São Paulo – Brazilian architects and businesswomen Shalise Basso and Carina Fontes opened the showroom of the custom furniture brand Ornare in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, earlier this month. The franchise’s managing partners have been working with the brand in the Arab country for about a year and already have Arab, Indian, and Brazilian clients. Pictured above, Carina Fontes (left) and Shalise Basso (right).
Ornare is a Brazilian company with 36 years of expertise in kitchens, cabinets, closets, and other custom-designed furniture solutions. It has stores across several states of Brazil and the United States. The brand’s main stores are located in São Paulo and New York; the others are franchises. This is the first in the Arab world and the Middle East.
The projects are highly customizable, a competitive differential of the company, according to Shalise Basso. The partner told ANBA the showroom impressed the approximately 200 people who attended the opening party, including architects, real estate brokers, and specialized media. The showroom is located in the Business Bay area in downtown Dubai.
Carina Fontes has lived in Dubai for two years and Shalise Basso for ten. In October 2020, they traveled to São Paulo to visit Ornare’s main store, on a famous avenue in São Paulo. The architects met the brand’s owners there and decided to open the franchise in the emirate.
“We went back to Dubai, assessed the feasibility, made a business plan, carried out field research, and one of the biggest concerns was choosing the showroom’s location. We could not get it wrong,” said Basso, who had previously worked with customized furniture.
In February 2021, they decided on the address at The Opus, a newly opened office building, and initiated the building work. “This was one of the last buildings designed by architect Zaha Hadid, the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the highest international award reference in the field,” said Basso. Zaha Hadid is of Iraqi-British origin and passed away in 2016.
Customization
Ornare has industrial production in a plant in Cotia, in the state of São Paulo. There, quality woodwork products are manufactured with exclusive designs and a high level of customization. The brand’s competitors, according to Basso, are Italian and German companies, but neither offers as many options with such high quality, she stated. “There are cabinets, kitchens, bathrooms, wall systems, everything with woodworking we can build. All the custom furniture is included in the project. Ornare does not sell loose furniture, such as chairs,” she explained.
Fontes and Basso understand the client’s needs and carry out the project. The presentation is in 3D, with virtual reality glasses. “The client can get into the project and experience it, assess it down to the smallest detail,” said Basso.
Ornare uses medium-density fiberboard (MDF), suitable for the production of interior furniture. The product is easy to use by the industry and has low formaldehyde emissions, according to the official California Air Resource Board (CARB) regulations. All parts are made and pre-assembled in Brazil and shipped to Dubai. The delivery takes about 30 days.
Shalise Basso attributes Ornare’s differential to the color palette, level of customization, and quality of the products it offers. “We have a particular palette, and we offer several options for handles metal parts; there are many details to offer a different product for each client,” she said.
Kitchens are the brand’s flagship, followed by walk-in closets and cabinets. “In Dubai, it is very typical for a house with a large family to have an industrial kitchen for everyday use, and a show kitchen, the most beautiful one, usually integrated with the living room, to receive visitors,” said the architect. The Paris line has stood out among the projects in the emirate. “It has a slightly more traditional design and comes in many colors. The metallic gold is much sold, it is very stylish, they love it. We have even built a purple kitchen,” she said.
Basso said Ornare is looking for partnerships with high-end real estate ventures in Dubai, but, in general, it has been working directly with end customers.
Quick facts:
Ornare Showroom
The Opus by Omniyat, 7th Floor – C701
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
+971 55 899 4069 – Shalise Basso
+971 58 570 9580 – Carina Fontes
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
