Grand designs

Paul Bishop has designed some of Dubai's hippest venues, but things haven't always been so rosy. He tells Lorraine Chandler that during his first few hours in the city he had the "shock of my life" when he was taken to a cramped apartment which he had to share with 15 people!

After nine years studying interior design, with a master's degree from the Manchester Metropolitan University and a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts, Paul Bishop was all set to come to Dubai for his first job.

It was Valentine's Day, 1996. He didn't know much about the city but was eager to learn.

Being a typical 'arty' graduate, he arrived at Dubai Airport wearing blue kicker-boots, a shiny red Adidas top and purple corduroys. All set to party, he was ready to be taken to his villa.

However, things turned out to be a little different from what he expected when he was taken to a three-bedroom apartment on Rolla Street.

He spotted cockroaches scurrying along the stairs and corridors, but hoped things would look better inside.

Bishop then had what he calls "the shock of my life" when he entered the three-bedroom apartment to find he was sharing it with 15 colleagues.

"I remember they had to kick the chef off my mattress," he reminisces.

"I arrived in the middle of the night ... I didn't know what was happening," he says.

Things got worse, he recalls. Every morning there were queues of 10 men for the shower. (I wonder silently what the other five or six people did.)

One morning, he was sleeping when someone moved his head. Then suddenly he felt very hot. He knew Dubai was warm but the heat felt a bit too intense. When he opened his eyes, he saw the source of the heat. A flatmate had moved his head to plug in the iron, and was ironing beside his head.

Many others might have given up and gone home, but he decided to give it time.

"I found it all a bit strange, but I had spent four months travelling around India so I decided to apply my backpacking philosophy to the situation. The cook would prepare food for us all, and we'd sit on the floor eating it, then play a game of carrom. I was one of the guys," he says.

But then one evening Bishop went out dancing. Returning home late that night, he found himself locked out. Banging on the door brought no response. He spent the night sleeping in the garbage room, "It wasn't too bad," he says.

Yet as he started to go out and socialise more, he realised his employers were taking advantage
of him. When he complained about his living arrangements, his employers offered to evict some of the other guys so he could have his own room.

Unwilling to accept this solution, Bishop resigned after several weeks.

His next experience gave him a different taste of Dubai. Some friends from Manchester invited him to stay with them in their Bur Dubai flat, where they helped him out and introduced him to some new people.

He then worked as senior interior architect for Atelier 21 design consultants between 1996 and 1998.

By this time he had met and married Patricia, a Spanish woman (They later separated). They moved to Spain in 1998, but Bishop returned to Dubai the following year to pay for his new house's mortgage by working for Interiors International.

Over the years, Bishop has worked for various interior design companies until he established his own business in July 2004. Since then, his career as an interiors consultant has flourished.

He admits he has a weakness for designing entertainment outlets such as Sushi Sushi, Chin Chin and the Exchange Grill at the Fairmont Hotel.

But he has also designed prestigious corporate projects such as the offices of Leo Burnett Advertising Agency, Mercedes and Aston Martin as well as the Dubai International Financial Centre.

Bishop has gained a reputation for eclectic, individualistic designs that combine carefully-selected materials with clever lighting to create spaces that make an instant impression. Detail is the key element, he explains fervently.

Tall and slim, Bishop at first glance looks like another handsome young businessman trying to get ahead in Dubai. But as we talk, his piercing blue eyes seem to become the centre of a tortured artist. It's almost as if the word 'intense' was invented for this guy.

While Bishop has many amusing stories, he admits he is terribly shy and has never found it easy to chat with people at gatherings. He fidgets constantly and appears to be full of nervous energy.

Bishop says he tries to look on the bright side of life's problems, but I get the impression he's someone who drives himself almost beyond endurance.

I've always been a bit sceptical about the saying that artistic people are more sensitive than others, but after meeting Bishop, I may have changed my mind.

I
I feel everything stems from fashion. Interior (trends) can be almost as ephemeral as clothing fashions because they can date quickly, depending on colours, styles and how much they've followed the trends.

I would like to be more globally recognised. I think everyone wants recognition like that. I'm an associate designer with (Dubai-based) Arki, and with Offidi, a Spanish furniture company.

I've designed head offices for Offidi in Miami and Chile and I'm applying designs for (its) global corporate identity.

Dubai has been very kind to me. It's a great place, but the world is my oyster and I'd like to be exposed on a more international level.

I don't think you should close your mind to anything. You make your own destiny. There is a path you must take, but it's what you make of it that's important. We all step off the path sometimes, but then we get back on (it) at different places.

I excelled in sport and art when I was younger. At first I wanted to be an athlete, but I realised that (doing this professionally would only be feasible for about 10 years), so I went for art.

I looked very out of place when I arrived in Dubai 10 years ago, but nowadays I think people are more into fashion here. I don't feel my age (37) and I wear the clothes I like ? but, of course, sometimes I can't fit into them any more!

I met a designer recently who is 60; he had streaks in his hair and looked so cool.
Maybe I'll be like that!

I've been very lucky with friends.

When I was (studying interior design) at Kingston University, London, I met a guy whose dad worked in the music business and produced (albums for the rock group) Madness, so we got to meet a lot of music people, such as (Stephen) Morrissey and 'Suggs' (aka Graham McPherson) from Madness.

That opened up new social circles for me in London.

Then I was friends with Ben Kelly, one of my tutors at Kingston and one of the pioneers of interior design in the UK. Fred Scott, a teacher (at Kingston), was a major influence on me.

He was a complete genius while also being a bizarre character who would say strange things that you might not understand until days later. I feel very fortunate in the artists and designers I've been able to meet.

I wouldn't change the universities
I've studied in, or the people I've met. It's destiny. If I had gone elsewhere, I wouldn't have met these people. Of course, I would have met other people, but I don't look at it like that. I've no regrets at all.

Me
Me and my family:
I met my (now ex-wife), Patricia, in 1997. She was a Spanish flight attendant with Emirates airline and was very beautiful. We must have been completely infatuated with each other because we got married only two months later, in November 1997.

Looking back, (getting married) was just mad, a complete whirlwind. I had previously had a girlfriend for seven years and had never even considered (marriage).

Patricia and I had two children, Clara, 7, and Victoria, 4. I threw away nine years of training to go to Bilbao in July, 1998, because Patricia wanted to live in Spain.

I didn't even speak Spanish, but I took up a job teaching English and we bought a house. Then I got a call from Interiors International in Dubai, who asked me to work for them.

We had a big mortgage on our house, so I came back (to Dubai) in February 1999 and Patricia and the children followed me. However, we separated in 2002, not long after Victoria was born.

Patricia had loved Emirates and felt she was too young for motherhood, so I think she always blamed me that she had to leave the airline. That put a lot of stress on the relationship, as did the fact that Clara had developmental difficulties.

And, of course, we were both young and inexperienced. The one thing we have in common now is that we both love the children to bits.

I try to get to see the girls every couple of months and I make sure the time I spend with them is quality time.
 
My mother (Georgina) is a godsend because she goes to Spain, picks them up and brings them to the UK, where they can chill out and relax in the family home. I join them and work from home if I have to.

Clara is very stubborn and individualistic, while also being artistic. She likes acting because it's the best way for her to express herself, while Victoria is very musical. They both speak Spanish and that's how we communicate.

I feel sad that we're not together but I also think, "We're not the only ones (separated). I've got two beautiful children in good health who are an inspiration to me."

Me and art school:
I started off (my design studies) in 1985 with a one-year foundation course in the West Sussex College of Arts and Design. Then I continued to do a BTEC in 3-D design. We worked on furniture and product design and I made a great bunch of friends.

I liked fashion and also had a passion for stage design, but at that stage I realised I was really interested in working in interiors.

I then went to the Berkshire College of Arts and Design, where I studied for a higher national diploma in 3-D interior design. I had moved away from home, so I supported myself with jobs in NEXT, the Dome Brasserie and (at some) supermarkets.

From then on, product design went out of the window as I concentrated on interiors. I won a Royal Society of Arts travel bursary while at Berkshire.

A team of four of us went to Liverpool to redesign a derelict old church. We then won a £1,500 (about Dh9,705) travel bursary whereby we could use the money to travel, but then had to write a 6,000-word dissertation about our trip.

I backpacked around the United States for four months (using the bursary). That was a summer of fun, because you meet great people from different walks of life.

I was very shy, but when you go away on your own, you have to meet people. There I met a girlfriend, Isabelle, and we (dated) for seven years.

After Berkshire I went to Kingston University, one of the top design universities in Europe, where I got a first in a BA honours degree in interior design in 1992.

Affiliated to the Royal College of Art, the university had some great teachers. It was difficult to get into and I had something like a 1 in 200 chance, so when I did get accepted, I worked hard.

I then went on to do a master's in interior design and architecture at Manchester Metropolitan University, which I completed in 1995.

I took a break afterwards, working as a tour manager for some music friends, until I got an offer to work in Dubai at the end of 1995.

Myself
What sorts of places do you most like designing?
I prefer hospitality design jobs: restaurants and clubs. I love food, fashion and the arts, so I enjoy getting the opportunity to experiment with new materials for food and beverage and retail outlets.

I've also done a lot of commercial work. I try to make these sort of spaces fun and dynamic too. I think every place has its own identity. Commercial projects might be more difficult because they have to be functional.

I have to decipher the brief to create the appropriate space. But I always try to use avant-garde material. It's the application and the details that make all the difference.

I don't do many residential projects unless they really excite me. The thing is, a home should have the spirit of the person who lives there. As a designer, you could be just evoking memories that are not really there.

Similarly, I don't agree with 'themeing'. In an Italian restaurant, the essence can be Italian but you don't need to do the traditional kitchen effect.

What has been your favourite project?
I really enjoyed doing Chin Chin at the Fairmont. It was a dead open space without identity or revenue. I needed to close it off to create a space that was identifiable while also being linked to the other venues and in synergy with the hotel.

We did this by creating a low-level lighting environment, with subdued lighting. Then we created
a monochromatic space with colours going from off-white to off-grey, while still being warm.

I felt the overall effect was that you could be anywhere in the world and it was very aesthetically pleasing.

I also enjoyed re-designing the Exchange Grill in the same hotel.

The lights had been too harsh and there was no segregation of space. The materials were too hard, and the ambience needed to be changed. I played with the lighting and the use of materials to make it a much more intimate place.

Many say Dubai is a dream for architects and designers. Would you agree?
I have had a lot of freedom ... to create here. Dubai is a bit of a stage where you can create whatever you want and clients are very receptive.

The opportunities are there and it depends (on) what you make of them. I have seen a lot of plagiarism of my work, particularly as some of my interiors have been published in magazines.

I smile when I see something that's a copy of (one) of my projects. While I'm flattered at the imitation, there's always some application of detail missing.

I believe design is about detail. If the detail is not there, then it's just not quite right and it won't be 100 per cent.