Further to the closure of Wilson Associates and its Dubai office, managing partners Tim Etherington and Iain McLaughlin launched their interior design firm – Etherington, McLaughlin & Associates (ema).

With its headquarters in Dubai Design District, ema will continue to cater to large-scale luxury hospitality, but also to F&B, wellness and corporate workspace markets.

Joined by Wilson’s former design directors Maud Capet and Julie Djohan, the key design leaders behind iconic hospitality projects, including yet-to-be-opened Marsa Al Arab, Anantara Mena Al Arab Ras Al Khaimah, MGM The Island, the studio will offer full-service interior design and FF&E services.

“We stayed together because of the legacy we’ve built. Our objective remains the same. With a clear vision of strengthening and enhancing a team capable of designing and implementing luxurious projects, ema’s emphasis is on creative excellence, documentation quality,” says Iain McLaughlin, founding partner of ema and a former operations director at Wilson.

Both Tim and Iain have had extensive experience in the design and architectural business, having designed and managed a wide typology of projects for both small specialist boutique studios through to large global corporate organisations – from luxury yachts and hospitality to flagship retail stores, showrooms and brands.

Former managing director of Wilson Dubai and Gensler Shanghai offices, Tim Etherington, a founding partner of ema, brings to the table nearly three decades of multidisciplinary design experience, spanning 15 distinct markets on five different continents.

Etherington comments: “As a firm, we want to establish and maintain strong client relationships and deliver excellent creative solutions. The firm’s primary focus centres around creative innovation, talent development, maintaining and developing key client relationships and strategically positioning the business to support and optimise client’s position in their respective sectors”.