What are the major shifts taking place in office space design?
A typical workplace before the advent of this transformation was usually bland, plain white and cramped. People were expected to adjust, sit, and work in places allotted to them. But nowadays, everybody has a choice with different work settings – from informal meeting areas to coworking and hybrid offices.
Initially, there were too many cubicles and closed spaces. Now, with collaboration as a key criterion, that is completely changed to an open office desking system, where people can choose to work, interact, and collaborate from anywhere.
Office furniture has also adapted to this change. There is a lot of creativity and ergonomics imbued in its design – be it through colour, shapes, sizes, the material used, placements, etc. Workplace furniture today not just includes work desks and chairs, but an assortment of collaborative and lounge seating, informal meeting area setups, sofas, interactive boards, etc. Hence, there is a lot of adaptability in the market with regard to the designs and evolving demands of the generation. For example, these days meetings are also held in cafeterias. Given this, we design furniture to provide that flexibility – the tabletop surface is treated with germ-free solution, it’s made interactive with charging systems, etc.
- What are some of the key and critical aspects that are considered while designing furniture?
At Amardeep, our vision has always been to provide a safe and comfortable seating to our customers and end-users. Keeping in mind the prolonged seating hours in offices today, we not only test our products for durability, but also comfort and ergonomics.
We often get images from architects, designers, contracting companies or even PMCs that reference the kind of furniture they want us to manufacture for a certain project. But we take the responsibility to test that furniture design on the above parameters and share the report with them to ensure it is suitable for long working hours. Modifications and changes are accordingly done before we deliver the final product. Amardeep provides seating solutions not just for offices, but also schools, cafes, institutions, coworking spaces etc. The treatment of design and built for each of these sectors vary vastly. But we ensure that we create the right product for our customers by justifying their application and understanding where the product will be used.
As far as sustainability and green practices are concerned, we at Amardeep, comply with several green certificates. The company ensures that our products, processes, and the materials we use (glueing, plywood, fabric, etc.) have no emissions and are not harmful to human beings. Our factories undergo a regular audit to maintain our global ratings.
“I want Indian furniture companies to get recognised for its design and manufacturing capabilities. Along with our design team, we hope to bring a change to this perception.”
Devesh Shah, Head of Business Development, Amardeep Designs.
- What future plans does the brand have in store?
Amardeep Designs is also coming up with its own product line, which is called the ‘AD Collection’. The collection includes modernistic furniture pieces such as the Infinity chair, the Glide sofa, and also the telephone booth. The telephone booths will soon be tested for international acoustic standards. The brand has several other products in the pipeline that are currently in the R&D phase. We’ve spent the past six months coming up with a range of ten products that we plan to launch this month.