Lebanese Designer Nada Debs Opens Her First Showroom in Dubai

Nada Debs has just opened a flagship showroom in Dubai, and it's big news for the design scene in the UAE. Located in the Yard at Alserkal Avenue, the space marks the Beirut-based studio’s first international address and will offer her bespoke collections of furniture, a sample library and more. AD takes a look at the Lebanese designer's Dubai space and asks her about her unique mixed heritage and how it will impact her designs.

Founded in 2003, Nada Debs’ studio is known in the design world for contemporary furniture and objects that echo Eastern heritage. Having grown up in Japan and travelled to the US to study, the AD100 designer has spent years with the difficult task of combining Japanese restraint with Middle Eastern warmth. At the heart of it all is her fascination with the human hand. Weaving, marquetry, hand carving and mother-of-pearl inlay are often the foundation of her work.

The decision to expand beyond Lebanon followed a turning point. When her Gemmayze Street boutique was damaged in the 2020 Beirut port explosion, Debs saw it as a moment to rethink her future as a designer. That choice led her to Dubai, a city she sees as a gateway to the world and a place where local design can speak to a global audience.

The new flagship spans 230 square metres over two floors and is designed around what Debs calls a “box within a box”. Encased within a raw metal shell – typical for Dubai's industrial area – in Dubai's Alkersal Avenue, she inserted a wooden structure to soften the space and bring it back to a human scale. Light wood, terrazzo floors and gentle transitions guide visitors through open and intimate spaces, leaving room for all kinds of encounters.

The ground floor houses the boutique, showcasing bestsellers alongside newer collections like Palma, while a customisation area at the back invites clients into a more personal dialogue with the studio. A signature scent of sandalwood, cedarwood and incense completes the experience.

Upstairs, a curved staircase leads to a studio and sample library with a more industrial feel. Two circular windows, charmingly referred to as “the two dots”, are a metaphor for the duality that defines her work. Japanese and Arab. Traditional and contemporary. Different worlds, existing together.

That duality runs through her collections as well. Patterns in Nature explores organic marquetry inspired by flora and the complex grains in wood, while Marquetry Mania and Funquetry take classic inlay techniques in more playful directions. Now & Zen leans into calm minimalism with subtle material contrasts, while Strand focuses on carved wood and geometric rhythm. Summerland introduces straw weaving and relaxed forms, and Classic reinterprets Islamic geometry through contemporary furniture.

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Beyond collections, Debs’ projects often carry profound cultural and spiritual pursuits. The Nakhla cabinet, hand-embroidered by women from the Inaash social enterprise, celebrates Palestinian heritage and resilience. She is also recently transforming the 19th-century Okhunguzar Mosque in Tashkent into a cultural centre. When she first visited the site, it was close to ruin. “It was hard to even read the space,” she recalls. Still, the rhythm of the cupolas, traces of blue, white, gold and pink and the weight of the columns became her guide.

The Dubai opening also marks a generational shift, with her son Tamer Khatib stepping into the role of managing director. Together, they are shaping the studio’s future while staying true to its core belief that design is global and Dubai is the perfect city to bridge continents and conversations.