WORK LIKE YOU LIVE HERE!

Amrita Thomas of ALARA Studio reimagines her Chennai workspace as a contemporary colonial refuge, where slow luxury meets everyday hustle, collaborative energy meets timeless craft, and the line between working and living gently blurs

- Text by: Kashish Kaushal

When a designer designs the space she is probably going to inhabit more than her own home, one thing is certain; compromise is completely off the table. To build the environment where she will spend ten, twelve, sometimes fourteen hours a day, drafting homes for others, inspiration must exist across long stretches of focus, collaboration and the occasional creative slump. For Amrita Thomas, founder and principal of ALARA Studio, designing a studio for oneself is always an intimate exercise, she elaborates. Her Chennai studio, completed as an exercise in honesty and instinct, embodies what she calls Contemporary Colonial—a thoughtful amalgamation of modern sensibility and classic Indian detailing. Think wainscotting, panelled doors, Chandigarh chairs, and warm teak accents that ground the space in familiarity, while an open plan and flooded natural light keep it resolutely forward-looking.