Hellow Yellow -Workspace Interior | Humming Tree

The brief

The brief was extremely sharp; that the space was to have two lives. The building should adorn an enjoy-work ethos and to have an exceedingly dynamic space, with heaps of daylight.

The client was after a minimal, outlandish look, so ‘we took inspirations from commercial and art gallery spaces, as opposed to typical office interiors’, says Afnan & Arun founders of Humming Tree.  Limotex is a Construction / Builders company with 4o years of experience in the industry. As we were approached for our quirky taste in design, this workspace has to be distinguished from other builder’s office which is typically designed keeping exposed materials in mind.

visit: Humming Tree

The Layout

Our concept was to have an office space which has a design language of contemporary art galleries. We did not want to make something having complex aesthetics. The office has a linear planning of about 1010 sq.ft, a small workspace, with an amazing sun kissed reception area facing west. Next to it is the waiting lounge with Prussian blue couch dividing the small workspace consisting of 4 workstation table. Ahead of it is the cabin for manager and a beautiful, mirror reflecting conference room bringing the outdoor greens in making the most of pleasant ambient daylight, which in turn saves a lot of electricity.

The Challenges

Working with a concept of having this mustard yellow on all 3 dimensions was a huge tough call and one needs to be bold when making decisions. However our fav, blue Jeff Koon’s dog, in the reception, balances out the color perfectly, making it look like it’s just straight out of a story book.

The first look

As soon as one enters the office, they recieve a punch of reception area with all it’s 3 dimensions dipped in yellow, this gives a visual delight, a sense of happy summerness. Moving in, the palette slowly shifts between blacks, whites and a glimpse of green giving the workspace depth. Over all the space just elevates the mood as we happen to say “Hello Yellow!“

All of the colors go hand in hand in interior design schemes, we wanted to somehow break the vibe of yellow, which can be overpowering at times and have control in the color palette. Office interior design is not just about furnitures and ambience but it is much more than that. We have to deeply understand how all of these colours could co-exist together creating a uniform balance within the interiors.

The Space

The yellow dipped reception with the sheek, glossy black capsule desk is absolutely the most vibrant nook in this office & simply because this is the spot where my favorite Jeff Koon’s art is.

Initially we thought we would be building this typical builders / construction company office situation kind of a thing with exposed materials and cement finish textures and make it look more officey but that’s just not us !  So we decided to take it for a spin and made sure we do it our way!

The idea was to keep it as clutter free and open as possible with the limited space that we had in the layout. We decided on avoiding lot of unnecessary signages and to just keep a strip of office name running on the rear wall of reception creating a backdrop which is sleek and elegant.The two statement rod lights which focuses light on the art are customized by Light, Calicut.

The nook

So everything in this office is light, airy, bright and uplifting.  Conference being the favorite one primarily because of the natural daylight streaming in with lush green being reflected on either side. Most of meetings happen here round the clock so the green helps to relax one’s mind in being zen. This also motivates for a positive mind set.

The conference table is custom built with pearl white table top. We also have these amazing lights which are dynamic and are called angled lights centered above the conference table. It is our other customised lights, made to that exclusive 40cm length, which can be adjusted according to different angles, in a single click creating interesting patterns in the room. The jet black colour detail is love. The passage leading to the conference room is adorned with some really cool mid century photo frames on the wall and cacti.

The cactus

Cacti fills the whole space really nice and different, setting a good color palette. San Pedro cactus is our bae for the season, we always like to experiment with the interior landscape of a place. Very few designers use cacti out here in India as a potential element in design & we love to give new elements a try. We have used tropical plants in most of our previous projects and when we studied about San Pedro, we found it is locally available in Kerala. One of the most beautiful landscape element we have come across, easy to grow and maintain. It also looks amazing in interiors and creates a perfect contrast to yellow walls.

The storage? 

They were very sure and clear from the beginning that they did not want to see any junk or paperwork or mess. So we have concealed rectangular storage cabinets in the workstation as a solution, which in turn looks minimal and neat.

The conference room

The initial layout had lot of walls and was literally covered, so we had to break open few verticals to sweep the light in. We have provided huge glass openings to allow ample daylight and minimize the use of power during the day. These openings have large over hangings to reduce extreme heat gain or direct sunlight providing amazing work space experiences for the team. We understood that the mature scaling and sensitive spaces are important for any organizations.

The main idea was to allow the greens into the space and we have the south wall cladded entirely with mirror which helps reflect the rich green from outdoors to the indoors and also making the space look a lot bigger than it actually is ! . What’s more, the client intended to fill the room with greens and we have both walls acting as greens literally. The whites and yellows harmonize with the greens, creating an ever-changing colorful landscape. We have used cacti of various heights throughout the interiors to create contrast which in turn adds an edge to the background. The display TV unit have been extended and made a part of design to accommodate the setup box cleverly.

The art

Speaking of decors, this office cloths in old mid century art photographs which often indicates what was fashionable at this time. The famous American artist, Jeff Koon and his sculpted dog popularly known as, Jeff Koon’s dog designed in stainless steel with mirror-finish surface, sitting on the reception table speaks of art & vibrancy. The Eames crow on the conference table is designed by Charles and Ray Eames and is known primarily for its elegant shape and dark color.

Entrance in the workspace follows the standard layout of a reception and a colored ceiling. The other side is stripped back vinyl flooring with everything exposed and a complementary color couch, and marble wall hanging plates featured on a white finished wall adds to a perfect craft. This creates a pleasant, fresh & crisp feeling office on one face and then an edgy and contrast feeling office reception on the other.We love everything about Eames, as designers I believe every one looks up to them for their timeless pieces & unique iteration. So we thought it would be perfect for us to have one of their designs out here.

FACT FILE: 

Firm: Humming Tree

Client: Limotex

Location: Kerala, India

Area: 1,100 sqft

Project Year: 2019

Photography: Justin Sebastian

Website: http://www.hummingtree.in/

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