Earlier in April, I happened to attend a unique, curated event called “Girls’ Only” — an all-women, all-Indian art exhibition, part of the soft launch of Ministry of New, a design-inspired collaborative workspace in the heart of South Mumbai. Their launch was a glimpse into what the place intended to become. Six months later, the 8,000-sq feet space with its sky-blue and green ocean hues, open working spaces, and plenty of textile and pattern play has become a favourite haunt for creative entrepreneurs.

Heritage Mile For its founders, Dutch nationals Marlies Bloemendaal and Natascha Chadha, “it was love at first sight.” DN Road, where the Ministry is located, is a stretch that came to be known as the Heritage Mile, with its colonial brick-walled buildings, soaring ceilings and enviable views of Mumbai’s neoclassical structures such as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Bloemandaal and Chadha were drawn to the abundance of natural light and freedom of space that a place like Kitab Mahal offered, leading to their creative vision of the Ministry “as a professional oasis in the heart of the city.”

The Book Palace Kitab Mahal started off as a popular hub for book wholesalers, but by the mid-20th century, it had been taken over by many offices and small businesses. DN Road soon became just another commercial street in the bustling financial capital of the country.

But before it could completely pass into contemporary obscurity, the new landlord at Kitab Mahal — who prefers to remain out of the limelight — had already begun the process of restoring the building when Bloemandaal and Chadha chanced upon it. The building received a fresh coat of sky blue paint earlier this year, which was the original colour when it was constructed. Now on the third floor, a black and white chequered marble entrance hall leads up to the reception of the Ministry, which has a glass desk built entirely with open books.

Refurbishing heirlooms “For us, the idea was to restore the building in such a way that it retains its old-world charm while embracing an international appeal,” says Bloemandal. The landlord was about to take out the beautiful wooden shutters and other original materials, but as they lend the space its own grace, Bloemandal and Chadha strove to preserve as many of the original doors, shutters, columns and windows as they could. “We believe that you don’t have to gut a place to modernise it — you can refresh what’s already there,” adds Bloemandal, as Chadha agreed.

The reception desk and book light installations (an idea borrowed from the social media platform Pinterest) are odes to the building’s history. “In Holland, we have a tradition of preserving heritage so it’s in our genes,” says Chadha. Bloemandal conceptually designed most of the interiors, and got an architect on board for the technical execution. “We come from a minimalist European aesthetic, so we wanted a (mostly) blank canvas where people had the environment to bounce ideas off each other.”

Their vision was to keep as much of the light in as possible, and for everything else, to be flexible and spacious. The furniture, artwork, curios and books are all styled in an eclectic way — with an equal mix of vintage trinkets and typical Bombay things placed around solid wood furniture. “I spent hours trying to get the perfect warm wood against the cold white metal,” reveals Bloemandal. The ocean colours used represent a mix of feelings — “not too warm but not too cold, an androgynous colour scheme that both women and men can appreciate.”

Brand-conscious The design-heavy space has also become popular for brand collaborations. H&M chose to do their press launch event at Ministry of New when they entered the market in Mumbai. Other brands such as Bobbi Brown, Leo Burnett, Discovery, Tata, Christian Dior, Colgate, AirBnB, Sila Homecare, Titan, Lakmè, Myntra, Karleo, Toshin Confectionery, Saatchi & Saatchi and Excel Entertainment have held workshops and events at this space.

They’ve also had a number of celebrities visit their space including Katrina Kaif, Sidharth Malhotra, Sonam Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Shraddha Kapoor and Dev Patel. Deepika Padukone shot for her Myntra designer line at their premises. The popular city blog Little Black Book Mumbai works out of here, and finds its beautifully designed interiors a boon for their own frequent product shoots.

Open Spaces The Courtyard is a bright and airy space filled with big leafy plants, natural skylight, and outdoor seating that leads to all other rooms. The 2,200 sq ft gallery is a spacious room with large, custom-made wooden communal tables in pop colours of turquoise, white and yellow. There are various team rooms and a couple of meeting rooms that can be rented by non-members.

The Library is the pièce de résistance with a cozy, living room feel and decorated with ikat upholstered sofas, antique Jaipur rugs, crow chairs by Bombay Atelier and a chandelier from Chor Bazaar. Ladder-like bookshelves take up an entire wall with a great collection of books and magazines, while the pretty white window shutters are set off by brown chik curtains. Travel trunks, antique trinkets and vintage wall lamps are individually picked from Crawford Market and Oshiwara’s furniture market. French artist Fabien Charuau’s paintings adorn the walls. There is even a wooden rope swing in the middle that would make for a perfect reading nook (or more realistically, a selfie spot).

Designer décor Chadha and Bloemendal have attempted to use traditional things in new ways, for instance, using old aluminium and steel buckets, trunks and utensils as planters for their wide variety of floor and ceiling plants, and there is an abundance of natural light everywhere.

“But it is also a very curated space as we got approached by a lot of designers who wanted to collaborate,” says Chadha. The Ministry of New’s minimalist backdrops are set off against the creative works of various artists, such as furniture from Bombay Atelier and fabrics from Nomad, signature pieces from designers Lekha Washington and Gunjan Gupta, as well as art works by Chatterjee & Lal. Popular Bombay restaurant Café Zoe operates Café Monday, with graphic artist Deborah di Fiori’s hand-painted murals forming the scenery in this cozy café.

A co-thinking space Kitab Mahal’s architectural and design transformation was carried out keeping in mind the ultimate aim of birthing what the founders and members envision as a “co-thinking space” and a “hub of creativity”. The idea of a century-old building of books, on a road that has been declared a heritage precinct has certainly revived curiosity and nostalgia in many.

The Ministry of New’s co-working community is growing and with a host of unique cultural events lined up, Heritage Mile looks set to add some new chapters to its books thanks to this brand new co-working space.

Ritika Bhatia is a Mumbai-based journalist and communications consultant

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