The Commercial Design Awards 2022 was successfully hosted at the open lawns of Sofitel BKC on the 15th of December, 2022. Talking about the various award categories at the event, the most prestigious and highly anticipated – ‘Workplace Project Of The Year’ was bagged by KPMG.
The winning trophy was presented to Brigadier HS Kaura and his team at KPMG, for the firm office project in NESCO, Mumbai.
Details of the project submitted: KPMG, NESCO, Mumbai
Workplace evolution is extremely dynamic. New-age concepts get outpaced by strides in technology enablement, challenging the design intellectuals. While the fundamental drive comes from cost optimization – productivity is the key word which cuts through the verbiage. The willingness of all stakeholders to readily accept the revolutionised layouts from ‘My to Ours’ has positively impacted the optimal utilisation of the workspace.
KPMG Office @ Mumbai
The KPMG office at NESCO, Goregaon, Western Express Highway in Mumbai is an outcome of extensive deliberations with key stakeholders and in-depth study by the Firm. Internal surveys, geo-mapping of employee demographics, the spread of client offices, market research on qualitative analysis of various options, connectivity, peripheral social development, and focus on sustainability were amongst the key factors in decision-making for setting up a prime office at NESCO.
The new age workplace strategy was now a reality as KPMG completed its ‘Hub and Spoke model’ across the city of Mumbai (with a presence in Parel, Vikhroli, Navi Mumbai and Goregaon). True to its focus on People first, the space is the epitome of positive work experience and well-being by minimizing travel fatigue and enhancing productivity.
The Design
The layout is a perfect example of a progressive, hyper-agile workspace. Imagined and articulated ahead of its time, much before the pandemic changed the perspective of workspaces. The design strategy envisaged was based on the principle of deconstructing the existing concepts to new dimensions of creating seamless tech-enabled comfort spots for alternate work points and collaboration. An intuitive and human-centric approach was adopted to create this progressive strategy. A string of brainstorming sessions with leadership concluded with a thrust to represent an energetic and forward-looking legacy. The entire ecosystem has been visualized from a unique lens, where spatial compositions offer meaningful expressions.
Artistic value of the form, shape, colour, texture, finishing, engineering and material used
The textural palette reflects very deep thought and connection between the fusion of spaces and the application of materials. The thought was to transform the known dimension of workplace reality into a dreamlike, evolved, emotive fusion of spaces and settings. The mood board was driven from the perspective of imbibing a variety of renewed/ re-imagined material, hand-picked textures, shapes, forms, and colours layered with fine detailing to bring out a ‘wow factor’.
The ecosystem is an amalgamation of forward-looking concepts, detailing, and materials from various social and industrial sectors. Styling and accessorizing were an integral part of this design programme to build the story of every space with carefully curated art, artefacts, sculptures and biophilia across the office.
The client floor has been layered with expressions of art in a gallery-like concept across the floor and a beautiful iconic sculpture of a ‘horse’ in a water pool to signify the strength and commitment of the organization. The landscape and use of biophilia is storytelling of material choices and integrating them with the green.
The benefits delivered to the user and/or society by design
It’s one of the few projects that got delivered with a progressive hybrid concept in the consulting sector, promoting the well-being of employees with robust programming which brings flexibility and scalability to work points and real estate optimization. It reduces the concept of seat stress to choice-based settings for agile working All the shared utilities have been planned on the top-most floor of the campus to optimise the best inherited feature of the base build- a grand skylight. The larger part of the café is planned in the skylight area, offering a bespoke vibrant café experience which transforms entirely into an under-the-stars roof-top restaurant during the sunset.
Does the design meet the intended purpose and needs of the user?
The campus is all about sharing resources, blending boundaries, and interacting as a cohesive community where each employee can find his/her own space. The big idea was to offer the employees an emotionally driven, human-centric, sensorial ecosystem with something unique for every purpose, mood, and activity. Various settings were brought together to harness the full potential of an agile workspace while simultaneously offering acoustic, visual, and psychological privacy.
In addition to fulfilling its practical purpose, will the design create a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction?
The ‘any-time square’ is strategically planned at the heart of the floor, encouraging a natural sense of mobility and making a case for spontaneous encounters and experiential strolls of the entire workspace from one end to another. They are special in their design and settings and invite people to meet, work, share ideas, find solutions, and discover answers in an informal setting.
Each social café offers a unique coffee bistro or chai bar experience where the settings are plenty, and perfect for alternate work points for solo work, informal meetings, small team townhalls, team bonding activities, catching up, grabbing a quick bite, refuelling caffeine and celebrating everyday victories.
The specially curated ‘Client floor’ is a unique setup of a mixed-use executive workspace. It offers options for bespoke hospitality spaces in high-level finishes for conferences, meeting points, gatherings, client and business lounges to private dining with work zones.