E PLUS A Atelier on Quiet Luxury, Emotional Architecture & Poetic Detail
people • designers
Ali Mohammadioun is a UAE-based architect and interior designer celebrated for his soulful, immersive approach to spatial design. As the founder of E PLUS A Atelier, Ali creates emotionally resonant interiors where architecture, landscape, and material storytelling converge to shape experiences of quiet luxury and natural elegance.
Drawing on a multidisciplinary background in architecture from Ryerson University and business from St. Lawrence College, Ali brings a holistic design perspective to every project. His work seamlessly weaves together natural materials like stone, wood, and light, forming spaces that balance contemporary minimalism with regional craft traditions.
Operating from the UAE, E PLUS A Atelier delivers bespoke solutions across high-end residential, hospitality, and commercial interior design. Each project is defined by textural richness, atmospheric detail, and a deep sensitivity to place. From poetic lighting to custom-designed furniture, Ali’s interiors blend classical, modern, and Middle Eastern influences, resulting in highly personal and enduring spaces.
With a collaborative, hands-on design philosophy, Ali continues to shape the luxury interior design landscape in the Middle East, pushing the boundaries of architectural expression and material tactility.
Words: designeers
juLY 2025
WEBSITE: eplusa.ae
INSTAGRAM: @eplusaatelier
DESIGNEERS
Your projects strike a rare balance between architecture, landscape and the art of living. When approaching a new home, is there a particular material or lighting philosophy that anchors your process, or does it begin with the surrounding environment?
E PLUS A Atelier
Every project begins with the soul of the site. The surrounding environment is my first collaborator: the way the sunlight shifts throughout the day, the air’s texture, and the landscape’s natural rhythms all guide my early design thinking. From there, natural materials and architectural lighting become the vocabulary.
I don’t impose formality — I listen. Light, for me, is not just functional; it’s deeply emotional and spatial. It reveals surfaces, defines flow, and anchors memory. Similarly, I choose materials that age gracefully and feel honest under the hand — from tactile stone to warm woods. When light and material align with place, architecture stops being static — it becomes a living, breathing extension of its context.
DESIGNEERS
The UAE attracts both discerning end-users and international investors. Who do you design for at heart, and how do you shape your projects to resonate across cultures and expectations?
E PLUS A Atelier
At the core, I design for the individual — for someone seeking a space that reflects who they are, not just where they live. In the UAE, where luxury real estate meets a diverse international clientele, we’re constantly bridging global design sensibilities with regional authenticity.
Whether I’m designing for a family relocating from Europe or a real estate investor from Asia, the approach is the same: create interiors that feel emotionally resonant, functionally refined, and culturally attuned. I draw from Middle Eastern design traditions, but interpret them through a modern, minimal lens — emphasising clarity, balance, and warmth.
In the end, a well-designed space should transcend borders. It should feel both deeply personal and quietly universal.
DESIGNEERS
You recently launched a bespoke furniture line as an extension of your spatial design work. What sparked this move, and how does custom-making elevate your ability to tell a holistic story through interiors?
E PLUS A Atelier
The decision came from a desire to complete the narrative of a space. Too often, I would design a carefully considered interior only to dilute its language with ready-made furniture that didn’t speak the same visual or emotional dialect. With custom furniture design, I can sculpt every curve, proportion, and material finish to echo the space’s intent.
It’s not about luxury for its own sake — it’s about coherence, intimacy, and material storytelling. Whether it’s the patina of brushed bronze or the silhouette of a low-slung armchair, every element should reinforce the architectural atmosphere we’re creating.
DESIGNEERS
Your interiors exude the poise of a private sanctuary with the atmosphere of a boutique hotel. How do you layer in comfort, tactility and smart technology, like ambient lighting or home automation, while keeping the emotional integrity of a space intact?
E PLUS A Atelier
Technology in interior design should be invisible — present but unobtrusive. I approach it like sound design in film: something you feel before you notice. Ambient lighting, sensor-based automation, and intuitive smart home systems are all integrated to support the mood, not dominate it.
Comfort isn’t just about softness; it’s about spatial clarity, sensory warmth, and emotional ease. From the density of upholstery to the dimming curves of a lighting scheme, every detail is calibrated to support how a person feels — not just what they see. It’s this emotional resonance that transforms a house into a lived, loved space.
“The UAE is a mosaic of cultures, and that’s a gift; it encourages us to find threads of universality: warmth, clarity, and balance.”
E PLUS A Atelier
DESIGNEERS
Craft and collaboration seem to be at the heart of your work. Can you share a favourite hidden design detail, perhaps a functional surprise or poetic gesture, that still brings you quiet satisfaction?
E PLUS A Atelier
There’s a villa where we embedded a concealed shadow gap lighting detail that softly washes a wall in vertical light. At twilight, it feels as though the walls are breathing. It’s almost imperceptible unless you’re attuned to it, yet it transforms the room’s entire emotional landscape as day shifts to night.
Those are the gestures I cherish most — subtle architectural interventions that are deeply felt but never forced. It’s in those quiet, crafted moments that design becomes personal and poetic.
DESIGNEERS
You’ve worked across continents, yet your palette remains grounded in authenticity. Who are the suppliers or artisans you consistently return to, and why?
E PLUS A Atelier
I often return to Apparatus Studio in New York — their lighting fixtures are more than illumination; they’re functional sculptures that bring emotional weight to a room.
In Italy, I collaborate with a family-run stone atelier who understands the wabi-sabi beauty of imperfection. Their materials have soul — raw, expressive, and timeless.
Closer to home in the UAE, I work with a local joinery workshop whose craftsmanship is unmatched. They turn every sketch into tactile, tailored realities. What unites all of them is a reverence for their material and a curiosity in process. That’s where extraordinary things happen — when hands and hearts align.
DESIGNEERS
From a designer’s eye: What is the most unforgettable hotel or retreat you’ve stayed in, and what design choices left a lasting impression?
E PLUS A Atelier
The Madrid Edition left a lasting impression. The way it harmonizes classical Spanish architecture with contemporary design detail feels like a seamless conversation between heritage and innovation.
I was struck by the layered material palette — rich textiles, warm woods, sculptural lighting — all choreographed to evoke intimacy and depth. Every transition between public and private space is fluid, yet each moment is purposefully composed: a pendant light above a leather chaise, a curved stone bar that feels both opulent and understated.
It’s a masterclass in luxury hospitality design — balancing the grandeur of a European capital with the elegance and ease of a private residence.
DESIGNEERS
When you revisit a completed project, what emotion or spatial memory do you hope lingers long after the client has moved in?
E PLUS A Atelier
Stillness. A sense of grounding. I hope the space continues to unfold with time — that it ages gracefully alongside the person living in it. A home should absorb its owner’s rituals and respond to their rhythms. If a client walks through their home and feels a quiet sense of belonging, if the walls hold their story without ever overwhelming it — that’s when I know we’ve achieved something truly meaningful.
The best residential interiors are not just aesthetically refined; they’re emotionally attuned. They balance form and feeling, becoming places of resonance and retreat.
DESIGNEERS
Complete the sentence: “A beautifully designed home…”
E PLUS A Atelier
A beautifully designed home is not just lived in — it tells a story. It adapts, reflects, and quietly celebrates the person within it. It’s a dialogue between space and self, designed not just for function, but for emotional connection and everyday beauty.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS
