The Final Frontier

Pooja Sabhlok- Taneja

Zolijns has had the immense pleasure of being challenged by Sourabh and team Archohm for almost a decade now. It would be a banality to refer to our work with Archohm as “projects” – each of them being nothing short of a challenge that has pushed us to listen harder, think deeper and do better ( often to the boundaries of despair!).

The last challenge we faced was the Gupta residence in Agra. A contemporary structure with a very earthy façade and in true Archohm style – the juxtaposition of the new with the traditional. The brief was curating European furniture that is contemporary and yet blends into the surroundings without overshadowing the eye- catching features on the floor and the walls – which were the cornerstone of the design. Near endless discussions and arguments ( many of them well into the midnight) led to collating furniture that was in equal parts aesthetically pleasing, ergonomically efficient and

merged naturally into the interiors.

Of course, it was not okay to have just the obvious classics from some of the best- known design- led brands. We had to find chairs with just the right curve, or armchairs with the arms at the exact angle, tables that were homely enough for a large family and their guests, beds that conjured happy dreams just by looking at them and other such “simple” pieces. Every piece commanded a narrative. The exercise made us look at designs and companies from Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and also back home. It also gave us sleepless nights, headaches in the morning and a deep desire to turn hermits!

But as with most things, the end justified the means and the sleepless nights. The result is a delicious mille- feuille of the classic and the contemporary layered between the traditional environs. The surfaces were left to be the “hero” while the furniture only complemented and completed the look. What seems like a “simple” home took over 3 months of curating the furniture alone.

It is projects like these that keep us on our toes and also help us develop into better professionals. They also sometimes makes me think of working with Sourabh as a design person’s “final frontier” ( you know, where no man has gone before!).

Pooja Sabhlok- Taneja is the Head of Business Development and Sales at Zolijn, a boutique furniture house.

Photo credit: Andre J Fanthome

Factfile

Design Team: Sourabh Gupta, Varun Sood, Sanjana Suri,

Somya Sinha, Tarak Murari, Maulik Yagnik, Aman Sharma,

Manish Singh, Lalit Sharma, Amit Das, Pawan Kambhoj, Tanmoy Bose,

Maninder Pal Singh, Harimohan Singh, Zolijins and

Knock on Wood