Dylogg Cafe – the co-working typology!

Text & Photography: Abhishek Venkitaraman

Read Time: 2 mins

.

In a milieu, where office space comes at a premium, ‘Dylogg’ is a bespoke co-working café that aspires to look beyond the workspace to build communities…

Designed by Architect Ashish Bhattacharya, his daughter Kokila, and her friend Animesh, this café in the heart of Bhopal promises a comfortable, amicable ambience that tends to gradually grow on the user; besides a high-speed internet connection and refreshments. Accessible via membership, it constitutes a relaxed workspace for people, who have just begun their start-ups and new ventures and need a practical ‘decent’ space to hold meetings etc.

.

.

Spread across 1150 sq.ft. and designed on a shoe-string budget of around 4 lakhs, the project exalts the concept of adaptive reuse. Rustic, minimalist, yet infused with vibrant colours, the design is deliberately derived to break the usual norms, intending to provide a “no-formal” look.

Flexibility has been inculcated in the design right from conception by dismantling the earlier space and its elements and re-using them - balancing colours, textures and materials. The place can be easily emptied/ furniture rearranged to suit the activity of the day.

.

.

Two old wooden doors painted in vibrant colours, serve as the entrance, concealing and revealing at the same time. An old cupboard serves as a mini-library for book readers; whilst two old doors joined together and painted with a comic artwork, serves as a partition.

.

.

Every artwork has a story to tell! The artwork used to conceal the restrooms, describes the struggles and aspirations common to beginners. Lamps picked up from an antique store in Mumbai and an old worn-out cycle tire contributes to ambient lighting in a space that is designed for flexi-usage.

The café doubles up on weekends as a space to showcase music, arts and culture, therefore, the need for sound-proofing is served by the scrap wood and chipboard in the ceiling.   

.

With a dynamic work interface, urban lifestyles are in a constant state of reflux. An understated unpretentious community space, thus becomes a welcome haunt. Probably, co-working spaces like these could well be the answer to many an efficient entrepreneurial package.   

Fact File:

Client: Dylogg

Design Firm: Designing Cell

Design Lead: Ar. Ashish Bhattacharya

Design Team: Kokila Bhattacharya, Animesh

Area: 1150 sq. ft. 

Location: Bhopal