Fountains & water features
Water walls, reflecting pools, spillways and courtyard fountains for villas and commercial entrances — with the reinforced structure, waterproofing, pumps, filtration and lighting specified for heat, dust and hard water, and the services run beneath the garden before the paving goes down.
A water feature does two things in a Dubai garden that nothing else does: it masks the sound of the road and the neighbours’ AC, and it makes a terrace feel cooler than it is. It does not need to be large to do either. A sheet of water down a stone wall into a narrow trough, a dark reflecting pool at the entrance, a weir spilling into the swimming pool — these work because of where they sit, how they are lit and how the water falls, not because of how much water there is.
What they do need is to be built like small pools. Evaporation in summer, dust and sand in the water, hard tap water that scales every surface and pump, and pool chemistry where a feature shares the pool’s circulation all punish features that were built as decoration. We build the trough or basin as a reinforced, waterproofed structure, test it before it is finished, put the pump and filtration in a chamber someone can reach, add automatic top-up and an overflow, and run the power and drainage with the garden services. The stone, the lighting and the sound are then designed to be right the first time.
Feature types
Each type makes a different sound, needs different plant and suits a different position in the garden.
A sheet or textured fall from a stone wall into a trough or directly into the pool, lit from below. See Golf Place in Dubai Hills.
Shallow, still, dark-finished water at an entrance or along a terrace, with an overflow edge and hidden intakes.
The reservoir hidden below gravel or pebbles: no open water, no algae, the lowest maintenance and the safest for children.
Tiered, bowl and sculptural fountains for the arrival court, the internal courtyard or a commercial lobby.
Weirs, jets and walls run on the pool circulation, designed with the pool so the hydraulics and chemistry are one system.
Re-waterproofing, re-finishing, descaling and new plant for features that leak, stain or have been switched off.
Design & build
The features that fail in Dubai fail in the plant chamber or the waterproofing, not in the stone. The order below is how we avoid both.
See the full landscape scopeWe place the feature where it is seen from inside and heard from the terrace, where splash will not reach paving that gets slippery, and where a plant chamber can sit within a short pipe run with power and a drain. Water supply, drainage, power and the chamber are drawn onto the landscape services plan so they go in with the irrigation and lighting mains. The feature is included in the developer NOC for external works; one fixed to the facade or of any size may also need a DM or Trakhees permit.
The trough, wall or basin is built in reinforced concrete or blockwork with a reinforced render, waterproofed with a system that tolerates sun and movement, and filled and left to test for loss before any finish goes on. A feature that shares the swimming pool’s water is built and waterproofed with the pool shell.
The pump is sized to the fall and the sheet width, not guessed; too small gives a dribble, too large gives splash and noise. Filtration and dosing keep dust and algae down, a float valve replaces what the summer evaporates, and an overflow deals with the rare rain. All of it sits in a chamber with a lid someone can lift.
Stone, tile or metal is set with the weir edge truly level, because a sheet fall shows every millimetre. Underwater and edge lights go on exterior circuits matched to the garden lighting. We run the feature, adjust flow and sound, and hand over with the descaling and cleaning routine Dubai water requires.
Recent outdoor work
Dubai Hills, Al Furjan and Abu Dhabi.
Scope & programme
A pebble feature at the door and a stone water wall into the pool are different projects. These are the decisions in between, priced line by line after a site visit.
Open water needs a waterproofed basin, filtration, top-up and cleaning. A pondless feature hides the reservoir under gravel, needs less plant, has no algae and is safe for children. The choice sets the maintenance for the life of the feature.
A taller or wider sheet fall needs a larger pump, a deeper trough to catch splash and more care in levelling the weir. Flow decides the sound: a gentle sheet masks a road, a heavy fall drowns a conversation.
A free-standing trough is simple. A wall that is also a retaining wall, a feature cast with the pool shell or one fixed to the villa facade brings structure, waterproofing detail and possibly a permit with it.
Natural stone cladding, large-format porcelain, textured tiles behind the fall and metal weirs each cost differently and scale differently in hard water. Dark finishes make still water reflective; light ones show every mark.
Filtration, dosing, auto top-up, a timer and lighting controls add equipment and running cost but are what keep the feature running without daily attention through a Dubai summer.
In a new garden the water, power and drain go in with everything else. In a finished garden a line of paving comes up to reach them. We tell you which before pricing.
Tell us where you want water and what you want to hear from the terrace. We will look at the view from inside, find a place for the plant and come back with a design and a BOQ for the structure, the plant, the finish and the lighting.
Common questions
Maintenance, evaporation, hard water, safety and approvals. If yours is not here, call +971 50 448 3095.
Less than people fear if it was built properly, more than nothing. Dust and sand settle in open water and need the filter cleaned; hard tap water scales the weir, the pump and the finish and needs periodic descaling; evaporation needs topping up, which an automatic float valve does for you. A pondless feature cuts most of this out. We hand over with a routine written for the feature you have, and keep the plant where it can be reached.
In summer, yes, particularly a wide sheet fall in full sun, which is why every feature we build has automatic top-up and an overflow rather than relying on someone with a hose. Shading the water, reducing the sheet width and running the feature in the evening rather than all day all reduce the loss.
Circulation, filtration and light dosing, plus keeping the water moving and the basin out of all-day sun where possible. A feature connected to the swimming pool runs on the pool’s treated water. A pondless feature has no open water to go green at all.
Yes. A water wall, weir or set of spouts can run on the pool circulation or on a dedicated pump drawing from the pool, which keeps the chemistry and the top-up in one system. It has to be designed with the pool so the hydraulics, the structure and the waterproofing are built together. We cover this on the swimming pool page.
Within the garden, the feature is normally included in the developer’s NOC for the landscape works rather than approved separately. A large feature, one that forms part of a retaining or boundary wall or one fixed to the villa facade may need a Dubai Municipality or Trakhees permit as well. We include it in the external-works submission so it is not held up on its own.
A pondless or pebble feature, where the reservoir is below the gravel, has no open water and is the safest option. Reflecting pools can be built shallow with a grille just below the surface. Water walls with a narrow trough present little risk. We will suggest the type that suits how your family uses the garden.
Only as noisy as you want. Flow rate, the height of the fall and the surface it lands on decide the sound, from a near-silent sheet to a fall that masks a main road. We run the feature at commissioning and adjust it with you on the terrace, and the pump sits in a chamber so it is not heard.
Usually. We trace the loss, re-waterproof the basin, descale or replace the pump and filtration, re-level a weir that has dropped and re-finish stained stone. If the chamber was buried without access we build one. Where the structure has failed we will say so and propose a rebuild.
Yes. We deliver across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, as part of the landscape and exterior scope.
