Is concrete jungle fatigue a real phenomenon? If traffic records of cars travelling to Manali and Lonavala annually are to be believed, the majority certainly agrees!
It was years of working at a commercial complex that led to a similar diagnosis for the team at D’WELL, a studio offering architecture, interior design and construction management. The antidote? A workspace close to nature, where the sound of birds chirping could drown out the noise of central air conditioning. Where they could bounce ideas off a space uninhibited by walls or constraints.
A stone’s throw away from the city’s urban cacophony, their search bore fruit. Co-founders Jhanvi Mehta and Rakhsit Shah found an abandoned farmer’s house with a grand 12 feet sloping roof greeting them like a tipped hat. With sound bones and an old soul, their diamond in the rough was overrun with neem, mango and almond trees. A little ship-shaping is all it took for it to sparkle anew.
Home to a team and leafy branches peeking inwards like curious onlookers, the minimal 720 sq ft workspace co-exists with the surrounding flora and fauna like an old friend.
"The existing side yard of the house was converted to an office space, with existing fruit trees inside the cabin. In monsoons, the rain percolates inside the cabin courtyard giving a very pleasant feel. Birds come chirping inside the cabin with squirrels running around the office" – Jhanvi Mehta and Rakhsit Shah