When we started designing WOKO, the main question was: how do you honour oriental culture without reducing it to decoration? How do you take references from asian tradition but adapt them to the fast pace of a modern city like Gurgaon?

We began with colour. Deep reds, rich greens, warm wood. Not motifs, just the feeling that certain colours carry before the mind even names them.

Then came the lantern. We made them square. One edge change, and it moves from copy to conversation, from tradition to modern. 

And the walls reflect the layered rhythm of Chinese roof shingles, reinterpreted as fluted panels. The same memory, a different material.

The plan centres around an open kitchen, making cooking the centrepiece rather than a footnote. 

Every decision asked: what is the essence of this reference, and how little do we need to carry it?