D’WELL Designs a Meditative and Monochromatic Office in Surat, India

The idea of a cave brings to mind a cool, dark space hidden from the world beyond it. Design firm D’WELL latches onto this idea in designing a minimalist and bright office in Surat, Gujarat in India, deemed the ‘white cave.’ “The onset of this pandemic has challenged one’s state of mind, body and soul… It has allowed us to decide between the necessary and the unnecessary,” says Jhanvi Mehta Shah, partner at the firm. “All of these interventions have led the concept of our design studio to have a cave-like experience, where one is disconnected from the outer world and is isolated in the calm of the space.”

The gallery-like office features a monochromatic palette that offers employees a serene space to work and collaborate. White walls immediately encircle those who enter while black furnishings offer a point of visual focus throughout. The reception area is conceptualized as a ‘lost’ room with sliding walls rather than doorways, disorienting its boundaries, and features modular furnishings for ultimate flexibility. “This is one of the most exciting elements,” shares Mehta Shah. “The sliding doors create an undivided space and enable those entering to pause in the moment to figure out his/her way inside the other cabins just like when one enters a cave.” A translucent glass curtain unites the adjoining spaces, creating an ethereal backdrop of greenery and diffused light—ideal working conditions if we do say so.