Captivating Interior Architecture for Corporates by Studio Lotus, New Delhi

Asked to carve out a flexible and spacious office space from the existing corporate headquarter building at Gurgaon of one of the country’s paper manufacturing giants, Studio Lotus had the task clearly cut out. It was made more interesting by the unique requirement of accommodating a private art gallery within the same space. What’s more, the elegant modernist Ahmedabad-school architecture of the building, externally finished in CorTen steel, fine brickwork and concrete, presented a pre-chosen material palette which was attractive enough to continue with inside as well. 

Having the two wings of the building connected by a steel bridge at the upper level lent the designers the comfort of being able to approach the layout in a composite manner. The ground floor accommodates the art gallery in the wing that provides a long uninterrupted space almost from end to end; in the other wing, the entrance is met by a reception housed in a large atrium beyond which the café is laid out to open on to a lawn. The office or work spaces occupy the upper levels of both wings. 

With almost no partitions, the interior layout truly opens out as a spacious expanse in all areas, providing continuous wall surface to exhibit the firm’s exclusive art collection. As a representation of the firm’s business of paper, the furniture such as seats, desks, cabinets and workstations have been crafted like pieces of origami art with the sandwiched plywood sheets seeming to fold up angularly into the required forms. This paper-folding of plywood sheets is supported with steel frame-work to sync with the steel exteriors and some interior walls, with steel sections crossing overhead as the ceiling too. Mirror and clear glass sandwiched with film form the café and reception table tops, which contrast elegantly with the vacuum dewatered raw look of the flooring. The work space walls alternate between finely detailed exposed brickwork, smooth or textured concrete, panels of steel and plywood panelling in varying gradients to create a charming earthy aura. Colour appears in all its brightest hues only on the long, unending walls of the art gallery, the single file display of art works teaming up with the single row of linear ceiling lights and the single room-length step running down the middle of the floor to create a dramatic directionality. Strings of exclusive origami suspended from the ceiling or other paper crafts placed on counters are the ornaments of decoration used in this unpretentious interior.

The Sirpur House interior design is a charming artwork which, devoid of the usual trappings of a typical corporate interior, scores not just on parameters like comfort, efficiency, economy and sustainability; but is a successful and faithful rendition of the company’s brand image, of the Sirpur paper story.

Occupying the ground floor of six storeys high LEED rated plush corporate headquarter building of the company located at Gurgaon, the VECV showcase was essentially meant to be an introductory flag-post of the firm’s past and future. The vision of the firm VECV (Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicle), which is the joint venture of the two field giants, Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, includes driving modernisation in commercial transportation in India through their top-of-the-line products and technology. Studio Lotus was called upon to design the space as an exhibition showcasing the technological might and achievements of both the companies involved and the edge that they offered in the future of commercial transportation in India as a result of their coming together.

This synergic combination gave the design its starting point, articulated as an intertwined double helix of blue and red steel rods strung together, each colour representing one of the firms involved. This monumental representation of the VECV DNA is suspended at the centre of huge circular stairwell, aligning stylistically with the large chain links which feature in the staircase design. 

The extent of work put into the detailing is exemplified by the exhaustive interviews of management, employees and clients taken to prepare the audio visual displays. The state-of-the-art experience is underscored by the interactive digital table displaying the manufacturing process and offered services lighting up when a visitor approaches it.