The Arched Office Design | Gaurav Kharkar & Associates 

Eyes filled with dreams, taking their father’s business to the next level. Our young clients with whom we were associated earlier approached us with lot of excitement, they called us and said guys we have bought 1850 sq ft office and you get to come and see it soon. To our surprise this property was located on 2nd floor of a 70 year old building. So seeing the condition of the property we as architects and designers had the responsibility of finding ways to restore old and forgotten structure by breathing new life into them. So after doing thorough inspection of the site and understanding the client’s requirements and their likes and dislikes, we came to a conclusion that since the client had given us a freehand to design the space we would love to give them the best in South Mumbai.

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We firstly didn’t want to give away on few elements which were already present in the existing raw office like the arched entrance which led to the long aisle and the arched windows which would retain the essence of the old structure. At the same time we never wanted to give an industrial theme to this office which nowadays has been adapted in a cliche manner. So we narrowed down to a concept where the 70 year old property will be toned into a warm contemporary commercial office space. Later we started off with the orientation of the space that was carefully re calibrated,altered and sections of it restored to create space for new office with additional facilities.

To begin with the reception area “The Regent Steel” office grabs your attention instantly. The first thing one notice with the restored and altered structure is the arched entry leading to the cabins. So keeping the arched structure in mind we followed a geometrical theme in the entire office. Firstly the geometrical printed tiles in the reception area and aisle leading to the office will compel you to stand in awe.

The reception table is kept simple with a steel frame on 3 sides and center apron finished in gray Italian marble. The reception table is nicely tucked in a space between the existing 2 column and which are finished in all white paint.
The left side of the reception table is finished in gray paint and series of framed display boxes which houses the companies business related metal parts and certificates. Behind the reception table and on the right side of the table one can notice series of arches created in wood panels and finished in veneer and cement finished laminates.

These arches have an access to 2 symmetrical accounts cabin and the right side leads you to the conference room and father’s cabin. Along with the white wood and gray colour palette, the orange colour pop adds vibrancy to this cabin.
The waiting area in the reception area houses chairs and coffee table with an interestingly glass backdrop with an upside down arched partition. This was done purposefully to break the monotony of series of arched glass door panels but also to create a sense of warm, bold and ingenious design element.

Coming to the CEO’s cabin (Father’s) and the conference room, the entries to both these area are placed behind the free standing reception table.The backdrop of the CEO’s table is kept pretty minimal yet eye catchy as the free standing orange storage cabinet has rounded edges with wrought iron round sleek leg looks like a stylish furniture piece which is to stack few important files at one side and other side it has a display space.

The same ceiling continues in the entire office that is of grooves which forms diagonal grids in P.O.P. There is a flood of light entering this cabin which makes it look all the more pristine and fresh. The table top is finished in white back painted glass with veneer edge. The slant legs area finished in M.S powder coated in black. These legs hold a matte gold finished frosted glass as the apron of the table. Wooden tiles and the wooden and leather finished chairs area used in all the cabins for it to have continuity.

Right adjacent to it is the conference room, whose window again overlooks the busy street of South Mumbai. Around the table there is lot of movement space which allows one to give a good presentation on the automatized projector screen which is smartly concealed in the P.O.P ceiling. There is ample amount of storage space in this conference area which houses a full height file cabinet finished in veneer, cement finished laminate and colour pop is given in form of orange P.U paint applied on the open niches which display few files and artifacts. The cabin for the youngest brother has an interesting table detail with veneer and Italian marble. Smart shelving and geometrical circular element create a cool setting at the backdrop of the main table.

The eldest brother’s cabin has a backdrop finished in cement gray bar code patterned panel with a steel fabrication illustrated artwork overlapping a mirror and bar code panel, each table with intriguing detail and material palette gives the cabin a different identity.

Cabin for middle brother had lot of movement space with detailed table finished in Italian marble. The back credenza below the window houses lot of file storage and sleek orange niche runs along the length of the table .There is a half height glass partition between the 2 brothers cabin, this makes the space look bigger and gives a feel of connectivity. The intention was to let it blend in an harmonious way by using similar material palette with different forms and pattern in all the cabins. Extensive use of picture frames and artifacts creates a visual delight and interaction between the furniture pieces and the decor pieces.

FACT FILE

Firms Name: Gaurav Kharkar & Associates 

Project name: The Arched office

Principal architect/Designer: Gaurav Kharkar and Vidhita Kharkar

Area: 1850 sqft

Location: South Mumbai

Photo credits: Pulkit Sehgal