A WORKSPACE WITH A REINVENTED MEMORY

While the office layout follows the footprint of the site’s original structure, the ground level in the middle courtyard has been raised to create an unexpected effect: where the new refurbished buildings now sit partly sunken into the earth.

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The project named ‘Mana’ is an architectural studio retrofitted within an abandoned factory that belonged to the sibling architect duo Mansi and Dhawal Mistry’s father. “An industrial site, long left to stillness. The machines sold off, its workers long gone, and the walls survived, albeit a bit overgrown. Here, the past lingers in these quiet remnants,” says Mansi Mistry, Partner at Studio Saransh, Former partner at IKSOI.

The intervention is subtle yet profound—retaining the site's original footprint while raising the ground level, creating a space where the familiar becomes unfamiliar, and where walls once enclosing functions now invite curiosity. From the outside, the studio reveals little. The site is enclosed by towering compound walls, rising between 4.5 and 6m, creating a stark boundary with the grey and gritty industrial surroundings. As one steps inside, a monolithic composition of lime-plastered walls painted in a muted pink hue immediately disrupts the monotony. “No element is where one would expect it to be,” observes Mansi. The absence of an obvious entry only heightens this intrigue.