Design student Serena Shatakshi, who is from Patliputra Colony, has helped create a first-of-its kind nursery in Gurgaon that opened its doors on Friday.

NG Studio is a 'green store' - a retail chain of indoor plants that not only keeps saplings and indoor plants for sale but also allows its clients to buy furniture that will match their green friends at home.

The Nurturing Green company started its first sprawling green retail store in Gurgaon on September 29 and is scheduled to start a few more themed stores in Delhi. Serena (22) in her final year at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad is part of the team that has designed the Gurgaon studio.

The other members of her team include managing director of the Nurturing Green Annu Grover, chief horticulturist Ratnakar, and architect Javed Hussain.

Serena said she had to decide which space had to be utilised for which section. 'The whole garden store has been divided into three sections. There is a theme area apart from a plants-accessories section and a nursery section,' she said. 'I had to suggest how the sections would be designed and how things will be arranged. If hanging plants decorate one section, I had to come up with the colour combination of the things around it.'

One of the unique features of the 13,000-sqft green retail store, she said, was the 02 section which has 'oxygen cylinder, air-purifiers and air purifying plants'. 'Big cities like Gurgaon are heavily polluted, so such spaces can come to the rescue of the residents. There is one plant doctor in the studio besides an expert who will help residents to implement theme-based lawn gardening, terrace gardening after they select their preferred theme at the store.'

Serena, whose family lives in the upscale Patliputra Colony while she studies in Gujarat, had made headlines when she got the chance to participate in the 'Story of Lights Festival' in Panaji, Goa, in 2015.

Artists from across the world displayed their creations near heritage structures, churches, the medical college and on the beaches of Panaji during the festival. In Serena's art installation, she displayed a structure of Arctic poppy (a type of flower found in northern Europe) that started moving once light fell on it through any source.

On her experience with NG Studio, she said: 'It has definitely helped me hone my work. As of now, Nurturing Green has asked me to redesign a few sections of the studio in the winter. As new plants will be brought in during that period, I will have to design the space afresh.'