at work Bazaar
The office of K2India is a veritable ocean of space within the dusty, meandering lanes of Lado Sarai in New Delhi. Sprawled languorously over 10,000 sq ft, this is the sanctum sanctorum that comprises architect Kohelika Kohli and her mother, the legendary interior designer and architectural restorer, Sunita Kohli’s concept space and headquarters. A hybrid created when Kohelika merged her architecture firm with her mother’s design and furniture company just under three years ago, K2India today caters to a plethora of design disciplines—architecture, furniture, construction, graphics, structural landscape—making it a force to be reckoned with.
The design of the office then naturally represents the ethos of the firm. Unconventionally executed, it flaunts living areas—a drawing room here, a dining room there, a study in the midst—with faultless art, lighting, fabrics, and objets d’art that perfectly balance elegance, function, and beauty. “No one’s had something like this before,” Kohelika explains. “Half of it is my functional office, and the other half is a concept space. It’s not a showroom. You come in to experience a space and how we design, more than anything else.” Its antecedents make for an interesting story, too. “Before this, we were in an office in Jungpura and were exploding out of it. The person who found this place for us was my mother’s yoga teacher. It was horrendous when we got it, but I’ve been known to see potential in the worst of scenarios,” Kohelika narrates laughingly. “We brought the furniture in and finished the office part first because we needed it. We had this up and running in eight months.”
And everything in its rightful place, too. As you go up the steps, past walls covered in poster art from the world over, the gracious lobby, and reception area, is the median point. Go right, and you head over to K2India’s office where all the design magic happens. Go left, and you walk into the concept space, which conjures up images of dream homes one can hope to create. “My mum gets to spend more time here. She’s lucky,” says Kohelika. Sunita has also created a little personal living area for herself—two serene rooms divided by a wall with a built-in aquarium—because she “functions out of my office.” This however is only part of Kohelika’s professional world because there’s also the constant on-site and factory visits. But whether she’s heading to a meeting or has to face cement and sawdust, Kohelika’s always prepared. “I’m a typical New Yorker that way—I’ll always have a smarter pair of shoes and accessories on me.”