A Night to Remember: Reflections from the CID Awards 2025 MENA

An Evening of Design, People, and Emotion

The Commercial Interior Design Awards MENA 2025 brought together over 800 of the region’s leading designers, architects, and fit-out professionals at the Johara Ballroom, Madinat Jumeirah.

It was an evening of creativity and celebration — a reminder of how far our design community has evolved and how strong the conversation around interior architecture, sustainability, and emotional design has become.

The Johara Ballroom transformed into a multisensory world of light and emotion.

For us at Claire Dominics Buro, it was an honour to stand among the finalists in two major categories — Hotel Concept of the Year for the OUD Hotel and Residential Project of the Year for the Turquoise Apartment.

When our OUD Hotel was announced as Highly Commended, the moment felt deeply personal. The project embodies our belief that interior design is not just visual composition — it’s storytelling through materiality, light, scent, and emotion.

The Cyber Garden: Where Nature Meets Technology

The Cyber Garden — a spectacular fusion of biophilia, technology, and performance.
Image Credit for feature photo: Grace Guino / BRUTALGRACE Photos for Commercial Interior Design (ITP Media Group). Source: Commercial Interior Design – Cyber Garden Moments

This year’s theme — the Cyber Garden — was an extraordinary metaphor for the future of design.

The space itself blurred boundaries between nature and digital art — lush greenery, metallic reflections, and immersive lighting created a surreal, biophilic world that celebrated transformation and sensory experience.

From the vibrant visual performances to the curated music, scents, and flavours, every detail spoke of multisensory design — a direction that defines our own work.

“Design should awaken all senses — not only through aesthetics but through emotion, sound, scent, and touch. The Cyber Garden captured that beautifully.”

OUD Hotel: A Sensory Story in Design

The OUD Hotel concept, inspired by the layers of Arabian scent culture, merges architectural structure with olfactory memory.

A proud moment: OUD Hotel recognised as Highly Commended in Hotel Concept of the Year.

It’s a project that explores how design can be felt — through the soft diffusion of light, the tactile rhythm of surfaces, and the narrative woven into every curve and material.

Receiving recognition in this category among so many remarkable studios across the region was both humbling and energising.

A Grateful Moment

Attending the CID Awards with Claire and the CDB team reminded me that design is not an isolated act — it’s a collective effort that brings together ideas, craftsmanship, and emotion.

We left the event proud and inspired — grateful to be part of a community that constantly pushes the boundaries of architecture, interior design, and fit-out innovation.

The night, much like our projects, was a multisensory experience: full of colour, rhythm, and the pulse of creativity.