MBZ City landscaping and pools: whole villa gardens in Mohammed Bin Zayed City, designed and built.

A redesign, not a patch-up

A garden that has been lived in for years rarely needs one thing fixing. The paving has moved, the irrigation no longer reaches what it should, the shade is in the wrong place for how the family lives now, and the pool, if there is one, is due more than a new finish. Patching each of those separately costs more over time than designing the garden once and rebuilding it properly.

So the first visit is a survey as much as a brief: which trees are worth keeping, whether the pool shell is sound, what the levels and the drainage are doing, and where the services run. The design then keeps what earns its place and replaces the rest, as one drawing set.

An existing pool: re-finish, rebuild or replace

If the villa already has a pool, we look at it before we draw anything. Where the shell is sound, re-tiling, new coping and a new plant set can give it a second life as a smaller line than a new pool. Where the shell has moved or leaks, replacing it is cheaper than a second repair, and it is the moment to change its shape or position to suit the garden.

Each option is priced as its own line, so keeping the shell and replacing it can be compared as two numbers rather than two quotes.

Mature trees and an older garden

Trees that have grown over years are the one thing money cannot buy quickly, and we design around them: the terrace, the pool and the services are laid out clear of their root zones, and the new planting goes in beneath them. Under an established canopy, the new palette favours plants that take shade and heat together.

Keeping a tree, a stretch of wall or a sound area of paving shows up as a saving you can see on the bill of quantities.

Compounds and standalone villas

A standalone villa is the owner’s to plan from gate to back boundary. Inside a compound, neighbours share walls and access, so the site is run with care: the route for machinery and skips, the working hours and the storage are agreed before we start, and the boundary work is drawn so it does not affect the villa next door.

Approvals in MBZ City

A pool or any structure needs the municipal building permit; swimming pools, canopies and shade structures are on the Department of Municipalities and Transport’s minor-works permit route. Inside a compound, we check first whether the compound’s management must consent. The permit is part of our scope: we prepare the drawings and the submission, and we do not mobilise until the approvals are back.

We will not put a date on them here; they depend on the authority and, in a compound, on its management.

What moves the budget in MBZ City

On a redesign the movers are different from a new garden: how much is demolished and taken away, whether the pool is kept, re-finished or replaced, how much of the paving is renewed, the number and size of the shade structures, and a new irrigation system sized for the garden. Each is priced line by line after the visit.

Every element is its own line at the rates on our cost page, where the published bands also sit, so what you keep and what you replace can each be seen, and each changed, without the rest of the price moving.

How the project runs

A designer at the villa within 48 hours. The design with visuals and the priced bill of quantities in seven days. A Preview walk at full scale, so the new garden can be seen against what is there now. The approval packs on sign-off. Then a live tracker through the build: the programme, the photographs and the money against the BOQ.