A power couple creating striking home interiors

CW Design Build speaks to Meghna Dulani Gehenwar, Founder and Principal Architect and Sashwat Gehenwar, Principal Operations about their vision, challenges, design sensibility and more. What is your vision for The Pinewood Studio?We want to take the studio to the most unexplored places and leave a long – lasting impression on what we as Indians can accomplish. The Scope in Landscape has been vastly untapped. We would like to bring it forward to the minds and attention of individuals so they can understand the role and importance Landscape plays in their day-to-day activities. When that happens, we would like them to connect with The Pinewood Studios with it. What was the push towards establishing your own design firm? Honestly, I got inspired from my maternal uncle who is an architect himself. So, whenever I used to visit him in my summer vacations, I would be all starry eyed looking at him, his confidence and his designs. That’s how I wanted to become an Architect. Establishing a firm all by yourself is tough but I had the complete support from my Family specifically my father who always wanted me to be independent. I realised early on that I would like to be independent allowing me to present my vision towards the designs. That’s how “The Pinewood Studio” was born. Tell us about the major challenges you faced while establishing your firm and what were your key learnings from them? There were quite a few challenges considering when I started The Pinewood Studio I had just recently been married and when I first opened the Office it was in a different city to where me and my Husband were settled together. Also starting the company single-handily was a task in itself. But the support my family provided became my backbone and strength. The next challenge was to gain the faith and trust of our client. In most cases, it’s their house, they are going to live in this space for most time of their lives. It becomes a huge responsibility as a Landscape Architect to create spaces that reflects their personality as well as add those surprise elements that are going to give them a look into their garden every single time they step out of their house. We ensured that the designs we presented were what they looked for. We never stopped unless we knew the client was happy. Key learnings, I would say that I have inculcated are to be confident with our designs. If we are not sure about our designs the client would never be happy with them as well. Second would be understanding where to put your foot down. It is crucial for an architect to analyse when to let it flow and when to stop it. Tell us more about the concept of Landscape Design and its importance in the current environment of design & architecture?To put in my words, landscape architecture is anything that is outside of the building (and within a boundary). Landscape expresses the visual manifestation of the territorial identity and I use design as my tool to create the same. Well speaking about its importance in current environment of design and architecture-- It’s a practice of increasing the efficiency with which sites use and harvest energy, water, and material, while at the same time reducing the impact on human health and the environment via good siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and future removal or renovation. It further avoids resource depletion such as energy, water & raw material and prevents environmental degradation caused by facilities and infrastructure throughout their life cycle. We focus on contributing in our best possible way towards a sustainable environment. As a couple and a duo managing the show at the Pinewood Studio, how do you manage difference of opinions, if they arise? Well to be honest we love those difference of opinions because it allows us to grow mutually and then learn new things/experiences. It also helps both of us to not live in self-made cocoons and constantly evolve to look for ways to enhance the environment as well as the work of the Studio.How do your travels influence your design sensibility? Travel just helps in broadening your horizons of design as well as helping in forming various perspectives of things. For me, it initiates my conversation with nature and Oh! How much I love that. If you ask me, every young architect must travel and explore as many places as possible to ensure they are not single tracked when they sit down to ideate and design.How do you incorporate sustainability in your work? We create our designs using concepts of climate and ecology after an intricate analysis of the entire site's surroundings. When we give solutions to a space, these are heavily customized targeting the environmental issues of the area. So what we are doing is addressing each issue one site at a time. Thereby, we in a way are in the process of creating an environment that is self-sufficient, resilient, and enriching. We, as humans need to be a lot more sensitively aware of our surroundings to ensure that these systems are perfectly healthy and functional. Tell us more about your design philosophy and your process. Well, the process varies from site to site, sometimes the clients are pretty involved in the projects and sometimes they trust us completely with the process. As we majorly deal with High end Luxury residences our designs tend to incorporate features complimenting the clients’ lifestyle. At the end of the day, we ensure that we understand the client and then propose the designs. How would you define your style of design? How do you ensure that your projects bear your signature?Let me think, we love our Statement spaces that catches your eye right at the moment you enter the project designed by us. So, I needn’t define it verbally, but it does create a visual impact on the spectators. To add these, statement spaces or custom designed bars. Tell us about the projects you are working on currently.I think it makes us very proud at the variety of projects that we are currently undertaking. Multiple Farmhouses, Gated communities – which require designs away from the traditional layouts, Restaurant, A high end furniture showroom, Showcases for an upcoming experience centre. It great that we have had such opportunities presented to us. As experienced professionals from the field of architecture, how would you advise youngsters to approach architecture as a profession?Young Architects must understand the need for Urban Ecology because we are the ones who are constantly trying to strengthen the relationship between natural processes of the environment and incorporate human activities into it. We are in crucial need to improve our practices, processes, procedures, products, and services that link long-term sustainable considerations and development. Also Read: https://www.constructionworld.in/latest-construction-news/real-estate-news/interiors/-it-s-not-about-just-doing-interiors---poonam-mehta/32470 https://www.constructionworld.in/latest-construction-news/real-estate-news/interiors/my-signature-is-to-enhance-the-areas-with-no-boundaries-to-work-on/32211