Taking The Law Into Their Hands

Looking unlike any law office you’ve seen before, LOC’s design for the P&C legal office in Mumbai has a fresh appeal. It steers away from the stern imagery normally associated with this profession’s genre.

- Devyani Jayakar

Think law office. Think stern. Sombre. Dark wood panelling. But none of this applies to the P&C legal office in Mumbai, designed by Manmeet Arora of LOC (Left of Centre). A white colour palette, the geometry of squares and rectangles in the lines, all relieved by vibrant splashes of colour make this a departure from the gravitas of legal offices one has been accustomed to seeing since the beginning of the profession. The décor of law offices was meant to convey a sense of the powers available to be exercised on the client’s behalf by the attorney.

This office occupies a rented space. When people rent a space, as opposed to owning it, it’s obvious that they won’t want to spend too much on areas of the décor that they can’t take with them, if and when they have to vacate the premises. “Clients don’t like to feel that they’re leaving a lot behind,” explains Manmeet. With the same thought in mind, she was asked to revamp the décor of this office in Mumbai’s upmarket Nariman Point, for law firm P&C. “They were in a hurry, as their earlier lease was coming to an end, so they needed to move into this office as soon as possible,” she says.