1. What was the brief from the client? And how did you achieve the same intertwining of your style?
The client being in the graphics and animation industry wanted a space that would be minimal, with the essence of the international branding of the parent firm coming through. The site itself was an existing one with sprawling greens , so we had our work cut out for us from the start to do justice to the same.
2. With evolving office designs, what latest trends have you absorbed into this project?
We really felt that we should be giving as much visual connection to the greens outside as well as visibility between the people inside. It was also a way to promote social interaction by making the staff head outdoors for brainstorming sessions, which was key especially after the pandemic where most of the staff had been working in isolation from home.
3. What are the environment-friendly initiatives taken for this project?
Natural light fills this whole office, as we took down all the exterior walls and the same were replaced with insulated glass so as to reduce heat gain. At any given point of day, one does not need to turn on any light.
4. Can you give us insights on the selection of furniture and finishes of the project?
For a team of almost 110 people we needed to select finishes which were low maintenance, cost effective and efficient but not compromising on finish or aesthetic. Thus we used leather finish kadappa flooring to stand the test of people dragging their furniture around , lacquered glass for the doors for easy cleaning, dark grey matt laminates for the table finishes as the staff needed non reflective finishes especially because of their work in graphics and color correction.
5. What were the difficulties, or first setbacks encountered?
The existing structure was retained due to financial as well as timeline reasons and that was the challenge as we could not hang a lot of heavy elements from the shed structure. The MS girders were not in line so the support structure of the glass was done independently on the outside to not get affected by the same.
6. If you had to name the design style used, what would it be?
POP minimalism.
7. What were the inspirations and key concepts for the development of the project?
Understanding the brand identity for an international giant such as Media Monks and the promotion of social interaction by designing break out spaces as well as by understanding and studying the working culture and how the same space could be used for brainstorming sessions was a key inspiration for us.
8. What is your favorite element of design in the project?
The glazing all around offering views of the trees all around the shed.
9. If you had to describe the project in 2-3 words what would it be?
Minimal, unexpected, futuristic.
10. Explain the use of colors and/or other details to add value to the design.
We only selected one colour (fanta orange) as the pop and the rest of the finishes were kept in monochrome tones- dark grey, grey and white. This was done so that it wouldn’t distract the employees when editing films for colour correction etc. Lighting was done so as to not be too sharp to add to the glare on the screens once the staff was working on color correction.