A vacation home overlooking the water should inherently sound relaxing, offering a tranquil escape from the relentless pace of daily life. Yet, for architect and interior designer Mohamed Alqari, the sweeping views from a high-rise apartment at the prestigious Four Seasons Private Residences in Bahrain Bay served as merely a starting point. Inside the architectural shell crafted by renowned global architecture firm Gensler—characterized by crisp, clean lines and immaculate, ready-for-occupancy finishes—Alqari faced a distinct and nuanced design challenge. His task was to take a pristine, untouched luxury apartment awaiting its first guest and infuse it with warmth, character, and an undeniable sense of place, transforming it into a deeply personal retreat that its owner would eagerly anticipate returning to time and time again.
Spanning 1,937 square feet of prime real estate, the residence is utilized by its owner primarily for vacations and occasional, restorative visits to Manama, the vibrant capital of Bahrain. To approach this blank canvas, Alqari, the founder of Qreative Design, deliberately turned away from literal or cliché coastal motifs. Instead, he chose to interpret beachfront living through a sophisticated lens of color, materiality, and organic form, drawing subtle yet profound cues from the surrounding sea, brilliant sunlight, sandy shores, and the expansive horizon just beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows.
"The project interprets the colors and atmosphere of the sea, sunlight, sand, and horizon through materiality, artwork, and form," Alqari explains, outlining a philosophy that bridges the gap between high-end contemporary architecture and emotional resonance.
To counteract the rigid, orthogonal geometry inherent in the building’s original architecture, Alqari introduced a recurring design motif: curves. Inspired by the natural, fluid movement of ocean waves, rounded seating arrangements, sculptural curved mirrors, and organically shaped rugs were strategically deployed to soften the hard edges of the rooms. Among the standout furnishings that reinforce this watery fluidity is the Matera dining table, expertly designed by Sebastiano Tosi for Mogg, which takes its distinctive form directly from water-smoothed pebbles found along a riverbed. These flowing shapes are thoughtfully repeated throughout the apartment, carefully scaled to ensure that no two pieces look as though they belong to a predictable, mass-produced set. Instead, this curated approach lends the open-plan living and dining spaces an inherently relaxed atmosphere, artfully layered with unexpected moments of dramatic flair, understated glamour, and distinct artistic character.
Materiality plays a critical role in establishing the home’s welcoming ambiance. "A rich mix of natural and tactile materials was used throughout the apartment to create warmth, depth, and a sense of understated luxury," Alqari notes. Rich walnut paneling and custom joinery provide a warm, texturally grounding backdrop that beautifully offsets the carefully chosen furniture and curated artwork. Meanwhile, a restrained palette of creamy whites and sandy beiges keeps the interior spaces feeling airy and light, allowing strategic pops of color—such as turquoise, deep ocean blue, lush forest green, and vibrant yellow—to anchor individual pieces rather than dominating entire walls. This color strategy successfully captures the vibrant essence of a beachfront setting while deliberately leaving ample visual breathing room for the owner’s art collection and the breathtaking views outside.
Those artworks are central to the apartment’s evolving identity and sophisticated narrative. Striking sculptures created by prominent Bahraini artist Jamal Al Yousif introduce tactile richness and powerful silhouettes to the main living area, where Martin Berger’s evocative painting Flow commands attention from the wall. Elsewhere in the residence, iconic design history sits comfortably alongside contemporary creations. Original 1970s Wassily chairs, painstakingly sourced through 1stDibs, and a sleek Lemni chair are integrated seamlessly among bespoke furnishings manufactured locally in Bahrain, alongside artisanal pieces imported from a global roster of countries including Italy, France, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Morocco.
Adding to this globally curated, collectible-driven interior is a sculptural floor lamp designed by James Haywood, which Alqari personally discovered during Paris Design Week. This meticulous approach to sourcing gives the apartment a layered complexity and a profound sense of discovery—qualities that a standard, newly built interior cannot simply achieve on its own upon initial handover.
Working carefully within the single-level apartment’s existing layout, Alqari preserved an open-plan concept that links the living, dining, and kitchen areas together while maintaining an uninterrupted visual connection to the waterfront panoramas. Circulation spaces were intentionally designed to mimic a private gallery, providing the art and statement furniture with the spatial autonomy needed to be fully appreciated as the owner moves through the residence. Beyond the expansive main living zones, the floor plan accommodates a luxurious primary suite complete with a dedicated dressing room and en-suite bathroom, a comfortable guest bedroom, a private nanny suite, a powder room, and a generous balcony extending off the primary living spaces.
Because the project required working within a pre-existing architectural shell, the success of the entire transformation hinged on deeply personal, individual choices—ranging from the precise placement of the walnut wall paneling to the exact scale and positioning of each sculptural object. The comprehensive design and implementation process took approximately a year and a half from initial concept to final completion, commencing while the high-rise building itself was still undergoing its final construction and finishing phases.
"For me, design should feel emotional and inviting rather than overly rigid or purely minimal," Alqari reflects on his guiding ethos.
Throughout the residence, the coastal environment makes its presence subtly known, whether through a sweeping architectural curve or a solitary note of deep blue. Yet, defined by its eclectic art collection and bespoke furnishings, the apartment refuses to be pigeonholed as strictly coastal or purely urban. Instead, through Alqari’s thoughtful curation, it stands as a space that feels entirely, distinctively its own.
