The impression that you are in an unusual workplace descends upon you right from the moment you set foot into the office of Sharda Exports, a home-furnishings company in Noida, Delhi. The reception desk and lounge area are conspicuous by their absence, and in their place a hip bar counter, bar stools and an assortment of chairs occupy the meeting area. Suspended above the counter is a chandelier pieced together from discarded soda cans. The office entrance area was designed to look like a café with a bar counter not just for design’s sake but in order to maintain a flexible space where the export firms’ rugs could be spread out and displayed when necessary. When the client asked AVA Design Studio to explore the theme of ‘reincarnation’ for the interiors, Chief Architect Vistasp Bhagwagar interpreted this as giving a second life to discarded materials. However, the design feature that grabs most eyeballs is the huge multi-coloured settee entirely fabricated from the soles of rubber chappals. In a league of its own, the Sharda Exports office takes delight in the surprised expressions of the visitors who never fail to take a step closer for a second look at their reincarnated office.
