MuseLAB "abandons all notions of the expected" in Mumbai bathware showroom

Mumbai studio MuseLAB has used bulbous mint-green displays and berry-red accents across the interiors of bathware showroom Sorbet.

Located in an upscale Mumbai neighbourhood, the 241-square-metre space is the flagship store of local bathroom brand Aquant.

MuseLAB co-founders Huzefa Rangwala and Jasem Pirani sought to create an interior that diverges wildly from traditional bathware showrooms.

"Sorbet went far beyond recalibrating what 'conventional' experience centres could look like," the duo explained.

"It was a sojourn that beckoned one's inner child to come play, marinate in visual storytelling and create a space that allowed one to willingly abandon all notions of the 'expected' at the door," the duo said.

MuseLAB was asked to design and execute the interior in only six months due to the high rental cost of the space.

"This remained a challenge and it took us eight months to complete the project, including three months of understanding the brand, working on planning and design concepts and preparing technical drawings," the founders explained.

The duo decided to preserve the deep volume and 12-foot-high walls of the retail space, which was formerly a rug atelier.

"We had to accommodate a large inventory within the store to ensure that our clients were able to display maximum products without making [it] resemble a warehouse or a shop," the duo told Dezeen.

"This was achieved through intelligent planning by resorting to circles, which were tangential to each other – each circle represented either an enclave for intimate displays of fittings and fixtures or mock bathrooms and live stations."

Elements all over the showroom reference this overarching circular geometry, from the display units and lighting fixtures to the flooring pattern.

Bulbous funnel-shaped pedestals, curvilinear enclosures and stepped display units are dotted throughout the space – all covered in mint-green paint or mosaic tiles, with the colour borrowed from Aquant's brand identity.

The sea of mint green is broken up with berry-red details like painted beams and HVAC ducts, as well as the custom-made halo light fixtures suspended from the ceiling.

The pattern of the Kota stone flooring varies between rubble-style jagged chunks and smooth curvilinear inlay, both set in ivory-toned grout.

Outside, the mint-green facade features an entrance porch covered by a glass brick enclosure.

"The facade gives away subtle hints of the visceral rush of hues and elements one encounters inside," the MuseLAB co-founders said.

Founded in 2012, MuseLAB has worked on a range of interior and design projects including a "non-conformist and non-contexual" 13-piece furniture collection.

Other colour-blocked projects recently featured on Dezeen include an apartment in Lisbon by Alarquitectos and Italian studio FDA's interiors for a seaside hotel.

The photography is by Nayan Soni. 

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