For Schlumberger’s offices in Pune, Edifice Consultants drew from the organisation’s rich global presence. The key design idea has been to weave a rich tapestry of extremely contextual and often literal narratives of striking locations from around the world; transporting employees to their favourite destinations for a day of work. Functionally, the client’s brief as well as the design intent established a strong focus on the collaborative environment rather than the closed office culture.
Phase 1 was spread across two adjacent floors in an IT building in Pune. The design for the fourth floor was inspired by the Greek island of Santorini. The white buildings, blue sea and bright bougainvillea shrubs are the iconic colours of this island town.
These Mediterranean colours became the basis of the colour scheme. The flow of the space is further defined by the graceful curvilinear work and pause forms in the design, which reflect the waves on the sea. Texture painted white surfaces and collaborative furniture in white and wood further accentuate the theme.
The design for the third floor was inspired by Central American colours and architecture. The idea was to create a resort-like feel situated amidst natural surroundings. A blue-and-beige carpet simulates the sand and the sea, with a hazy merging of the two colours emulating a shoreline.
Earthy colours like terracotta, beige and orange have been used. The collaborative furniture is in wood with upholstery in earthy colours.
The cafeteria has been designed differently from the open office area to break away from the theme. The colour scheme has a palette of white, black, wood tones and a splash of orange to add brightness. The serving counter has been designed buffet style, and is not as per the conventional office café counters.
The recreation area has stepped seating against one wall, with a busy ceiling featuring colourful grids. The ceiling has exposed ducting to create an industrial look. This, again, breaks away from the theme of the office area.
The design for Phase 2 is a stark departure from the exotic destination theme and projects the work spaces as a state-of-the-art new-age workplace with large collaborative spaces set in a mildly flavoured office environment. The key highlights are the colours of the loose furniture and the dark flooring, which contrasts with the pure white of the workstations and the office walls and ceiling.
Phase 3 marks a return to a new Indian destination, and is inspired by the traditional arts, crafts and architectural heritage of Rajasthan.
The interiors of the office spaces bring India’s rustic and royal charm to life through an eclectic selection of tactile materials and furniture. By blending the boundaries between indoors/outdoors and redefining traditionally-articulated spaces, this project takes the idea of a workplace to a new level!
The workplaces in these themes are punctuated with collaborative spaces – which not only break a regular office set-up visually, but also act as alternative work spaces. Use of natural light has been maximised for the workspaces, while enclosed spaces were neatly placed along the core areas. Writable film has been used on columns for both floors to make the space more interactive.