A bit of London please!

Hyderabad: A building from the 1960s covering 1,500 sq. ft, and a legacy of an international architectural firm. When interior designer Pavan S. Dev took up the franchise of Clark Llyod International after working in the company in London, he had a few creative restrictions but he turned them around in his favour.

Enter his office in Errum Manzil, and the first words you hear are “it’s fake”, as Pavan tells you about the elevation. He adds, “Since it was an extremely old structure, I put up a cement board wall with aluminum channels around the previous elevation. There’s a good 4-feet difference between the actual wall and the cement board wall.” And he got the whole elevation up in just '1 lakh.

Being a franchise of the London-based firm, Pavan had to follow a lot of creative enforcements. “They wanted me to have a London-themed office. Earlier, I did have one but two-and-a-half years ago, we renovated the place. So now its an office with a contemporary look but with hints of the London culture,” adds Pavan.

Which is why Pavan’s office has the map of East London as a feature on the wall. The browns in his office too are used to reflect the English culture.

Pavan made sure to pack in as much information as possible within the small space. The reception area has a feature wall with different panels and on the other side is a wallpaper with words related to architecture. “When you have a feature wall, it keeps the person visiting your office intrigued,” he says.

The conference room has lots of material put in functional use for exhibit. There are different kinds of lighting, duco paint, gypsum ceiling and automation in place. “I didn’t need automation here but I installed it so that people know how it works,” he says.