The world of work has been turned on its head over the past two years. Not only is hybrid working here to stay, but employees have new workplace expectations amid evolving wellbeing, environmental and social concerns. As the purpose of the office is redefined, workplace and portfolio management strategies are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated, necessitating greater reliance on CRE technologies and data-driven insights to meet employee expectations and boost performance on all fronts.
Modern workplaces are increasingly concentrating on employee work-life balance, and this notion has been integrated into innovative office layouts. A prime example is the cutting-edge headquarters for Concast India Ltd, conceptualised by Studio Design Inc. This office promotes the art of juggling a healthy work-life balance via its design, fostering a sense of success and well-being among workers. Now let’s take you through the clever voyage of this masterpiece…
Client’s desire
Located in the bustling vicinity of Marol in Mumbai, the engineering company initially guided the architects that their office space should have a clarity of functions, allowing for both private spaces and collaborative areas with clear circulation and dedicated service zones.
Psychologically, they were looking for a comfortable workplace design that inspires people to draw unique collaborations and create positive transformations and work havens for employees. The designers kept a memo of every discussion they had with the client as a reference point during design and execution.
The architect’s catch
The architectural studio tactfully designed the office by seamlessly blending the client’s requirements and layering them across different floors.
The 15000 sq ft office space also provides a burst of biophilic designs and colour blocking as the key design elements. The free-flowing concept allowed connectivity, comfort and collaboration – physically and visually, thus favouring a smooth work-life balance. Overall, This G+3 structure is alluring with AI and technology, and the office space is completely paper-free, enabling digital collaborations.
Ground floor – Bringing the purple hues alive
Upon entry, one can view a colossal reception area with a prominent marble front desk and a prominent company logo printed on it.
The background wall holds a striking gold and brown 3D horizontal pattern, brightening the arrival area.
The warm light diffuses through this horizontal pattern which falls perfectly on the marble flooring. An artistic lighting fixture drops right above the reception counter, giving it a charismatic character of its own.
Adjoining the reception area lies a cosy waiting zone bearing plush black leather seatings and a marble coffee table, whose patterns and visual textures are similar to the reception desk. This waiting area is complimented with a green biophilic-wall backdrop and a world map outline made up of small rectangular and circular brown textures, giving it a 3D effect. Circular-shaped coins promptly hung at the end of the biophilic wall, reflecting their brand’s innovations over decades, becoming the key design element of this welcoming space.
In terms of the spatial volume, the waiting area also has a cut-out above, which gives a dimension to the overall space. The way-in further leads to a lift with a digital screen with a login activation code. A narrow passageway to the right leads to compartments such as a compactor storage room, tea/coffee area, tiffin room and a peon’s room, all to the left of the passageway and restrooms towards the right of the passageway. The passage ends with a fire escape staircase.
The right door of the passage leads towards a huge 50-seater design/engineering room flooded with natural light. This space also includes a printer area, a three-seater cabin and a six-seater discussion room towards the left. The stations have subtle light pink, cream and purple work screens, complementing the grey and blue rectangular textured flooring carpet. The roof has a hexagonal-shaped false ceiling which seamlessly hides the roofing ducts underneath, giving the office a distinctive depth.
The false ceilings are also designed in shades of light pink and grey. The background walls have motivational words written over them, such as ‘innovate’ with subtle graphic wallpaper. The sleek rectangular lights fall right above every workstation for the employees to focus better. Biophilia can be noticed in the interiors of the offices with indoor plants along the circumference of the workstations.
First floor – The grand green zone
Further taking the staircases, one can notice a bright orange-coloured railing with the upcoming floor numbers written on each mid-landing. After landing, the first floor has a waiting area and a nine-seater conference area accessed through the main workstation. The service areas are placed to the left of the lift, with a tea/coffee station, restrooms, tiffin rooms and a dispatch area. To its right passage is a small four-seater discussion area leading to the entrance door towards the workstations.
The workstation layout is slightly more discrete than the ground floors, consisting of 48 seating capacity, four individual cabin units, and a nine-seater conference room at the entrance. The conference room, which can be accessed from
the inside, has a lush green view of the planters facing towards the outside. This floor has light green and grey accents with a similar wooden flooring finish as the ground floor. The fall light bars drop seamlessly over these workstations as the ground floor. The room also has a cabin, printer and storage area, which was placed in the left section of the room. Flora and fauna are carefully placed on the borderline of the workspace to integrate biophilia.
Second floor – The bright blue zone
The architect has skilfully modified the previous layout of this floor. The waiting area on the second floor has a two-seater capacity with a small coffee table. The room adjoining it is a nine-seating capacity conference room that again opens to nature, calling in plenty of sunlight. There is a small four-seater auditor’s room facing right opposite the conference area. The main workstation door lies in the middle of them both. The workroom is divided into three zones – the general admin + accounting + legal zone on the right. The sales and marketing area is planned out in the middle, and three cabins are to the left corner. These four cabins have motivational words such as ‘believe’ and ‘skill’ written vertically in bold black, contrasting over the light brown walls with three seatings each. This provides a quiet and intimate space for its users.
The main workstation’s ceiling and flooring are identical to the floors above but with a colour difference of light blue and grey tones. The room ends with three main cabins (VP’s cabin, CFO’s Cabin and President’s cabin) and a six-seater conference room, each divided by a small passageway.
The glass partitions facing the main workstations have been drawn with motivational quotes such as ‘If the odds are against you, work with the evens’ and ‘excellence is an attitude’ written over them.
Moving indoors, the president’s cabin carries grey-toned furniture with a wooden desk and a sleek half-curved rectangular fall height, enhancing the comfort of that space. Indoor plants have been used in plenty, adding a lap of luxury to the cabin.
Blending outdoors: The third floor
The third floor houses an enormous 24-seater theatre-style training room to the right. The seatings have a wooden finished texture, all continuing on the main TV’s backdrop.
The room has windows that face foliage, which gives a soothing effect. The training room is connected to a green open space, leading the gazes to an outdoor amphitheatre. With lush planters and a solar roof for weather protection, the break space had been laid for employees to have a relaxed brainstorming session or can take a work break.
A mini six-seater dining room lies right opposite the main conference area. The recreation area is on either side of the lift and is connected to the restrooms. With a marble backdrop and contrasting black furniture, this break area has been provided with maximum comfort.
The black fall lights from the top follow the trail of the oval dining table, giving it a tropical effect. Black and white décor pieces lift the entire room. This laid-back space has been kept clean and classic, different from the office interiors.
Additionally, two beds were placed at the back adjacent to the restrooms for relaxation. At last, the back door leads to the fire exit, concluding the overall office space.