07 · Founder

Nick Jeffries.

Founder of NU Projects. He first worked in Dubai over twenty years ago, and lived on the Palm. He set the practice up in London in 2010. One team designs, prices and builds, then stays for the defects period.

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Nick Jeffries, founder of NU Projects, in a cream linen jacket

The story

Founded in London in 2010. Run the same way since.

Nick founded NU Projects in London in 2010. Sixteen years on, he still runs every job the same way. Design it, price it, build it, stay for the defects period.

His background is in construction and the creative industries. One side knows how a wall is built and what it costs. The other knows why a room feels right. NU Projects was set up so both sit in one team, under one contract.

The practice grew up in prime West and South-West London. Sixteen years of renovating and extending homes in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Belgravia. There, the standard is set by the client and the street, not the brochure.

Nick does not run it alone. Key decisions at NU are made by the team. Dubai has a team of its own, with London behind it.

20+Years working in Dubai
2010NU Projects founded in London
16Years of prime-London design and build

How he runs a job

Design it. Price it. Build it. Stay.

01

Design it

Concept, then detail, in the open. Plans, visualisations and samples you can hold. Nothing is hidden in a drawing you cannot read.

02

Price it

A budget estimate first. Then a detailed cost plan before contract. Provisional sums are named, not buried.

03

Build it

The team that drew it builds it, under one contract. Weekly reports, photographed, so you can see the site from anywhere.

04

Stay

A handover pack, then aftercare and a defects period where we stay. The part most people never see, and the part that decides everything.

The Dubai team

The team on the ground.

On site

Construction Director

Runs the site, from structure to finishes. One site team, one programme, one point of contact.

Interiors

Interior Design Director

Leads design across villas, penthouses and amenity spaces. Space planning, joinery, then the lighting that settles a room.

Drawings

Architecture Director

Concept, planning and the drawings a builder can price. Structure and services coordinated early.

Cost

Quantity Surveyor

Cost planning, tendering, contracts and valuations. The reason a price holds its shape.

The London team

The people behind Dubai.

The Dubai studio has its own team. Behind it sits the Fulham office. Finance, cost, services, interiors and architecture, in one place.

  • Nick JeffriesFounder
  • Sophia RomashFinance
  • Matt CoverleyQuantity surveyor
  • Wayne HockhamMEP Director
  • Jordana AshkenaziInterior designer
  • Mariana OrsiniInterior designer
  • Fernanda SasseArchitectural designer
  • Matt LeksanderArchitectural designer

Bespoke kitchens, joinery and furniture are made by Cochrane Bespoke.

“We would rather show you a concept we believe in than a photograph of someone else's house.”

Nick Jeffries · Founder, NU Projects

Why Dubai

The same discipline, a city he knows.

Nick first worked in Dubai over twenty years ago. He worked on developments through the city's first property boom. He lived on the Palm.

The 2008 crash took him back to London. There he built NU Projects into a prime-London design and build practice. Sixteen years of homes in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Belgravia.

He is in Dubai again, with a Dubai team of his own. The studio designs and delivers villa architecture and interiors here. Authority approvals are handled for you, as they are in London.

Prime homes in Dubai are large, and the briefs are ambitious. The questions that decide them are the ones we already know. Proportion, shade, structure, material and cost. Who is accountable when the plan changes.

Visualisation of a shaded villa terrace under a timber pergola, with a pool meeting the sea
Palm Study 01 · terrace, conceptVisualisation · a study made for this site, not a photograph of a finished home

Start a conversation

Start with a conversation.

Send the address or the plan, or just describe the home. WhatsApp the Dubai studio or use the form. We reply within one working day.

WhatsApp Use the form

Dubai, UAE · +971 54 328 8448
London · 10-12 Fulham High Street, London SW6 3LQ · 020 7731 6841 · info@nuprojects.co.uk