2012
Civil engineer
Graduated in civil engineering.
FoundersWood & Weave
The two people who do both halves.
Varun ChaudharyFounder and CEO · The build
Sona SharmaFounder and Design Director · The design
Most studios in this category are design-led and outsource the build. This one was started by a civil engineer with a construction project management MBA and an architect who has run design teams on revenue.
The buildVarun Chaudhary
The build
Varun Chaudhary
Owns site delivery and the growth of the business, with over 15 years across construction, interiors and construction technology in India and Dubai.
Which is where he learned, from the inside and at scale, exactly how these projects fail and who they fail.
- Trained
- Civil engineering, 2012
- Credential
- MBA, construction project management, RICS
- On site
- Al Naboodah Construction Group, Dubai
- Teams
- Interior design teams on revenue, India
- Software
- Middle East expansion, RDash
- Now
- Founder and CEO
The designSona Sharma
The design
Sona Sharma
Builds homes around the lifestyles, personalities and needs of the people who live in them.
Four clients describe her the same way without being asked to: approachable, present through the build, and the person who told them what she actually thought when they were not sure.
Thinks independently, says what she thinks, and will hold an opinion others disagree with when the home is better for it.
- Trained
- Architecture and interior design
- Practice
- High-end residential, retail and commercial
- Teams
- Business manager, Livspace, Delhi
- Now
- Founder and Design Director
The two careers
Varun Chaudhary
The build
Sona Sharma
The design
RICS
Construction project management
MBA in construction project management from RICS, 2014 to 2016.
Dubai
On site
Four years on Dubai sites with Al Naboodah Construction Group, on projects at the scale of Meeras Villas in Al Sufouh and the Mirdif City Centre car park extension.
India
Interior design teams
Six years running interior design teams on revenue, starting at Livspace in Gurgaon.
RDash
How projects fail
A year leading Middle East expansion for RDash, selling project management software to the founders of fit-out companies across the region.
Architect
Architect and interior designer
Trained as an architect and interior designer.
Design
Leading design teams
Delivering high-end residential, retail and commercial projects, and leading the teams that design them.
Delhi
Livspace
Business manager at Livspace in Delhi, leading a team of interior designers on revenue.
Livspacewhere they met
Now
Wood & Weave
Varun Chaudhary, Founder and CEOSona Sharma, Founder and Design Director
The pairing
They met at Livspace, both running teams.
Both among the top performers in the region. One had spent years on construction sites, and one had spent years drawing homes and seeing them built. Wood & Weave is the two halves under one contract.
On every project
The two people on every project.
The studio takes no more than ten live projects at any one time. It is a ceiling the founders set themselves, to protect the quality of each.
The team around them:
- Designers
- A project manager
- A quantity surveyor and estimator
- Two execution partners
- Business development