bahrainthismonth.com | NOVEMBER 2025 LUXURY 39 Established in 2023, the studio was created to unite imaginative design with steadfast delivery, preventing clients from being left to navigate the stress and ambiguity of separate build teams. Bridging the Gap “When we launched Mint Design, the gap we saw was not just in design talent, but in holistic accountability,” Mr. Al Thawadi explains. “Clients often felt like they were hiring one team for the beautiful vision and then a separate, disconnected team for the stressful, messy part; the actual building. We stepped in to be the single point of control. We handle the aesthetics and the nitty-gritty of project supervision and quality checks. Essentially, we filled the need for a company that takes the worry away from the client.” This philosophy underpins Mint Design’s ‘Design-to-Delivery’ approach. From the earliest sketches, the firm integrates project managers and QA/QC specialists so that buildability is tested and iterated before documents leave the studio. “We do not just hand over drawings,” he says. “We have our supervisors and quality-control specialists review the design for buildability. The people who created the vision are the ones who literally stand on site to defend it, ensuring the finished space is a faithful realisation of the initial dream.” A Focus on Precision Mint Design treats quality assurance with paramount importance. It is a process that combines detailed specifications, approved mock-ups and pre-construction meetings with daily on-site walks, cross-referencing of samples and strict hold points before moving on to the next stage. “We are basically the client’s personal quality inspectors on site,” Mr. Al Thawadi notes. That insistence on precision ensures that materials read and feel as intended, joinery lines align perfectly and finishes reflect the curated palette chosen in the studio. Innovation is a second pillar of the company’s growth. Mint Design is prioritising modular, prefabricated and off-site construction methods to elevate quality while compressing programme times. By manufacturing key building components in controlled environments, the firm can reduce on-site waste, improve finish quality and accelerate delivery. “Once the modules arrive on site, they are assembled efficiently, reducing construction time and minimising disruption. It is a smarter, cleaner and more sustainable way to build, perfect for keeping pace with the Gulf region’s fast-moving development goals,” he says. Sustainability and Pragmatism Sustainability at Mint Design is pragmatic and performance driven. The studio emphasises passive strategies first, such as maximising natural light, optimising orientation and improving thermal performance, so that energy savings are built into the DNA of a project. Locally sourced materials and regionally efficient supply chains are prioritised to reduce embodied carbon and lead times. “Sustainability does not have to mean more expensive or slower,” Mr. Al Thawadi stresses. “It is about being smarter and more efficient upfront. By prioritising high-impact, low-cost choices like high-efficiency lighting and thermal insulation, we save clients money in the long run. Being green is also being financially smart.” Mint Design’s approach is also responsive to changing needs in workplaces and learning environments. The trend away from fixed, single-use spaces towards flexible, humancentred design has influenced the firm’s recent commissions. For offices the focus is on making the workplace desirable, almost club-like, with hospitality-grade amenities, refined acoustics and zoning for concentration, collaboration and social interaction. For education, adaptability is crucial. Classrooms now need modular furniture, integrated technology and abundant natural light to support varied teaching styles. In both sectors: wellbeing, choice and comfort are paramount. The Ethos in Action The studio’s project-management capability was tested on a recent, complex conversion when a portfolio of residential flats was reconfigured into a functioning university campus. The challenge was not aesthetic. It was regulatory and functional, requiring re-engineering for fire safety, acoustics, accessibility and specific educational codes. Mint Design created a parallel approvals strategy, liaising with authorities while finalising the design. The integrated approach saved months of delay and allowed the team to deliver a safe, accredited and elegant teaching environment on a tight schedule. Looking ahead, Mint Design is poised to scale. The immediate objective is to cement the studio’s reputation as a full-service projectmanagement company, taking on larger commercial and mixed-use developments that require cohesive oversight. Regionally, the firm is exploring collaborations across the GCC, with short-term project-based support in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Locally, partnerships with technology providers will allow deeper integration of smart-home and smart-building systems, aligning luxury finishes with intelligent, user-friendly operation. “At heart, we are about responsibility as much as creativity,” Mr Al Thawadi concludes. “Great design must be realised with the same level of care that created it. We designed it, and we will personally ensure it gets built exactly right.” “Great design must be realised with the same level of care that created it. We designed it, and we will personally ensure it gets built exactly right.”
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk0MTkxMQ==