During India’s monsoon season, there’s one desk in the office of the architecture studio D’Well where you can feel a light rain drift down beside you while you work. For firm founders Jhanvi Mehta Shah and Rakshit Shah, that was the point.

The canopy of a custard apple tree grows through the roof to offer a fair amount of protection from any drips. “The rain doesn't pour in,” says Jhanvi. “You see the water, but it doesn’t flood the space.” The result is an immersive experience that brings the elements into the core of the building. “We really believe that the most dynamic thing to have in your space is nature,” says Jhanvi.

Jhanvi and Rakshit are life and work partners who started their firm after getting married about five years ago. In 2022, they were looking for a new office in their home city of Surat, in the state of Gujarat, India, and it was important to both of them for it to be ground level, which is a rarity when so many offices are set in commercial complexes and high-rises.

They drove by this lot one day, in a less-developed area only minutes from the city center and stopped to take a look. “We really wanted some land that had trees, and this had a lot of fruit trees and neem trees that give good shade,” says Jhanvi. Amidst the trees was a rundown farmer’s house slated for demolition. “The owner wanted to demolish this house because he did not think that it could be converted into something,” Jhanvi explains.

Before: Exterior Front

After: Exterior Front

The pair decided to purchase the property and renovate the house by keeping the bones of the structure—including the walls, dramatically sloping roof, and arched windows—and adding to it gently while preserving its connection to nature. With a total of ten employees to consider, Jhanvi and Rakshit envisioned a medley of desks and open workspaces inside, as well as gathering spots outside, under the cover of the front porch and in the surrounding courtyard.

Before: Exterior Side

After: Exterior Side

Before: Entrance

After: Entrance

The pair turned the former living room—the biggest space in the house, with a twelve-foot-tall ceiling—into a conference room, just inside the entry. A room the farmer once used to produce now houses the bathrooms. And they enclosed a strip of garden by the brick boundary wall to create what they call the “custard apple cabin”—a partially shaded, open-air workspace with a desk built around a living tree.

“Everybody has their favorite spots, but that’s my favorite,” says Jhanvi. “It’s the thinking room. You just want to sit there and create something.”

Before: Conference Room

After: Conference Room

Jhanvi and Rakshit selected a simple interior palette that incorporates materials used for the building’s construction, such as a pigmented concrete floor and plaster walls. They turned to skylights to bring in more natural light, since it was difficult to cut new windows into the thick walls.

“We really follow the philosophy of minimalism, and we try to deliver spaces that will help you look inside yourself, and not at the materials,” says Jhanvi. “When a space has thoughtful light, it changes your mood. You don’t need to force anything—the nature itself will make your space dynamic.”

Before: Exterior Garden

After: Custard Apple Cabin

While construction went relatively quickly and only lasted a few months, it was not without its challenges, starting with the crew. “They thought we were crazy,” says Jhanvi. “They did not believe our vision—they were laughing at us. Convincing people that this is our studio was the biggest challenge.”

Now, a twelve-foot-table in the courtyard, fabricated from cast concrete and fallen palm trees and designed collaboratively by members of the firm is a gathering space for everyone. “After working hours, the office becomes a home,” says Jhanvi. “We love to invite friends and colleagues to come over, have a little chat, maybe conduct a few workshops here and there. It’s for the community, so it’s open to a lot of artists, also.”

The communal vibes even extend to the once-skeptical contractors who worked on the build. “After three months, all of them would come to sit here on their breaks, sleep, and eat lunch. We could not believe it.”

After: Additional Workstations

After: Courtyard

More Before & After stories:

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In Porto, a Tiny Home Emerges From Ruins

In Singapore, a Historic Shophouse Springs to Life With an Indoor Tree

Project Credits:

Architect of Record: D’Well / @d_welldesign