Simplistic Office Interior With Beguiling Aesthetics | Bare.Pineapple
When the client approached us they wanted to design a space for their chartered accountant office. They were building their own 4 storied commercial building out of which the office was opt to be set on the 3rd and 4th levels. Half of each floor. The connection was established between the two floors through a cut out on the 4th-floor slab with a skylight above it.
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The primary requirement was for 14 workstations, 2 manager stations, a discussion space for 6 and a CEO cabin. Within the cabin, the client wanted a larger working table and a relaxation space for himself. Along with these, there was a requirement for an ample amount of storage for their client and accounting files. Also, there was a small common cafeteria space assigned for the entire building to be designed additionally. The client had been operating in an old residence for over 10 years and wanted a new space in their upcoming commercial building. The only condition that they laid down on us was, in his own words, “The design should look wow.”
With this design brief, we set out formulating the space, intertwining function with nifty and simplistic yet beguiling aesthetics. Minimizing the construction cost through thoughtful use of materials and techniques is practiced throughout the design and construction process with an unsaid prerequisite that space should withstand the test of time.
‘Simple geometries producing complex interactions’ within the space is the key to this design.
While entering from the lobby, a large cement finished sliding door with well-ordered signage opens into the reception with waiting area. The reception area both separated from the workspace through an algorithmically designed back wall expressed in polished exposed birch ply and activated through the grid storage that opens up the courtyard space giving a glimpse of the office space within.
The clear height was of the main concerns as the lower floor was as low as 8’3” while the upper floor was 9’3”. The workspace has been opened up and interventions have been made in such a manner that space doesn’t feel claustrophobic at any point. The connection between the two floors is established through a white MS spiral staircase cladded with rubberwood within the cut-out in the upper floor slab with a skylight above it. This became the primary space of design, a living green courtyard housing a ficus tree and all the other spaces overlooking and opening into it.
Flooring is one of the main design objects (lines) in the space; differentiation of working zone and circulation is made by light and darker shades of grey tiles creating curved patterns on the floor “islands”, and is reflected to the lighting profile at the ceiling while the suspended metal members above it takes this profile to offset and ripple through the space tying it together in a wholesome composition. Hues of grey, white and birch are carefully used throughout the design making the space seem clean and simple. The design elements are put in tension with each other to activate the space to discourse/dialogue in relation to context and materiality.
The fantastically bright yellow-colored walls of the double-height courtyard space bounces and bleeds golden light into space during day time along with 631 feet long flowing lines of light fixtures. The inclusion of living green spaces (tree court and planters) within the space adds a layer of poise to the composition.
The CEO cabin, on the other hand, is designed around the work table as a centerpiece on the floor island with simple birch, dark grey composition with a glossy ceiling finished in lacquer paint to reflect its surroundings. The 9’ by 4’6” table is constructed as a design exercise by taking a planar surface geometry and undulating it to find the simplest structurally stable, free-standing doubly curved geometry and built using layering of strips of birch ply. This then is overlayed with a white Corian surface top chamfered at the edges.
With the ease of construction, sensitivity to the expression of inherent material properties (like exposed plywood), color pallet, advanced design and manufacturing techniques this space for chartered accountant office is conceived.
Parametric forms sit inharmonious interactions with the minimalistic designed objects producing a space that is both still and in motion at the same time. Instability with stability producing complexity is articulated as a space of human appearance.
FACT FILE:
Architecture Firm: Bare.Pineapple
Project Name: IPNC
Project Area: 1900 SQ.FT
Location: Bengaluru, India
Design Partners: Guruprakash Govindasamy & Shivaranjani Kumbar
Photography: Bare.Pineapple
ABOUT FIRM:
BARE. PINEAPPLE is founded by two creative minds whose common ground lies in the passion for design, architecture, and research. We constantly research and test new methodologies and territories in design and construction. Pushing ourselves to new limits and challenges on every opportunity we get has been our key principle in our design thinking and evolution.
