Skooni: How Visionary Nat Morcos Transformed Her Space Into An Ode To The Sun

A villa in Umm Suqeim is transforming how the city positions arts and culture. It’s a love letter to Dubai, penned by Nat and Michael Morcos

Tucked down a quiet residential street in Umm Suqeim 2 lies an unassuming low-level villa. The exterior walls, terracotta in hue, are devoid of the bougainvillea and frangipani that frame its neighbours, replaced with cacti and other prickly plants. A metal grille gate offers a glimpse of what lies behind – a space that intuitively shape-shifts around its environment. A little bit Mexico, Palm Springs, Morocco and Middle East all in one.

“Everything is constructed from the colours of the region”

Nat Morcos

The villa in question is called Skooni – derived from the Arabic word for ‘feeling at peace’ – and it belongs to Nat and Michael Morcos. It’s also so much more than a villa. It’s the dream of a visionary couple to celebrate the beauty of Dubai and harness its creative potential. It was once a typical old neighbourhood house, a little dilapidated, and in need of love.

For 15 months, Nat and Michael had walked past it on their daily dog walk, slowly falling in love with the potential of the space and manifesting that one day it might be theirs. “I said to Michael, ‘I want this house, do whatever you can do to just get me this house,’” smiles Nat. Their manifestations worked. The villa, after being occupied for 35 years, was finally available to rent, a long-lease was signed, and the story of Skooni began.

“I just wanted the space, but we had no agenda,” Nat recalls. “Michael and I sat down with our team, and I said that I wanted to build something, but didn’t know what. We just wanted to build what felt right. So, we started playing around with it. And decided to build a communal space where we can host people, where artists can come and stay.”

Stripping the villa back to its core foundations enabled the couple to take the renovations a space at a time. There was no plan, no blueprint, no Pinterest board, just an emerging vision, says Nat. “I just wanted to build a new look contemporary villa for Dubai.” They knocked through walls, opened up the floor-space to create a continuous flow, extended the windows and uncovered concrete pillars that, so raw in their beauty, remain in place as permanent focal points.

The villa is as raw as builds come, “Sand, concrete, water and glass”, says Nat, who drew inspiration from Dubai’s natural beauty and, in particular, the sun. All around, there are subtle references, invisible to the untrained eye yet key to the couple’s wish to pay homage to the city they’ve lived in for almost 20 years. “Everything is constructed from the colours of the region, and we worked closely with Jotun to deconstruct the colours of the desert,” Nat explains of the terracotta-painted walls. “They are the colour of a desert morphing into sunset.”

In the entrance hall, on a wall of floor-to-ceiling mirrors, sits a perfectly round yellow disc. The wall is inspired by the Dubai sunset at, specifically, 6.45pm, Nat says, showing a video of the sinking sun casting a golden glow over the Arabian Gulf at just that moment.

The idea became for Skooni to be a performing art space in some capacity,” Nat explains of its evolution, “And for me, what gives the best performance is the sun. Wherever you are, you will see a different performance every day. This space is dedicated to Dubai, and [the city] has one of the most beautiful sunsets.”

“ I said to Michael, ‘I want this house, do whatever you can do to just get me this house’ ”

Nat Morcos

So profound is the dedication to Dubai, the villa has been built only using materials found in Dubai. “I wanted every single piece here to feature Dubai, to represent the city,” Nat explains. The result is special – “a place of peace and harmony,” says Nat. “It really lets you disconnect.”

Elsewhere, in the garden, one corner is dedicated to an amphitheatre, the other to an outdoor kitchen and dining area. The roof has been renovated into an event space, and the outdoor majlis transformed into three studio spaces.

There’s also a swimming pool, an enormous sphere perched on the rooftop, inspired by French photographer Gilbert Garcin, a kitchen with a golden countertop as a further iteration of the sun, and a central atrium with an ‘oculus’ hole in the ceiling. Sunlight floods through the latter, bouncing off the mirrored wall, projecting different shadow play as the sun shifts throughout the day.

The space is devoid of furniture, save two ‘Coco’ rocking chairs by designer Omar Al Gurg, a set of denim lounge chairs by Cassina, wireless speakers by Danish company SOWA, and a Skooni chair made in solid brass by The Line Concept.

Initially unsure of what ‘Skooni’ would be, its paredback aesthetic proved the perfect antidote to Dubai’s more grandiose event spaces – a blank canvas that called to brands wanting to host events somewhere different. Unique. Rare, even.

Renovations started in May last year and Skooni hosted its first event in October. Since then, brands from Audemars Piguet and Gucci to Bottega Veneta and The Maybourne Hotel Group have wanted a piece of Skooni’s magic. “It’s interesting, although the brands are very different, everyone has walked into Skooni and said ‘Ah, this is perfect, it’s exactly our DNA,” says Nat.

It’s a serendipitous turn of events, and while the event space has proven popular, it isn’t Skooni’s final incarnation. As event season quietens down, Skooni is entering its ‘second chapter’, evolving into a cultural hub. “After the summer, we’ll be functioning 100 per cent as Skooni Arts Foundation & Residence,” Nat explains. “It will be a communal space for performances, designers, performing artists, along with the residences for those that will be funded by the Foundation. We’ll cover their travel, their stay and their work, and it’s a three to six-week programme, of literature, poetry, digital art, crafts, macramé, ceramics, sculpture, furniture…”

The idea to create the Foundation is two-fold. “We often hear people say that while they love Dubai, there’s no culture here, that there’s no soul,” explains Nat. “If creatives want to come here, where do they go to feel part of a community? We don’t have any creative hubs in Dubai. So that’s what we wanted to build. To bring people here, let them create and show their craft here, but also invite them to engage with the people and experience Middle Eastern culture.”

Nat and Michael are building the Foundation themselves – “no consultants, we’re just building everything from a human perspective of how we think it should work,” Nat says, “And based on who we want to have here.” The three studio suites continue the contemporary aesthetic, with bathrooms and interconnecting doors for artists who need more space. Over the summer, further expansion will extend the floorplans to include more usable creative workspaces.

From a financial perspective, Skooni Arts Foundation & Residence will be self-sufficient, with funds accumulated from renting Skooni as an event space poured back into the Foundation, says Nat. “We’ve found a way to do things on a smaller scale,” adds Michael. “And the link we have with luxury lifestyle brands, who want to be associated with something organic, and create money-can’t-buy experiences, will help fund it.”

As spaces go, Skooni certainly inspires creativity, from the environment alone, says Michael. Wrapped in nature, with mango trees newly-planted in January – “We’ve already had our first harvest,” – a never-ending chorus of birds, and a towering ‘Skooni’ eucalyptus tree creating shade out front, it has a good vibe. “Put an artist here and leave them for two weeks and they’re going to create something special,” Michael adds.

Before the event season starts again in September, Nat and Michael’s focus is on the Foundation – expanding Skooni in readiness for its first residents, and building the Foundation’s executive committee – and finalising the launch of Skooni’s furniture line ready for Dubai Design Week in November. “It will be different objects, one from each brand we collaborate with,” explains Nat, with the pieces available to purchase online.

A collaboration with paint manufacturer Jotun is also in the works, who wants to create an exclusive ‘Skooni’ colour, while Nat is manifesting both a Byredo ‘Skooni’ fragrance and Rimowa ‘Skooni’ suitcase, featuring a design of the Dubai sun, “for people who love Dubai as much as I do.”

As the sun rises, Nat and Michael settle in for their first summer at Skooni. “Everything I know about life is from Dubai,” Nat says of her deep devotion to the city. “After seeing what Dubai gave me, I cannot describe it in one go. But most importantly, living on the beach and being powered by the sun, that’s beautiful,” says Nat.

With plans to take Skooni international, the couple are looking at Mexico and Portugal outposts, but promise to stay heavily involved. “The best businesses are founder-lead and founder-involved,” says Michael.

They are proud of what they’ve achieved, Nat says, “From a design perspective, but we also think it will be a great addition to the cultural move in Dubai right now,” she adds. “When people ask, I say you’ve judged us too early – Dubai is only 52 years old. It’s like when you build a house, first you build the walls, then you put family inside, sofas and all the necessities and only after that, comes art. Art never comes first. We are now at a time [with Dubai] that we’ve built the house, the family is in and it’s time to put the art and the music in. We want to be part of this shift – and we’re happy to share it with others.”

Photography By Aasiya Jagadeesh. Styling By Charlotte Marsh-Williams. Hair & Make-up By Kenza Bia.

From Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s July/August 2024 issue.