What's your USP?

What do you do when a videoconference call gets delayed and an important client arrives before the scheduled time? Well, if your office address is 215 Atrium, Andheri East, the client chills out in the ground floor lobby (which happens to be the equivalent of a 5 star hotel lounge), sipping an iced tea and savouring a grilled sandwich served from the in-house café while you complete your call. You then conduct your meeting in the same lobby, seated in a thoughtfully earmarked 'conversation island,' surrounded by greenery with the soothing sound of a water curtain in the background. As far as first impressions go, it's hard to top something like that!

Vishal Doshi, AGM - Marketing and Business Development, Kanakia Spaces, describes the recently completed project as 'a corporate hub' with a 4 star hotel within the same layout. "The cafe has been uniquely designed, which gives the feel of a 5 star lounge in a spacious corporate lobby. We felt that this would be a thoughtful value addition that the occupants would appreciate. The lobby, specially designed by Singapore-based architect Daniel S C Hsia, provides a comfort zone where business meetings can be held in a relaxed, informal environment, without disturbing the office set up," he emphasises. 

Architect Daniel S C Hsia, who has also designed the upcoming Boomerang project by Kanakia Spaces at Chandivali Farm Road, near Powai, points out that capturing space is very important while designing commercial projects. "Space is not static, it is a continuation. At 215 Atrium, you come in from the lobby and there an explosion of space, then you move to the lift lobby, so there a fluid movement of space involved. Our job as architects is to mould that space to give occupants a better experience," he explains.

Moving on to the Boomerang project, named after the shape of the structure conceived by Daniel S C Hsia, he reveals that it was a case of the plot determining the design. "It is a very complicated piece of land, very narrow with multiple jagged edges all over. Most commercial structures are a single block but that was not possible here. However, I felt the site had a lot of potential. We considered the statutory requirements of the authorities and then got to the creative aspect. As the shape evolved, I felt as if the land is telling me, 'You have to mould the structure as per the shape of the plot' and that is how the Boomerang shape finally came about. The land tells me what it wants!"

Describing the unique design, Daniel S C Hsia shares that while approaching the structure, you can only see a portion of it at a time, not the entire site. "However, as you come through the entrance, you appreciate the width. As you drive in, it reveals more of itself.  The layering is different from the bottom floor to the top floor. There are windows on both sides and if you have an open office plan, you will get daylight even in the middle while enjoying the different views; we have captured the essence of the Boomerang. We are trying to capture the explosion of space in the lobby, which is three-storeys high. We are also creating a green wall to soften the acoustics and provide a soothing ambience to visitors," he adds. 

Boomerang has facilities like a club house, cafeteria, business centre, ATM, gymnasium and conference rooms. This Green Building, a Leed certified project with awe inspiring water bodies and multi-level car parking is Wi-Fi enabled with maximum security surveillance. The structure delivers power saving and efficiency in a mega structural space. Located in proximity to the International and Domestic airports, the project has a 240 meters frontage on the Chandivali Farm Road.

Going by the innovative aspects of these two projects and the growing emphasis on unique designs in projects by other developers as well, it's fairly obvious that plain vanilla office structures, are going to increasingly facing stiff competition, from more of such distinctively designed edifices, in the years to follow.