This was my first big project in university and it presented itself as a challenge due to the numerous parameters imposed on it. The project site was located in the historical Bastakiya district of Dubai and as such was required to employ traditional motifs/techniques/aesthetics in its completion. One-third of the property was supposed to be a courtyard, and the renovation had to allow for living quarters and a full work studio for a generic designer. Most challenging, the design could only be derived by drawing in perspective and then rendered digitally. My approach worked with playing with the rigid geometric form of the traditional mashrabiya and employing it as partitions and moveable pieces of furniture in the library and kitchen. The plan was derived by creating a site plan of the surrounding larger structures and studying the patterns of sunlight and shadow on the property site. Areas with sunlight access were designated to be public and/or work zones, with shadowed cooler areas as the private zones. Sliding screens and glass partitions allow the residence to open to open to the courtyard, or close off. The depressed flooring was used as a technique to cool the property naturally while skylights provide filtered daylight during the day.