Designer Law

Architect Rubel Dhuna crafts an atypical office for a lawyer couple in the heart of Mumbai’s lawyer district, Fort. One word sums up the entire space — charming. 

- Deepa Nair

Almost always, the images that splash in front of my eyes when I think of a lawyer’s office is a space with wooden panelling, leather high-back chairs,carpeted floors, stacks of files and folders, papers all around and of course, lots of heavy books — basically, a space with a strict, rather serious countenance. Hence, I read the mini note which architect Rubel Dhuna shared with me —twice— to accept that fact that the quaint and beautiful office featured here is not an artist’s work space but rather, a lawyer’s chamber.

So, the first (most obvious) question when I interviewed Rubel was how she convinced her clients to agree with her design ethos. And then, I was startled once again. Apparently this 280-square-foot space is part of a larger floor plate of 4,000 square feet — there are seven lawyer chambers here, and four of them have been designed by Rubel and her talented team at Rubel Dhuna Architects (RDA). “This was the famous Examiner Press Building (at Dalal Street, Mumbai) and seven lawyers got together and bought an entire floor. It was a completely open space, as it used to be a printing press. We carved out each office and designed them as per the client's requirements.

All the offices however share a common pantry and staff and executive washrooms. This office belongs to the youngest of them all. So they were open to a non-traditional space" Rubel explains.