About the project
Pallavi Dean Interiors has completed a contemporary, book-focused restaurant and retail space at Al Rawi, Sharjah. ‘Al Rawi’ means the one who tells stories and the space is designed to caters to professional writers, artists and designers. The fitout was executed by Exceptional Interior Decoration.
Located at Sharjah’s popular Al Majaz Waterfront, it is set over two storeys and enjoys floor-to-ceiling views over Khalid Lagoon, the Al Majaz fountain, Noor island and the corniche. The client brief was to create far more than just a bookstore. They proposed a multi-use space that would reflect Sharjah’s literary heritage and be a contemporary hub for the Emirate’s community of book lovers, writers and publishers, with a cafe, restaurant, event space and children’s creative zone.
Pallavi Dean Interiors developed a design narrative inspired by the diverse ways people interact with books. The designers played with the concept of the positive/negative space that books create on a shelf. Most of the bookshelves are in the centre of the floor, not against walls, allowing light and shade to dance around the space. The stitch detail from book spines is a recurring theme. It has been used on a large scale as space dividers, and on a more intimate scale as a handrail detail. The tactile rubber material invites visitors to touch and feel the physical space, as they would a book.
Continuing the literary theme, they created custom sculptures and light mobiles inspired by books and words. The signature, sculptural design installation is a giant, custom-made mobile that is suspended from the ceiling and made up of dozens of wire-framed books. The impact is visually dramatic, as well as an unmistakable trigger in the minds of visitors that they are in a bookstore.
The eclectic furniture selection reflects and caters to the many different ways people read and write, from relaxing in an armchair to task chairs for writing on laptops. One of the highlights of the interiors is the retail pods used to display the books, stationery and other book-related merchandise. These pods are on castors but normally sit on the lower entrance floor for maximum footfall. The base of the pods acts as storage, while the colours reflect the Al Rawi brand and their tiered form creates visual interest.
Al Rawi also features an open kitchen, a grab-and-go bar, children’s zone and a retail library.
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