Neelima Paul
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Architect & Designer · Dubai

Neelima
Paul

Architecture · Interior · Landscape · Art

Creating spaces and experiences that are humane, sensible, and sensitive to nature — with a playful and vibrant approach.

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Dubai, UAE  ·  2025
House on the Hills
Floating Habitat
Museo Tessuto
7+ Years of
Practice
About

A creative thinker
across disciplines

Neelima Paul is an architect and designer whose work spans landscape architecture, interior design, furniture, and art. She is driven by a desire to envision new ideals of living — using design as a tool to imagine a brighter future.

A collaborative problem solver, film enthusiast, and musician, she is committed to creating spaces that are humane, sensible, and sensitive to nature — with a playful and vibrant approach. Her current work revolves around residential architecture and interior design in Dubai, extending to conservation work, documentation, and mentoring.

Landscape Architecture Interior Design Residential Architecture Conservation Furniture Design Illustration 3D Modelling
2022
Masters in Interior Design Florence Institute of Design International, Florence, Italy
2018
Bachelor of Architecture School of Planning and Architecture, Mysore, India
2023
Intern Architect Renna Studio, Prato, Italy — Drawings, 3D modelling, Graphics
Selected Work

Projects & Explorations

Floating Habitat rendering — pyramidal island on Lake Geneva
Landscape

Landscape Architecture · Lausanne, Switzerland

Floating Habitat

A constructed floating island on Lake Geneva — a pyramidal wooden structure that supports biodiversity and creates a new form of cohabitation between humans and nature.

Among the Trees — urban forest beach project
Landscape

Landscape Architecture · Italy

Among the Trees

An urban forest with high crossing intensity, connecting a pine forest to the beach and creating a vibrant public destination.

Green Link — urban regeneration project
Landscape

Urban Regeneration · Italy

Green Link

Urban regeneration connecting the sea to the city through a green axis, improving pedestrian and cycle networks and introducing nature into urban fabric.

Museo Tessuto — interior rendering
Interior

Architecture & Interior · Prato, Italy

Museo Tessuto

Adaptive reuse of a 19th-century industrial building into a boutique and museum space — humanising volume, maximising light, and introducing a bold sculptural staircase.

Museo Metamorfosi — butterfly garden rendering
Architecture

Conservation + Interior · Florence, Italy

Museo Metamorfosi

Transformation of the historic Ospedale degli Innocenti into an art gallery — keywords: Movement, Colour, Play, Transformative.

House on the Hills — exterior rendering Kerala
Architecture

Residential Architecture · Kerala, India

House on the Hills

A family residence on a gentle cliff — conceived around a central courtyard, staggered to preserve existing trees and frame sweeping views of the western landscape.

Ramanilayam — heritage bungalow Kerala
Conservation

Heritage Conservation · Kerala, India

Ramanilayam

Conservation of a 19th-century bungalow blending Roman, Romanesque, and late Gothic influences — lime plaster restoration, period lighting, and sympathetic interiors.

Float — polycarbonate bookshelf furniture design
Furniture

Furniture Design

Float

A feature bookshelf with a vivid polycarbonate shell supported by slender metal pipes — the shell appears to float in space, dividing rooms while preserving transparency.

Drawn Worlds — illustration and hand sketches
Art

Illustration & Sketches

Drawn Worlds

Digital illustrations, hand sketches in black ink, and architectural drawings — from Florentine landmarks to Mediterranean island ecosystems.

Design Philosophy
"Design as a tool to imagine a brighter future — spaces that are humane, sensible, and deeply sensitive to nature."

— Neelima Paul

01

Nature-Sensitive

Every project begins with a deep reading of landscape, ecology, and climate. Buildings should be in dialogue with nature, not in opposition to it.

02

Humane Spaces

Architecture is ultimately for people. Scale, light, and material are instruments to create comfort, wonder, and a genuine sense of belonging.

03

Playful Rigour

Serious design thinking doesn't preclude joy. The best spaces have both — a conceptual clarity that surprises and delights at every turn.

Expertise

Skills &
Tools

Autodesk AutoCAD90%
Autodesk Revit80%
Adobe Photoshop85%
Adobe InDesign82%
Adobe Illustrator78%
SketchUp85%
Rhinoceros 3D70%
Recognition

Competitions
& Workshops

Languages
EnglishFluent
ItalianElementary
MalayalamNative
Career

Work Experience

7+ years across studios in India, Italy, and the UAE — working on conservation architecture, landscape design, interior design, and contemporary workspace projects.

7+Years of practice
3Countries
8Studios & firms
Mar 2026 – Present Current

Architect

The Niche Corner Full-time

Dubai, UAE · On-site

  • Supporting interior design and architectural design projects from concept development through design coordination.
  • Preparing design concepts, mood boards, layouts, presentation materials, and visual documentation for client review.
  • Supporting project development through coordination with clients, vendors, suppliers, and internal design teams.
  • Contributing to the selection of materials, finishes, furniture, fixtures, and design elements aligned with the overall project concept.
  • Assisting in the preparation of drawings, design presentations, and project documentation for execution and client approvals.
Jul 2025 – Mar 2026

Design Consultant

Workspace Full-time

Dubai, UAE · On-site

  • Worked on interior and workspace design projects in Dubai.
  • Supported concept design, space planning, design development, and client presentation preparation.
  • Prepared design layouts, visual presentations, material selections, and supporting documentation for project proposals and execution.
  • Coordinated with clients, suppliers, vendors, and project teams to support smooth design delivery.
  • Assisted in developing functional and aesthetically refined interior solutions suited to client requirements.
Oct 2023 – Jun 2025

Interior Architect

Green Spirit Full-time

Italy · On-site

  • Developed interior design concepts for Family Entertainment Centres across projects in the UAE, curated around specific themes with strong creative and experiential value.
  • Worked on spaces including entertainment and gaming zones, F&B areas, leisure spaces, retail areas, and recreational environments.
  • Prepared detailed technical drawings, rendered images, and material and fixture estimates for a hotel project in Turkey.
  • Created concept designs and visual renders for a flexible recreational facility capable of hosting multiple activities simultaneously.
  • Developed design strategies using technologically advanced partition systems to allow adaptable spatial layouts based on client requirements.
Jan 2023 – Jun 2023

Architectural Intern

Renna Studio Internship

Prato, Tuscany, Italy

  • Contributed to concept development, design development, graphic presentation, and rendering for landscape-focused competition entries.
  • Worked on contemporary landscape installation concepts, including the Lausanne Jardins competition — proposal selected as a finalist.
  • Supported urban landscape design for the reimagining of the axis from Piazzale Padre Pio to the Civic Tower at Sommatino.
  • Contributed to waterfront redesign proposals for Lungomare Lignano Sabbiadoro.
  • Developed presentation graphics, 3D models, and visual material to communicate landscape and spatial design narratives.
Dec 2020 – Nov 2021

Piano Instructor

WhiteHat Jr Full-time

India · Remote

  • Taught piano to students aged 6 to 14 across different learning levels.
  • Developed the ability to communicate creative and technical concepts clearly to young learners.
  • Pursued formal music training during a career break — working toward Trinity Guildhall Grade 5 Piano certification.
  • Used this period to deepen musical knowledge, teaching ability, and personal creative development.
Sep 2018 – Sep 2020

Junior Architect

Design Dreams Full-time

India

  • Served as project architect for the conservation and adaptive reuse of a prestigious heritage structure used as a State Guest House for political dignitaries.
  • Worked as project architect for the interior renovation of a private residence — documentation, material selection, and site supervision through to completion.
  • Coordinated workshops for students and professionals focused on sustainable and nature-friendly approaches to architecture.
  • Supported knowledge-sharing initiatives including guided visits and expert talks on wetland conservation and environmentally conscious design.
Jan 2018 – May 2018

Architectural Intern

Studio PKA Internship

India

  • Created a detailed multi-layered physical model representing the architectural details of an award-winning residential project by the firm.
  • Prepared competition presentation panels with schematic diagrams explaining the design process.
  • Developed 3D models and detailed technical drawings for an architect's studio designed as an addition to an existing project.
  • Created a physical model for a lighting design product.
  • Supported architectural documentation, graphic presentations, model-making, and design visualisation tasks.
Journal

Thoughts & Stories

Reflections on architecture, design, travel, and the spaces that shape how we live.

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Floating Habitat — designing with nature
Landscape May 2025

Designing with Water: Lessons from the Floating Habitat

What happens when you stop treating water as a boundary and start treating it as a foundation? The Floating Habitat project on Lake Geneva challenged every assumption I had about what it means to build — and for whom.

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House on the Hills
Architecture March 2025

Building Around Trees: The Ethics of Preservation

On a hillside in Kerala, we were asked to keep the trees. That one constraint became the most generative design decision of the whole project.

Read more
Museo Metamorfosi
Conservation January 2025

Can History Be Playful? Reimagining the Ospedale degli Innocenti

The challenge wasn't preservation — it was transformation. How do you honour 600 years of memory while making a building feel alive again?

Read more
Dubai Coming soon

Designing for the Desert: What Dubai Teaches You About Light

Light in the Gulf is not like light anywhere else. It's harsh, generous, and relentless all at once — and it changes everything about how you design a wall, a window, or a courtyard.

Coming soon

Written by Neelima. Essays on architecture, urbanism, conservation, and creative process — published here and shared on LinkedIn.

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Contact

Let's create
something together

Available for residential architecture, interior design, and landscape projects in Dubai and internationally. Open to collaborations, competitions, and creative conversations.

Email

neelima.paul@gmail.com

Phone

+971 55 122 4417

Location

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

LinkedIn

linkedin.com/in/neelima-paul

Send a message

Tell me about your project — I'll get back within 48 hours.