Dubai | United Arab Emirates
unbox API world tower - phase 2
Client
Unbox INC
Date
November 2024
Services
Interior Design
Dubai | United Arab Emirates
unbox API world tower - phase 2
Client
Unbox INC
Date
November 2024
Services
Interior Design
The Brief
Following the success of Phase 1 across the ground floor and mezzanine of API World Tower, Unbox and API returned to Ten Eight with a bigger ambition: to extend the community into an adjacent property on Sheikh Zayed Road, directly opposite the World Trade Centre. The brief called for 15 offices ranging from medium to large formats, along with meeting rooms, Zoom rooms, a print station, a generous pantry, and a large communal seating pit at the interior heart of the plan. The challenge was to transform a legacy leisure venue into a next-generation workplace — while carrying the openness, energy, and community feel that had made Phase 1 so successful into a larger footprint.
The Approach
Phase 2 was designed as a natural extension of the Unbox brand language established at Phase 1 — same materials, same colour dialogue, same design DNA, adapted to a larger and more complex plan. Bright vibrant yellow remains the primary accent, joined here by fresh lime green and sharp black detailing to give the interior a contemporary, energetic character with real personality.
The Approach
The Unbox geometric origami motif runs consistently throughout — etched onto every glass partition as three-dimensional graphic surfaces, echoed in the multicoloured hexagonal carpet in grey, charcoal, yellow, and lime, and carried through the joinery and signage. The 15 offices are arranged around a clear circulation logic that balances privacy with visibility. A generous central seating pit next to the pantry becomes the informal social heart of the interior — a place for coffee, collaboration, and the unplanned conversations that shape start-up communities.
The Outcome
API World Tower Phase 2 completes the Unbox community at one of Dubai’s most central addresses — 18,000 square feet of workspace, 15 offices, and a full business centre programme delivered as a coherent extension of the Phase 1 identity. Together, Phase 1 and Phase 2 form one of the most ambitious co-working environments Ten Eight has delivered — and a defining chapter in a partnership with Unbox that continues to grow with every new location.
