With great avenues to choose from, I decided to pursue Interior design- Rohit Bhoite

“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” quoted by Antoine De Saint is what relates Rohit Bhoite to his experience as an Interior designer.

With a Master’s Degree from Domus Academy Spa, Italy and a graduate in Interior Designing from Rachna Sansad , School of interior design, Rohit has been teaching as a visiting faculty for the past 4 years. After working for a few years with some acclaimed studios in Italy and Mumbai, he started his own organization the Urban Studio, in 2013. Urban Studio specializes in interiors of High-end Luxurious apartment, Hospitality, Furniture Design and Styling.

Rohit expresses, “In a household of designers, with my father – a reputed architect and my brother – an ambitious urban designer, I grew up with a passion for design in all things. With great avenues to choose from, I decided to pursue Interior design, which gave the most physically immediate experience of design to me”.

In discussion about the various zealous projects, Rohit shares the insights of a Silli Chilli, a project which was in partnership with designer Jannat Vasi, whose understanding and exposure empowers her to undertake new pursuits and broaden horizons as a designer. In addition Rohit tells us that, Jannat’s visualization skills and aptitude lies in an aesthetically detailed approach to interiors and functional designs, and therefore translate her vision into reality.

‘Urban Street Take-Away’ the motto of the small take-away restaurant “Silli Chilli” in the busy streets of Lohkandwala Complex. Breaking from the conundrum of the typical perception of Interior Design associated with Chinese restaurants, Rohit and Janna approached this space with an urban twist. We along with the clients crafted a story, which depicts the journey of two mascots, ‘Silli’ and ‘Chilli’ from China to India, bringing the Wok Concept.

“The clients were young entrepreneurs who were clear on having a youthful exuberance brought into the space, which reflects the brand’s energy and Asian fast food cuisine”.
Treating the space as a black canvas, they have artfully used dark and light materials to justify the balance of warmth and space. The highlight feature of the space is the geometric water jet cut custom Matt Grey and Glossy White tile floor that create different responses via texture, color, and light refraction. This element adds innovativeness to the restaurant.

The acoustic gypsum false ceiling is painted white to visually increase the sense of volume of the restaurant and merge non-attention driven mandatory services such as the AC, fans and light fixtures. The walls have hidden concealed storage and it was imperative as designers, to fuse the functionality of space planning and practicality with the overall sense of aesthetics and brand visibility. This was adapted in the form of wall graphics. The right blackboard wall acts as a base for the copper duct running across the restaurant.

The walls are adorned with graphics showing the mascot’s journey. The high and low seating single benches promote community dining. The signature usage of red as seen in Asian restaurants has been limited to the furniture accents. Asian inspired furniture and interactive chalk walls, which promote human social networking.
Using the skills of playful experimentation and in-depth research, the team used white as a neutral palette and colored the space visually with static art and a black chalkboard wall for customer interaction. Accents of copper and use of wood add warmth to the decor. The stools are conceptualized from chopsticks. In contrast, the colors and materials on the counters and flooring are trendy clean-cut patterns. The copper AC duct emphasizes ‘Industrial Chic’ to the urban settlement we are catering to.

Rohit ends on an inspiring note saying, “Design is not only evident in stylish designer spaces meant to appeal to the privileged, who can afford but also to the underprivileged whose lives can be greatly affected by design decisions taken at a collective level”.