New age office interiors go functional with style

Shipra Arora / New Delhi

What you see is what you get. If not always, this dictum holds true at least to some extent for the interiors of offices. It provides an insight into the very culture of the workplace. Just as they say, where clothes reflect a man's personality the interiors reflect an office's personality. Organisations are, therefore, becoming particularly careful in the way they attire their offices. With well designed spaces and furniture the efficiency and motivational levels of the people can be increased as it gives a good feeling because a lot of time is spent in the office. It also has effect on the company's clientele.

Office interiors are changing today keeping in mind the changing trends in the office space. Companies want to portray the image of their office as in sync with the new age office, with a modern look and feel.

Interiors have helped in redefining the new age offices. More and more companies are increasingly accepting the concept of modernising the office interiors. With MNCs leading the way, now even the Indian companies are adopting the same system and the trend is fast changing. A fine blend of simplicity and functionality with elegance, comfort with aesthetics - simply put this is what defines the interiors of today's office space. Gone are the days of the bulky looking offices, giving way to a clean and sober look. Minimalistic and yet catering to all the functionalities that are required in a modern office. "A modern office has a very clean line and a minimalistic look with functional and practical furniture," says Anjalika Kripalani, VP, Interior Design and Sales, Renaissance Homes. Especially in the private sector, offices have already started changing the decor from heavy wood look to neatly maintained and easy to assemble systems. This being less time consuming as well as neat to work with. Following suite the government organisations are also coming forward and are adopting the same system spurred by awareness and a willingness to change.

According to C.L. Lohia, Chairman, Merino Group of Companies, the future of modern office is seen as a touch button system, meaning a well maintained neat and clean office without any cluster of files and papers. In a modern office, design and aesthetics go hand in hand with comfort and ergonomics. Office is a place where almost 12 hours are spent by a person per day hence comforts are of utmost importance but at the same time aesthetics and design can not be neglected as it affects psychologically. As a result the following trends are emerging in this space - light shades with a combination of bright colours and combination of wood grains with plain bright metallic colours; highlighting of textures in metallic finish; no clutter. Light shades of wood, a lot of usage of glass, metal and natural material. The paper stationery is reducing with the emergence of computerised systems, which is having an impact on storage systems in offices as storage for electronic stationery is required; ready to assemble work stations with partition systems in shades of grey, blue and peach; electronically maintained office systems, etc. Emphasis is also being laid on wire management systems with more of remote controlled equipments in use, thereby decreasing the wire clusters inside office. Innovative use of technological advanced material for cost effective solutions in office interior is also being made.

According to rajesh singh, People are accepting the concept of open offices at a small scale but things will change in the future. Things have already started moving in that direction in the form of the partition heights coming down

In terms of office furniture a lot of offices are moving towards modularity in their line of furniture. According to Rajesh Singh, GM, Marketing, Interiors Espania, this has brought in the much needed flexibility in terms of design and layout. It allows to easily expand and add to the existing units with a lot of ease. The best part is that it can be customised in accordance with the space, with the choice of various permutations and combinations. The designing of modular furniture is also based on ergonomics and helps in reducing the stress levels. This kind of office furniture takes into account specific new age requirements in its designing aspects. With the proliferation of electronic equipment in the modern offices there are a whole lot of data wires and power points that have come in, which can give a very shabby and cumbersome look to the office. Modular furniture takes care of this aspect and has provisions for incorporating it within the furniture itself, not visible to the eye. The trend of modular furniture has been existent for many years now. However, it has started gaining momentum in India only since the year 2000-2001 and will gain popularity in the coming years owing to its various advantages. Heavy wooden structures with classical designs are out giving way to metal furniture with glass based on contemporary designs.

An emerging trend vis-a-vis office interiors that is fast catching up is the bend towards space management and strategic planning keeping in mind the usage and workflow in conjunction with aesthetics. According to Kripalani, in future offices a lot of emphasis is being laid on using the space effectively through good interiors and good space planning. Interior designing can help in taking care of space management and provide more efficient utilisation of space, with proper ergonomics and anthropometrics being taken care of apart from creating a proper ambience, says Lohia.

Apart from taking care of aspects ranging from comfort to aesthetics to functionality and ergonomics, new age offfices are also laying emphasis on the psychological aspect of team building within the organisation. 'Open office' and 'no partition' concepts are finding their way into the modern offices. "People are accepting the concept of open offices at a small scale but things will change in the future. Things have already started moving in that direction in the form of the partition heights coming down," explains Singh.

The Merino Group provides workstations, pedestals and storage units. It has a wide range of laminates to choose from with varied finishes. The company uses laminates and provides PF Components which are ready to assemble and easy to maintain. The company is also considering going in for office filing storage systems in future. Renaissance Homes provides workstations, chairs for staff, managers and executives, partitions, wall paneling, storage unit, moveable trolleys etc. It also has desk chairs and executive office furniture for the Directors as well as for the conference rooms. Interiors Espania offers a wide range of modular office furniture, which is ergonomically designed while maintaining the aesthetics.

The Continental Group's Line A is the Interior Solution Provider for complete interior works that are required by corporate apart from catering to the individuals, retailers, etc. It boasts of corporates offices of Chambal Fertilisers, Vardhaman, RMSI, Vam Organics, E-Brookers etc, ITC Chain of hotels and telecom centres of Hutchisson, Bharti, and call centres of GE, Flex and HFCL amongst its major clientele. Line A provides customised modular office systems. These systems are Knock down, ready to assemble, ergonomic, flexible, open house office system standardised and customised as per client's requirement. A combination of glass, metal, chrome, fabric and wood finishes, these systems also incorporate integrated cable management system. It also has a range of executive furniture.