A diverse studio where design meets delightful experiences.
From thoughtful architecture to playful designs, we do it all!
Breadth & Depth
That’s a good way to describe the practice.
Our passion shows in everything we do – architecture, interior design, furniture and accessory creation, communication design, signage, and wayfinding.
Breadth comes from our ability to offer diverse services spanning the space between architecture, communication design and advisory services. It also comes from the broad sector footprint of our work.
Depth comes with strong roots and relationships with organisations and businesses from corporate, education, healthcare, and real estate development sectors. Sustained engagement with these sectors produces research, data analysis, insights, and deep experiences that feed the design practice.
Origins & Evolution
The practice was founded in 2004 by friends – Abraham Samuel, Ajay Pillai and Jinu Kurien, all graduates of the class of 1998 from Pillai College of Architecture (PiCA).
The early years were shaped by their experiences in practice, industry and academia; their socio-economic backgrounds; and a heavy dose of innocence. In a couple of decades, the practice grew, hit a few rough spots, wobbled, grew again and consolidated. On the way, we grew from three to a thirty+ team.
We are based in Navi Mumbai, but our work has traveled far and wide
Our Studio
The Home Ground
Our studio is located off Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai, and has a warm and social vibe. It is anchored around a public space with communal tables, becoming a great host for a diverse set of activities – work huddles, meetings, presentations, workshops, performances, screenings, shared meals and more. This is the heart of the studio.
A set of multi-functional, free standing space dividers around the public space creates four work clusters for the team, a meeting room and the allied spaces. There’s a lot to look out from the studio – a school, a park, a railway yard, and other parts of the city. And then the views of the mangroves, the creek, the bridges, and Mumbai in the distance.
Mornings and sunsets at the studio can charm you. We would love to have you over for chai/coffee and conversations. Write to Madhavi, our Studio Manager at madhavi.s@design-works.in to schedule a studio tour, and a walk-through of our work.
More with Less
There’s more to us. Check out these infographics that illustrate our geographical footprint, team characteristics, projects and sector statistics, and clients.
Domestic Footprint
NORTH
Chandigarh / Mohali / Delhi NCR / Jaipur / Jodhpur / Patna / Khandwa / Indore / Dewas / Ujjain
EAST
Kolkata / Kalyani / Haldia / Bhubaneswar / Koraput / Guwahati
SOUTH
Kochi / Chengannur / Kottayam / Chennai / Coimbatore / Bengaluru / Karwar / Hyderabad / Visakhapatnam
WEST
Mumbai - MMR / Pune / Lavasa / Aurangabad / Beed / Nagpur / Solapur / Chiplun / Mahad / Margoa / Porvorim / Surat / Ahmedabad / Sanand / Vapi / Dahej
International Footprint
Los Angeles
Seattle
London
U.A.E
Kuwait
Muscat
Qatar
Team Statistics
Gender Ratio
2010
2020
2025
Team
Individual & Collective
Our work is a product of the intentions and actions of individuals, and the collective that is the team. As a design practice we have worked hard to build a culture that nurtures the individual, and produces the dynamics for collective action. Our diverse team is composed of architects, designers, engineers, managers, and a support team. This is us!
Culture
Genes & Memes
Genes are the set of values that are foundational to the practice. Memes are the ideas & behaviours that spread between us as individuals and as a team.
The studio environment is warm and liberal, encourages individual autonomy and also has the dynamics required for us to thrive as a team. We are flexible about the terms of engagement and working, and have unique arrangements that enable our colleagues to balance the personal and professional when required. Another important detail. Did somebody ask for space? We are totally cool with colleagues taking up work independently. It is simple. We need to be honest to each other and grow together.
Besides the day-to-day, we host monthly programs that supplement our learning and experience as professionals. This includes skill development programs, round tables, reviews, material and product learning sessions, factory visits, and allied programs that are organised using internal resources and external experts.
Cultural practices also include celebration of all milestones and festivals. Our annual Onam lunch & Iftaar are irresistible treats! And our Holi, Diwali and Christmas parties have quite a reputation!
In March, 2024, we held a workshop on workplace culture, and its output took the form of the DesignWorks Culture Document – a brief communication on who we are, how we locate ourselves, and the actions and practices that need to be encouraged.
Besides this, we also send out a monthly newsletter called DWell. As of now, this is for internal consumption only.
Reach out to us at madhavi.s@design-works.in if you would like to know more about this.
Clients
Who gives us work?
Agnel School of Law
Bharati Vidyapeeth
EuroSchool
Koala Preschool
Apollo Hospital
Holy Spirit Hospital
KR Hospital
MGM Hospital
Shantilal Shanghvi Cancer Sanatorium
The Maple Leaf Hotel & Resorts
Awards
Bragging Rights
DesignWorks has been recognised for excellence in furniture design, interior design, and architecture. This kind of validation pumps us up! Here are the awards that we have won!
Associations
Cities & Communities
DesignWorks is associated with various platforms engaged with the arts, culture and civic realms in and around Navi Mumbai. Our engagements with these platforms take different forms. In some, we are involved in the leadership, and in others as team members, and as facilitators.
X-Pican
X-PiCAN is the Alumni Association of Mahatma Education Society's (MES) Pillai's College of Architecture (PiCA), New Panvel, Navi Mumbai.
Music Liberation Union (M.L.U)
A music appreciation movement that works towards creating a common platform for all genres through live sessions hereby encouraging anyone interested in music to participate, discuss, exhibit their original creations & even jam together.
Mindscape
Mindscape - The Festival of Ideas is a public event aimed to draw energy from the realms of art & craft, science & technology, humanities & social sciences, philosophy & psychology, economics & management and more.
C.A.S.P
Council for Arts and Social Practice (CASP) is a platform for trans-disciplinary artistic research and practice to facilitate critical dialogues on cultural sustainability.
Navi Mumbai Stories
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Local Gyan
Local Gyan empowers children to thrive in an AI-driven future by nurturing critical thinking and curiosity through NEP 2020–aligned workshops and textbooks that root learning in local people, places, and practices.
The partners of the practice have had sustained engagements with academia in different capacities. Institutes and forums where we have contributed as teachers or as guests include the following – PiCA, Pillai HOC COA, AIKTC SOA, LTIADS, VESCOA, BVP COA Navi Mumbai, NIFT Mumbai, Amity University Dubai, Unfold Conference.