frame.
In offices, restaurants, clinics and hotels, Civil Defence requirements may call for fire-retardant board and finishes or tested acoustic systems. These are specified at drawing stage. See commercial fit-out.
An out-of-plumb wall, an uneven plaster finish, a bulkhead or a run of services behind the panelling all shape the sub-frame and the setting out. We see them at survey and include them in the quotation.
A picture of the wall and a reference for the look is enough to start. We will survey, set out the pattern, draw the wall and come back with samples and a priced drawing.
Common questions
Materials, humidity, concealed doors, fire rating and cost. If yours is not here, call +971 50 448 3095.
WPC and PVC panels are extruded planks in a wood-effect finish, sold by the length and fixed directly to the wall. Fluted timber panelling is made from solid or veneered slats assembled on a backing, with the profile, spacing and finish chosen for the wall and the joints set out so the pattern is symmetrical. One is a product; the other is joinery. They sit at different price points and they look different, especially close up and at the edges.
Not if it is specified and installed for it. We use moisture-resistant board as the core, seal all edges, condition solid timber before machining, and fix panels to a sub-frame with a ventilation gap so the wall can breathe. Panelling fixed directly to an external wall in a humid room, without a frame or sealed edges, is where the problems come from.
Yes. Concealed doors, service hatches and equipment cupboards are drawn into the panel pattern so the joints carry across them, hung on concealed frames with pivot or concealed hinges and a push latch. The villa at Tilal Al Furjan has a full-height veneer wall with its door set flush into the grain.
Yes, and they should be decided on the drawing. Sockets and switches are relocated into the panel layout at first fix, with the faceplate finished to suit; AC grilles are extended through the panel with a matching frame or a slot. Cutting around them on site is what makes panelling look like cladding.
It can be. For commercial spaces Civil Defence may require fire-retardant board, lacquers and fabrics with tested ratings, and we specify the system accordingly at drawing stage. In homes, standard specifications apply. See commercial fit-out for how approvals work.
Only when it is backed with an acoustic layer. Slats over a felt or mineral-wool backing absorb sound through the gaps; slats over a solid board are decorative. For offices, meeting rooms, restaurants and cinema rooms we specify the backing and the gap to suit the room.
It depends on the material, the profile, the amount of concealed joinery and lighting, and the condition of the wall. Painted MDF with mouldings sits at one end; book-matched veneer with concealed doors and lit shadow gaps at the other. We set out the wall, draw it and price each element so you can adjust before committing.
Yes. Panelling, wardrobes, headboards and media walls for the same home are made on the same floor, with veneer leaves and lacquer batches allocated across them at production.
Yes. We deliver and install across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. The Dahlia in Abu Dhabi includes slatted panelling made in our Al Quoz workshop.
