lyth Design delivered a modern oasis for Prestige Group in Mumbai, India. 

When radically aspirational real estate developers meet articulate-minded architectural designers to design their office, it brings forth the genesis of contemporary design solutions demonstrating a refreshing take on office design. One such instance is the Prestige Group’s Mumbai office designed by lyth design. 

Following lyth’s reliable thumb rule strategy for planning offices, the external meeting rooms, visitor lounges, boardroom and public restrooms had a well-pronounced distinction from the private office spaces. The open floor plan and colossal high ceilings make way to script an impactful design that reflects Prestige’s brand ethos. The floor-to-ceiling glass facades facing both, east and west directions, let the site easily avail the rising as well as setting sun with unparalleled views of Mumbai mangroves.

Anchored by a theme of parallels, the aesthetic and structural route chosen for the reception was one with a veneer backdrop and metal pinstripes seemingly pulled from the office space. This concept of fine lines provides controlled fluidity as it parametrically curves and forms the top of the reception desk, leading to an interesting weave of vertical and horizontal lines. The visitors are met with two wide conduits of corridors abutting the reception, one which is access controlled and leads to the internal private spaces, while the other segues into the visitor lounges. 

In keeping with the design intent of stripes, the boardroom follows suit with a formal matte black fluted wall cladding. The room is infused with elements of luxury while underlining the importance of a clean design. The mighty marble table and the pinstriped background wall rub shoulders with the bronze-finish oval hanging light, bearing grace of supreme grandeur. To top it off, this exclusivity is accompanied by equally impressive technology to attain privacy with the press of a button that results in frosting up the smart glass partitions. Concrete light loops, acoustic ceiling panels and switchable glass partitions are the common threads linking all the other falcon meeting rooms. A strip of metal around the edges of each wooden table top becomes a common denominator for the grey visual expression flowing through these rooms. Conversely, the visitor lounges are much softer and laden with curvilinear forms in its walls, ceiling and furniture details, thus creating an intimate setting. This ambience is further elevated with a warm wooden finish encasing three sides. 

Providing a changing canvas is the tiffin room, in sync with its innate informality and adorning an aesthetic of a vivacious tile flooring alongside a green wall that strongly evokes casual conversations. A metal island assumes a central place and functionally serves all requirements of a congregatory cafeteria. 

The everyday furniture used in the office has a communal outlook. For instance, the file cabinet of each desk features a cushioned top, which can be extended to function as an ottoman for comfortable joint discussions. The perfect ancillary to the main workspace area is a reinforcement bar wall assembly, creeping with resplendent money plants which ultimately forms a gentle demarcation to the workstations.

Project Planning

Over the last decade, the Prestige Group has established itself as one of the pioneers of real estate development in India. At the onset of January 2022, they made an undisputed decision to land their falcon brand in Mumbai. The clients had given lyth Design a severely straightforward brief. They wanted the office space to resonate elegance without being disturbingly loud. Designed with a fusion of timelessness while staying relevantly trendy, they wanted this office to exemplify the confluence of a formal yet intimate space, hence truly being one of a kind.

Project Details

Health and wellness: The office is adept with carefully placed elements of nature. The cold grey marble flooring is offsetted by the warmth of plant-adorned walls, thus humanising the office atmosphere. The corridor leading to the visitor lounges culminates into a glorious Ficus tree. In the visitor lounges, a fiddle leaf fig plant sits deftly in the corner, enhancing the thrall of the space while being a comfortable silent participant in conversations. Within the main office area, an attempt is made to create a nuanced balance with the introduction of supplementary potted plants to subdue the mightiness of two hefty columns falling within the office space. 

Branding elements: The corridors are embellished by copper medallions that beautifully narrate the story of their legacy, meeting rooms are identified with various falcon names as an ode to the brand logo, and the conference rooms have black fluted wall cladding, which are broken by a laser-cut veneer interpretation of a falcon, demanding singular attention. Apoorva Shroff, founder of lyth design, skillfully makes use of informal materials like exposed bricks, reinforcement bars and cement finishes which embody the essence of the act of building, and adeptly gives them a formal and elegant identity.

Most unique feature: The main office area has open workstations with cabins lining against the external exposed brick facade, which permeates into the narrative voiced by the client. This arguably becomes the most unique feature, since the placement of these desks encourages the penetration of the west sun all the way across into the darkest of the office corners.

Products 

Sanitary ware / Fittings:  Kohler, Gessi, Laufen

Flooring: Interface, Quality Marble

Furnishing: NBT Curtain Systems, Wellborn Blinds

Chairs: Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth

Modular: Space Management, Craft Modular Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Additional Furniture: On Asia

Air Conditioning: Micron Electricals

BMS: Messung System Pvt Ltd. 

Lighting: Illuminate Lighting, Aura

Paint: Asian Paints

Overall Project Results

Owing to the generous ceiling height, copious natural light, and thoughtfully incorporated green elements in the work areas, employees have experienced increased productivity. This biophilic setting has significantly improved their overall workplace satisfaction, which was the central focus of the office design.

Project Summary

The design of the office at large bears the weight of the client’s ideologies and the designer’s creative expressions. It poses to be a perfect medley of mindful circulation emulsified with a structured thought-footprint, with the potential of making one’s workday as exuberant as the space they are inhabiting. The utilisation of the material-merits that the business represents begets the fabrication of an atypical workspace, thus forging a truly honest statement in every aspect.

Other significant contributors:

Mechanical, Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing: MEP Consulting Engineers

Landscape: JKD Hortitech

Designer

• Mr. Param Gala

Photography

• Sagar Mandal