Dubai · UAE · Est. 2024

We are
By Kurators.

A design curation and project management consultancy based in Dubai. We exist to connect clients across the Middle East and East Africa with exceptional design talent — studios rooted in India's creative tradition, and the most compelling practices from around the world.

Curated interior space
Where ambition meets the right studio.
Why We Started

Our Story

By Kurators came out of a very specific frustration.

We kept watching the same pattern repeat: clients with genuine ambition for their spaces, struggling to find design studios that matched that ambition. Not for lack of talent — the talent was out there, in abundance, across India and across the world. The problem was access. Visibility. The right introduction at the right moment.

At the same time, we saw gifted studios doing extraordinary work — in India, and in design communities globally — with no real foothold in the markets where the demand for that kind of design was growing fastest. The Middle East. East Africa. Places where clients are building seriously and want something more than the predictable.

By Kurators is the bridge we wished existed. A consultancy that curates design talent with the same care a gallerist brings to art — and then stays involved long enough to make sure the relationship actually works.

"The best design doesn't come from one place. Our roster reflects that — with India as our anchor, and the world as our scope."

— By Kurators

How We Think

How We Think
About Design

We don't believe great design is a luxury reserved for people with unlimited budgets. We do believe it requires intention — the willingness to be thoughtful about who you work with and why, long before anyone picks up a pencil or a tile sample.

Our curatorial lens is particular. We are drawn to studios that have a clear point of view — practices that bring something considered to every project rather than adapting their aesthetic to fit whoever is paying. That kind of design is harder to find. It's also harder to replicate, which is exactly why it holds its value.

India is where our story begins — a design tradition with genuine depth, producing contemporary architects and interior designers of real distinction. But our curatorial scope has never been limited to one country. We look for studios with a clear point of view wherever they are based.

Which is why, alongside our work in design curation, we stay involved in the project itself. Through our project management practice, we provide end-to-end oversight — so the space that gets built reflects the one that was imagined.

Design philosophy
Material intelligence
Considered interiors
Considered always
Dubai skyline
Where We Operate

Dubai. The Middle East.
East Africa.

Our base is Dubai — a city built on the idea that geography is not a constraint. From here, we work with clients across the UAE and the wider Middle East: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Jordan among them.

We are equally active in East Africa, where rapid urban development and a growing appetite for design-led spaces has created genuine demand for the kind of curatorial work we do.

Our design partners span India and the globe. Every studio on our roster is selected for its ability to deliver across borders — not just its portfolio, but its process, communication, and cross-cultural fluency.

The work we care about doesn't sit in one country. Neither do we.

🇦🇪United Arab EmiratesHQ Market
🇸🇦Saudi ArabiaActive
🇶🇦QatarActive
🇴🇲OmanActive
🇰🇪KenyaEast Africa
🇺🇬UgandaEast Africa
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The Founders

By Kurators was founded by Punit and Khushi Shah — two people who came at design from different directions and found they were asking the same questions.

Punit Shah Co-Founder
Co-Founder
Punit Shah

I've spent most of my career at the intersection of business and culture — and design has always been the place where those two things converge most honestly.

My connection to India's design world runs deep. I grew up surrounded by it — the craftsmanship, the material intelligence, the way Indian design holds history and modernity in the same hand without forcing a resolution. When I moved to Dubai and began to understand the scale of what was being built across this region, the gap felt obvious.

By Kurators is my attempt to close that gap. Not as a broker or an agent, but as a genuine curatorial practice — one that takes the time to understand what a client actually needs and matches that need to the studio best placed to meet it. I care about fit as much as quality.

Dubai gives us a remarkable platform. It is a city with serious design ambition, a client base that spans the world, and proximity to markets where the appetite for something beyond the generic is growing fast.

Khushi Shah Co-Founder
Co-Founder
Khushi Shah

My background is in making design happen — the part that comes after the beautiful renders, when you're on site and the decisions are real and the margin for error is small.

I've worked across residential and commercial projects, and what I've learned is that the difference between a good outcome and a great one almost always comes down to the same things: clarity of brief, quality of relationships, and someone on the ground who cares enough to push back when something isn't right.

The design curation side of By Kurators drew me in because I've seen what happens when the wrong studio is matched to a project — not because of talent, but because of fit. The right pairing changes everything.

Through our project management practice, I stay close to the build — so whatever we've promised a client in the curation phase, we can actually deliver. That continuity matters to me. It means we're accountable for the outcome, not just the introduction.

Luxury space
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Get to Know
Us Properly.

The best way to understand what By Kurators does is to have a conversation. Tell us about your project, your space, or your practice — and we'll take it from there.

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