The Office with a View

Client's brief: To relocate their offices on the 6th floor to the 10th floor, with a refreshed look and feel, keeping in mind the design ethos of their current offices on the 9th floor.

The Indian Hotels Company Limited invited ABM to design their new headquarter offices on the 10th floor of Express Towers at Nariman Point in Mumbai. ABM had previously designed their offices on the 9th & 6th floors.

The client asked that we identify key design elements of the 9th floor that we could carry to the 10th floor, however introduce new design trends and materials that would create a refreshed look. They also asked us to repurpose as much of the furniture and other items like the blinds, from the 6th floor so that it would not be wasted. Each and every element is customized and unique to the space.

Location: Nariman Point, Mumbai, India

Completed: September 2023

Area: 10,000 sq. ft.

Photography: Suryan & Dang

Design Team: Ashok Solanki, Isha Mehta, Shahid Shaikh, Pradnya Kadam, Rafic Shaikh, Rajesh Japtap, Sairaj Gurav, Vishwanth Maurya, Nandmohan Singh

Keeping the client’s requirements in mind, we established the layout with the same arrangement as the lower floors: Large cabins in the four corners supplemented by small cabins, workstations on the North and South, with the dining on the East and the reception, main meeting rooms and MD’s area on the West facing the sea. All sides of the office have spectacular views, if not of the sea, then of Mumbai city.

Extra requirements were added such as private dining rooms that doubled up as meeting rooms, a wellness zone, a community table for informal discussions. The artwork is customized and exhibits architectural monuments in India.

The Entrance
The lift lobby is designed using a graphic marble floor complemented with a subtle white and grey marble wall. As one enters the office, there is no traditional reception, only a waiting space for visitors. The visitor gets a glimpse of the ocean through the glass. The space is made vibrant with the use of rust and blue upholstery and area rug.

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Workstations
An oak laminate forms the base of all workstations and partitions, which gives the office a lighter look. The workstations are customized with a writing board, softboard, along with fluted glass in front and a Corian trim. The softboard orange complements the orange in the carpet.

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Meeting Rooms
Each meeting space follows a theme, such as for the Taj Boardroom, the space is designed in congruence with the brand guidelines which are regal and traditional.
The Vivanta meeting room follows the purple theme of the brand as can be seen in the carpet and fabric wall paneling. A darker veneer is used in these more premium areas.
The SeleQtions private dining room has a large gold Q whereas the other dining space Ginger, has a graphic wall decal. In both these dining rooms a metal and Corian planter shelf is created on the window sill.

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MD's Suite
The suite consists of a meeting room, cabin, private washroom, and assistants’ workstations. Most of the furniture is existing and the design language is similar to the previous space. Elements such as improved lighting, a new bookshelf design, champagne leafing on the ceiling etc. were added.

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Cabins
The cabins are a combination of large and small sizes, almost identical to the 9th floor. Here most of the furniture and artwork was repurposed but finessed to look new.

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Dining
The dining zone mirrors the dining on the 6th floor. The layout is the same, the furniture and serving counters have been repurposed. New elements such as the mirrored paneled wall and the capsule shaped ceiling profile with a graphic have been introduced.

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Wellness Zone
The wellness zone is designed to be a quiet secluded room where staff are meant to unplug from the outside office. The furniture is for repose along with a rug, an acrylic lit planter box window seat and a bookshelf. Near this room a tall community table is designed without stools, for quick informal meetings.

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Telephone Booths
Telephone booths allow the employees to make private calls. The booths are designed with fabric paneling to absorb sound. The swivel chair and hanging lights are added design elements.

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Washrooms
The washrooms are designed using a marble look alike custom printed tile which is graphically quite interesting. The counter, mirror and urinal partitions are all customized.

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Materials, products and manufacturers:
Carpet Flooring : Alpha Carpeting
Wooden Flooring : Phoenix
Marble Flooring : Classic Marble Company, Trident Marble
Tiles: Kajaria Ceramics
Wall Covering: Arc One
Soft Furnishing : Arc One
Film & Blinds: Shetal Shah
Loose Furniture : Shearling, Ikea
Rugs: Jaipur Rugs
Sanitaryware: Kohler
Plants : iKethi
Planters: Yuccabe Italia, Ikea, Amazon
Metalwork & Corian: Customised
Architectural Lights: Tulip
Decorative Lights: Abby Lighting, White Teak
Artwork : Artt Interior