Retaining Industrial Aesthetics

Corporate Office of Motherland Joint Ventures, Gurgaon

Architecture Discipline, New Delhi

The project is a corporate office of the client exhibiting minimalistic re- fabrication of an old warehouse, a former rice granary in Gurgaon, retrofitted to reflect a combination of the existing ethos and the creative palette of company’s joint ventures.

The design process started with the client’s vision of an office characterized to be a multipurpose workshop to support the company’s creative work and braced by spaces for cabins, meeting areas, workspaces, etc. The preservation angle demanded a straight- forward layout and retention of industrial aesthetics with minimal structural damage– a frugal yet sophisticated outlook. The entire vision formed the requirements to be crafted within the existing structure with brick masonry walls and piers holding a sloping flat- truss system surfaced by asbestos. With respect to site surroundings, the north and west were blocked by adjacent warehouses while the remaining sides stayed open. This led to an increase in sizes of existing doors and windows and also addition of new ones to augment the natural daylight spreading out across spatially.

The main access to the office structure has been planned through an exaggerated ramp that leads to an expansive layout to accommodate the multipurpose workshop. Functional add- ons to the space include an industrial grade screed floor finish, lit by three long rows of light fixtures of industrial ‘ box type’ that are mounted on timber batons running along the longer span.

The central shop floor area has been designed from front to rear to constitute a reception/ waiting area, research and development area, space for installations/ display, an informal meeting space, shelving units and a pantry respectively– all separated by stainless steel ledge walls. The cabins, meeting room, common