Corporatedge Office, New Delhi

Third in the series of the prestigious Corporatedge serviced offices, this workplace in New Delhi is the perfect blend of a vintage legacy with the contemporary elegance of a modern-day workspace. Nestled among the elite environs of Connaught Place in the heart of New Delhi, the site with its rich, historic past and context is a dream come true for all designers. Corporatedge is a major player in the serviced offices space in India, and the client brief laid significant emphasis on efficiency and budget, considering that the building is one of the most expensive real estates in the NCR region.

Sited on Kasturba Gandhi Marg opposite the British Council Library, amidst the context of old historic architecture of colonial times, the building looks towards the iconic Hindustan Times building and the Rajeev Chowk flag. This made it imperative for the design intervention to resonate with its iconic surroundings, while existing in synergy with the context. Conceptually, the design intervention was planned to pay homage to the existing architectural vocabulary of the region without approaching classicism in its bare form, by defining a contemporary insertion in the heart of the historical centre.

The design needed to tether to a large clientele of the urban populace with refined elegance, while functioning as a corporate workspace. Emphasising the varied needs of the modern workspace, the building has offices for all business types: ranging from a single person to a group of over twenty people. While the service core is located centrally to allow ease of accessibility, all the working spaces are placed along the periphery of the rectangular planform, optimising natural light and ventilation in the most used areas throughout the day. The library is the first room that one enters into, strategically placed towards Rajeev Chowk, facing the tricolour flag, constantly reminding the inhabitants of the rich legacy of their surroundings and framing arresting views of the cityscapes across. The café has been envisioned as a bustling eatery on a street that spreads its arms open to every visitor that walks by. To establish this dialogue, the open café is placed abutting the corridor, allowing people to look into it from all points through the expanse of the passage.

The luxe surrounding boasts of a thoughtful and picturesque urban design, with a series of columns becoming a signature element. Since all the gates in Lutyen’s Delhi are adorned with globe lights, similar lighting fixtures have been used in offices to form a continuum in the rhythm and the design language, with a similar repetitive pattern that the columns display. These globe lights constitute the primary design element in the office washrooms, as they hang from the ceiling and act as transverse punctuations in an otherwise longitudinal space. The furniture is an eclectic mix of pouffes, armchairs and low tables, perfectly harmonising with the theme.

Statement chess-board patterns featured on the flooring with elegant wallpapers are reminiscent of the classical era and instantly take one back to the olden times. All the rooms are bathed in ample natural light, with a stepped ceiling tapering towards the exterior, further maximising the daylight ingress. The walls at the ends of the rooms are finished in green to make up for the lack of natural greenery. Employed as a metaphor for picture frames, the windows are painted in dark tones to frame the vistas. Dominated by a vintage English vocabulary, the interiors feature floors finished with Bluetooth patterns that are a modern take on the outfits of the classical era. Rich Italian flooring finishes are complemented by attractive carpet vinyl, that resists microbial build-ups and is long-lasting. In contrast, the ceilings are left raw with exposed services adding to the dramatic vibe while also ensuring easy maintenance and repair. All the corridors feature glazing with mullions, that add to the royalty of the spaces.

What makes this working space unique is how the building of a relationship between the natural external environment and the interior aesthetics is approached amidst the site context. The design manifesto aims to bring in a sense of airy spaciousness, with colours that keep the scheme subtle yet crisp. Celebrating the modern-day workplaces in a manner that marks its antiquity, each space responds equally to the user and their milieu, while endowing the brand with a unique identity.