SML Architects, a Mumbai based multidisciplinary design studio working in the realms of master-planning, architecture, interior design and furniture have created an outstanding design of an office.
The office space for an innovative technology company has complex set of requirements. The reconfiguration with a shifting of walls and elimination of intermediate mezzanine floors enabled greater volumes for the office space while also ensuring smoother workflow within the factory setup. A set of internal columns moving diagonally across the space became the generator of the layout of the offices. The state-of-art manufacturing plants and the cutting-edge research being undertaken by the company served as triggers to generate a design language that had precision and a sense of boldness as its underpinning principle.
The main element of design comprises a tessellated wall that runs along the length of the space. As a primary spatial element, the wall becomes a foil against which the office activities take place, and tie together disparate processes and working groups within the space.
These tessellations are developed further within the managerial cabins, where the dynamic geometry of the exterior surface transforms to a more refined geometry within the interior and a material palette that speaks of warmth and richness. An advantage that was now available within these spaces was the available storey height, but deep beams that cut through the space and a centrally located column projection threatened to adversely affect fully exploiting this advantage.
The two conditions were met by a pinched ceiling system where the surface of the ceiling dips and picks itself up at various points depending on the depth of each of the beams, maximizing ceiling heights wherever possible. The surface concealed services within it and lighting strips at ridges and valleys of the ceiling structure reinforced the overall geometry.
The office space refurbishment not only ensured that the company was able to grow in scale with greater efficiency built into its processes, but also reinforced the ‘energy’ of the organization, infusing it with fresh zeal - a testimony to the power of space to strongly influence cultures of work.
