Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat island is pegged to become one of the region's most celebrated cultural and artistic communities.
With the Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi set for completion in the near future, plus a marina with berths for 1,000 boats, a championship golf course and sea-view homes already complete, the 27-square-kilometre island offers residents and visitors a fresh take on being entertained in style.
While several grand hotels and five-star resorts give people the opportunity to enjoy the island temporarily, it's also possible to make your stay more permanent by investing in a high-end, luxury villa in the Saadiyat Beach Villas residential community in the Saadiyat Beach District.
There are currently three villa styles on offer, namely Arabian, Mediterranean and Contemporary. The InsideOut team spent a day photographing the latter - a beautifully designed and constructed five-bedroom modern villa.
The development is just a short walk away from the region's first championship beachfront golf course, the Saadiyat Beach Golf Club designed by Gary Player, and the first Monte-Carlo Beach Club outside of Monaco. The villa's modern architectural style is distinguishable through the use of multi-level flat roofs, bold geometric windows, stainless steel balcony railings and generously spaced roof-deck areas.
"The executive five-bedroom villa blends traditional Arabian features with modern architectural designs," says Nicole Judd, TDIC interior design manager. "It is certainly one of the most opulent villas currently on offer on the island."
Walking inside, the 784 square-metre home's most prominent feature is its astonishingly high ceilings, which vary between rooms, starting from an impressive two-storey height and reducing gradually to 2.93 metres in the bedrooms and living rooms.
"Our design team worked intensively to maximise ceiling opportunities for each villa," Nicole says. "We decided to vary heights between rooms to give each home its own style, and to distinguish grandeur." She adds, "this particular contemporary house also offers luxurious finishes including marble, limestone, travertine, basalt and porcelain tiles throughout. In terms of wood, internal doors and built-in cupboards are made of maple, while external doors are constructed of teak."
Aside from the finishes, the space also offers state-of-the-art technology including "an EGI background music system with speakers that distribute sound to most of the ground-floor rooms in Hi-Fi stereo mode," Nicole says. "It's also possible to operate each room or area as a stand-alone sound system, with the option of putting in additional local amplifier devices, which feed a bigger number of speakers in case the owner desires a higher volume in selected areas, such as the garden." Speaking of the garden, the contemporary villa's outside area is a welcome retreat, boasting a flat-bottomed pool with fitted LED lighting and linear terraced lawns with Cacti and perennial plants.
However, should residents care to venture into the Saadiyat Beach District, there are beautifully landscaped public gardens on offer for use by homeowners and their families.
Commenting on who she thinks the opulent villas are best suited for, Nicole says: "These deluxe houses are great for families of all sizes. We'd like to think these permanent homes have a distinct holiday feel and we have tried to carry that atmosphere throughout the community. There are several sizes and price-points on offer for the contemporary Saadiyat villas specifically, although these do not include the show home. The prices range from Dh15 million to Dh18.5 million and, with easy access to exclusive first-class amenities, homeowners will enjoy the privilege of having the beach at their doorstep and children's play areas, fitness tracks, community centres, swimming pools, gyms, basketball and squash courts nearby. A later phase of development will also include world-class schools and retail and food and beverage outlets. These villas are definitely some of the most luxurious on the Abu Dhabi market."
For more info visit the TDIC website www.tdic.ae
