Q. Could you give us an insight into the basic brief that underlines the foundation of your design approach for workplaces?
The story always begins with the client and their goals. No design comes without an underlying strategic approach that blends the business need/management & company goals/brand understanding to weave into the project’s purpose. This is the balance between the brand’s global and local context understanding to find a solution that needs to have a contextual foundation and be future forward.
Q. What are the major shifts taking place in office space design?
The working paradigm and team/way of working has changed. The future workspaces are based on allowing for more flexible working/ collaborations and, most importantly, creating “destination designs” that will bring the employees into the office. The goal is to create a community in the workspace that brings people from WFH into the office as the aspirational space for them to communicate and collaborate and find a sense of belonging.
Q. When designing commercial campuses, what are the common challenges?
The main challenges on campuses begin with planning journeys. Finding connections for people’s “day in life” across locations, finding inside-outside connections and balancing the forming of the ‘right brief’ of what the project requires.
The other challenge is to bring the future way of working into change management with companies and educate them on how to adapt, coach and partner with people to become productive adapting to future trends.
Q. Companies now give immense emphasis on the people-centric workspace. Could you give us some insights on the key aspects that are incorporated within this design philosophy?
As mentioned before, the key in all workspaces is the ‘people first’ philosophy. Respecting the trends, their needs for health & wellness, amenities, choice working, journey-based planning and making them belong is the underlying foundation. Designing for building stack planning to create varying work-based neighbourhoods and enhancing lifestyle is key.
Q. Elements like flooring play a very critical role in varying aspects. They are not just for aesthetics now but also help in acoustics, pathfinding, etc. What are the latest trends in this sector?
Flooring is the most significant physical element in design planning within the space. Aside from its textural physical component, it is the backdrop of the workspace landscape. Aside from the two mentioned facts, with changing technology, floors are also key in the LEED factor computations. In the visual aspect, the floors also bring the opportunity to balance the global guideline mandate with the local palette of design opportunities.
Q. How has it been collaborating with the Shaw Contact Global Design Awards 2022? How do you place India’s evolution into workspace design as compared to designs across the globe?
I have had the privilege to be part of the Shaw process in workshops before for projects & design forecasts. The latest design awards really bring forth the commitment to design storytelling and discussion that they foster globally. It’s been an honour to have contributed to all the conversations and selected the global winner. Accolades to all who have been shortlisted as well.
India is the destination for corporate focus for most global brands due to the talent bank. Finding the balance of global design formulae and future workspace impact in the Indian context will be key to watch due to the scale of investment vs team/project opportunity. India’s evaluation and mapping are on the keen eye of all the key management as the landmark projects, and we all have a huge responsibility to make that a milestone.