Quirk at Work

With a tight timeline, the requirement for a bright, bold idea and an almost inflexible budget, this office for a legal eagle at Royapettah, Chennai, presented AWOL Design Studio with a unique challenge.

Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Yash R Jain; courtesy AWOL Design Studio

When AWOL Design Studio was commissioned to design an office for a law firm in Chennai, they decided to break away from the heavy, drab decor typically associated with such offices. The design team wanted to create a bright, colourful and simple space much like the young lawyer, her team and her clients for whom it was being built. Well-thought-out nooks and playful design elements peppered across the plan have enabled the creation of dynamic, multi-functional spaces that enhance the overall appeal of the design. One such space is the library with step seating. Placed at the heart of the plan, this room acts as a resource centre, an informal meeting area as well as a lounge for the team. Quirky elements abound. One such is the colour-block wall in the conference room, an embodiment of the designers’ belief that not every formal space needs to be serious! Another, the designers’ favourite, he big, bright red horn in the balcony! A blatantly odd element for a law office, but also absolutely perfect for it.

The project was designed and executed within 3.5 months in the midst of a lockdown. “The process focused on minimising human contact and maximising efficiency,” Karran Kumar and Inset Sah of AWOL Design Studio tell us. “This was done by using pre-laminated materials that were then cut in the factory.” This also allowed the designers to use a wider selection of colours to lighten the space, create an environment that was less daunting for people to approach and adhere to the strict budget.