MUNDANE BECOMES MAGICAL

VRINDA MATHUR, 27, SAHEJ BHATIA, 27 AND NAVYA AGGARWAL 27 CO-FOUNDERS STUDIO WOOD, DELHI WWW.STUDIOWOOD.CO.IN

Back in 2014, a group of college graduates and design enthusiasts came together to do something unique. Under the banner of Studio Wood, they created furniture that explored the limits of form and function; it became an instant hit. They then decided to take it up a notch by designing spaces for “the young at heart”. Their USP, lies in their mixed bag of skill sets and design styles. Vrinda Mathur and Navya Aggarwal are design graduates from National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi, while Sahej Bhatia is an architect currently pursuing his masters in design at Harvard University. They have successfully completed over 40 projects in the last two-and-a-half years.

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS The trio was awarded India’s Best Young Design Studio in 2016 by the IBDSA (India’s Best Design Awards) and has won an award for furniture design in Decowood’s Design Divas. Their latest achievement is their selection and participation at Salone Satellite, a pavilion for designers under 35 years at the Salone del Mobile, Milan.

WHAT’S NEXT? “We are launching a new range of flat-pack tables. This year will also see a range of projects from residential, offices to retail stores designed with a different aesthetic sense than what one usually sees,” says Mathur.

ROOFTOP PARADISE Located in Delhi, this home is constructed using steel panels refurbished from shipping containers. “For the interiors, bright colour pops have been introduced,” says Bhatia. The remaining components are monochrome, only differing in texture and feel. “Since the small studio has busy interiors the outdoors are highlighted as larger chunks of colour blocks in ochre, white and sap green. Instead of the usual wall creepers, the planters on the wall are designed to fit on a ladder-like structure and can be composed differently as the plantats in them changes,” adds Bhatia.