A renovation in Gujarat, India, is putting brickwork front and center in a modern office setting. Logic Design + Build reworked a low-rise commercial floor into The Mortar House, a shared workspace for the firm’s architecture studio and an e-commerce start-up. The 280-square-metre project moved away from a maze of small rooms and toward an open plan that supports collaboration, natural light, and flexible day-to-day use.
The design started with removing partitions that were blocking circulation and daylight. Instead of rebuilding the same kind of enclosed offices, the new layout keeps sightlines open while still creating zones for focused work, meetings, and shared amenities.
The standout masonry element is a sequence of exposed brick arches that replace typical door openings. The arches create rhythm through the space and work like “invisible partitions,” defining transitions without closing rooms off. Openings were also positioned to help manage daylight and reduce heat gain while keeping work areas well lit.
Color comes in through stained-glass partitions in red, yellow, and blue, inspired by Piet Mondrian. These panels separate meeting rooms, private offices, presentation areas, and collaborative spaces, but they keep the office visually connected as light shifts throughout the day.
With budget and schedule pressure, the team kept the material palette straightforward: clay brick, lime plaster, birch plywood, leather, and marble. Detailing does the heavy lifting, including concrete cornices integrated into the brick arches that reference vernacular Indian architecture. Custom furniture was designed for the project, and leftover materials were repurposed into smaller elements like leather-wrapped handles and accessories.
Communal spaces, including breakout areas, a shared pantry and coffee station, multipurpose conference space, and common washrooms, support the idea of one workplace, not two separate offices. The plan also ties back to outdoor areas by improving connections to an existing courtyard and terrace, where built-in seating wraps around two plumeria trees.
Read the full, original article from Parametric Architecture here.