The Smart Office India Summit 2019 featured a special debate session that saw architects and facility managers shed light on aspects such as design development, operational challenges, cost optimisation, impact of disruptive technologies, dealing with management, rewriting the future of facilities together, Alternative workspace strategies and space management. Captain Rajesh Sharma, MD, IFM and Asset Services at Cushman & Wakefield, moderated the session.
Panel speakers:
• Imran K, associate director- Facilities Management, Colliers International India
• Manas Das, head- Facilities & Network, Adani Capital Pvt. Ltd
• Nejeeb Khan, MD, KGD Architects
• Ninad Tipnis, founder and principal, JTCPL Designs
• Nirmal Mangal, director and country head – India, M Moser Associates
• Rajesh Sharma, MD (PMSI), Cushman & Wakefield
• Shakti Chauhan, senior VP-2 & co-head : Facilities Management & Administration, HDFC
• Sudeep Ghoshal, head – Administration & Infrastructure, Reliance Capital
• Tanmay Khare, Infrastructure and Services, Mahindra Finance
Khare initiated the conversation: “Earlier, facility managers were not part of important discussions. But, now we represent the projects in board rooms alongside owners, architects and other stakeholders. Both architects and facility managers need to move ahead with the spirit of ‘us’ rather than ‘vs’.”
Sharma invited Chauhan to share his views on the gap between the two verticals, who said, “It is important for corporates to have a comprehensive understanding and lifecycle assessment of their properties. That is possible by accepting inputs from the complete team. In terms of bringing in facility managers to the table in the initial stages, there is still a small gap that needs to be addressed.” Ghoshal agreed and added, “In my experience, small- and mid-scale entities are now bridging the gap more and facility managers are given their due recognition. But, in larger office systems, because of volumes, facilitation is lacking.”
When Das was asked to share his experience, he said, “Often, after the property is handed over, the implemented design or systems may not align with the requirement of the facility managers. Our aim of keeping up the returns is not catered to.” Imran pointed out a probable course of action. He said, “According to one of the latest rating standard and certification system, a process needs to be set wherein facility managers are involved in decision-making at the design stage itself. With the inputs of both FMs and architects, an operation manual should be created to foresee possible difficulties to aid early prevention.”
When Sharma posed the question of involvement of facility managers at the design stage, Khan said, “For designers, designing is about creating experiences and emotions. We deviate slightly from thinking functionally to avoid tailoring straight boxed rooms. But at the end of the day, it is all about how efficient and productive the space is. To me, maintaining the balance between the two is key.” Tipnis added that there is still room for design creativity, especially in smaller projects. He shared, “Certain organisations, due to their special business, may have teams whose work goes beyond the designer’s know-how. In such cases, the collaboration of FMs is a wise approach. Office design is now getting more team-centric, and I have seen that collaborative projects always succeed.”
Sharma asked Mangal to conclude the debate by sharing his idea of ideal collaboration, keeping in mind the design and cost aspects. Mangal replied, “We always invite the participation of the facility team from day one, so that we sit on the same side of the table rather than the opposite. There is an underlying misconception that good design costs more money. Rather, it is a careful consideration of the built environment and materiality that make it economically efficient.”