2020 will be remembered as the year of learnings and challenges. At Colliers, it will be remembered as the year which brought the biggest transformation in the way we work. The design team at Colliers could not have been more excited when the task of curating a space for their own organization was given. A space that represents the Colliers Brand Values, connecting workforce via Colliers culture and catering to the needs of diverse teams coming together for same purpose, accelerating success of our clients.
The Site
Location of the office has been carefully chosen keeping in mind connectivity from various parts of the city. The office is in Embassy Golf Links Business Parks, one of the most desired places to be in the heart of the town. Colliers office is approximately 21000 Sqft, on the first floor of Sunningdale building. The best part of the building is abundance of natural light available. Expansive glazing on three sides offer splendid views of landscape and waterbodies around, connecting indoors to outdoors naturally and keeping the employees energetic throughout.
The Design Story
This is where the things start to get interesting. A globally recognized brand, identified by its enterprising culture, setting a new way of working in India’s tech hub, Bengaluru. The office also represents amalgamation of cultures, after Colliers acquired controlling stake in Synergy last year. The primary concept for the office embodies Colliers global workspace strategy known as PACE, which translates into Productive Active Collaborative & Enterprising workspaces. The floor planning represents spaces, categorized as Primary, Choice, Meeting and Social, creating a high energy, efficient, collaborative, and inspiring workplace. The idea is to create a flexible and agile setting, popularly known as Activity Based Workspace, promoting cross team collaboration, and providing choice to the employees. The design caters to the needs of two most important user groups, our people, and our clients.
The Details
The primary objective of the design is to bring together a diverse workforce representing respective service lines, encourage collaboration, which leads to idea generation and business creation. The collaborative spaces intersperse the work areas, offering choice to the employees. Office offers a plethora of spaces, catering to the diverse needs of innovative & growing teams. The array of spaces includes a Customer Experience Centre, an Amphitheatre, Quiet zone(booths), Gym, Library lounge, Mother’s room, and ample social and collaboration spaces.
The vast reception welcomes you with elements, just about right to provide glimpse of what lies inside. A warm wooden panel blended with live plants bring freshness and lays emphasis on our commitment towards Biophilic designs. An impressive light fixture brightens the experience as you step in. We have introduced seamless micro concrete floor, which then runs throughout the main circulation passages inside the office. You will witness block prints of Indian motif in blue colour in the reception area, which brings the local flavour into the context. The hexagonal motif also decorates glass panels of various meeting rooms, which are otherwise largely transparent.
The Experience Centre is a large open space with a video wall, meant for client presentations. A foldable glass wall separates the experience centre from Boardroom. Together, this is essentially a visitor centric area, equipped with audio video systems for large group presentations and conferences. The furniture is a mix of ergonomic chairs and lounge seats, providing choice to our customers. The space is true reflection of the Colliers experience and is designed to create the right first impression.
The primary workplaces are open, without any false ceiling capturing the maximum volume available. Planters all through the primary workplace keeps the indoor air quality optimum, while also acting as acoustic screens, absorbing unwanted soundwaves. The choice (social and collaboration) spaces are defined using semi open screens in ceiling and warm decorative lights. The flooring for such spaces is usually highlighted in blue colour carpet, reflecting Colliers brand identity. The central circular collaboration space is a perfect example of a setting which looks comfortable and invites employees for impromptu discussions. Likewise, the collaboration spaces along the circular glazing are perfect for team discussions or solo tasks. Meeting spaces are designed with right acoustic panelling and false ceiling in each room along with LED screens for virtual meetings and presentations. Few meeting spaces also have a sit to stand table, suitable for quick stand up meetings while providing break from sitting continuously. We truly believe in the fitness of our employees.
Colliers drew upon our strong Project Management capabilities to execute the state of the art office, with employee health and safety becoming the primary objective behind each decision we took. We were quick to adopt changes, like increasing spacing in workplace, reconfiguring meeting rooms, optimized use of technology innovation for touchless experience and collaboration with distancing to provide a safe, high performing environment to our workforce.