Unicorns Exist - MuseLAB Studio, Mumbai

MuseLAB‘s journey began in 2012 out of a 50sqft conference room that was a borrowed space. Then about seven years ago, they moved to Prabhadevi’s industrial neighbourhood, where they occupied a 296 sq.ft space that allowed them to have a storefront and a double-height space within. Having completed ten years and with the studio; constantly evolving the team realized that they’d outgrown the current space.

Mumbai is where the studio hails from; while the city is not perfect, it has a lot to offer. Prabhadevi is one of the older neighbourhoods. The bylanes are intimate and reveal a lot of hidden spaces. Walking through the modest stairway leading up to their studio is akin to a cultural walk through the city.

Located on the second floor of an industrial estate neatly tucked away from the din of the main road, one is surprised to find a perfect wooden panelled door that reveals little beyond the warmth of its materiality and eye for detail.

To make the space theirs, the existing partitions were; mostly gutted. The double-height 1200sq.ft space, with a 400sq.ft loft is blessed, with big windows framing the foliage and roofscapes that separate them from the neighbours. As the windows are all southeast facing for a good part of the day, the space bathes in natural light, making the team rely only on some indirect lighting that is strategically planned over task areas. Light captured within the space is absorbed by the lightly textured walls with their; matte and grainy finish. Contrasting the raw coolness of the wall and the stone-like dark flooring is the warmth of the live edge wood flowing work surface that stretches from column to column at the core of the space. Either edge of the workspace is mirrored, with birch-ply top desks supported by the warmth of teak wood legs that were a part of their earlier studio. The central workspace sits under a 400 sq.ft loft; that houses a flexible lounge that consists; of a library, material boards, and an informal meeting space that is perfect for movie nights at the studio. The loft connected by a ribbon-like fabricated spiral staircase peels away from the floor, rising above in a similar texture and hue as the flooring.