ATTRITION AND CORPORATE ARCHITECTURAL INTERIORS

Parul WadhwaV Year

Sushant School of Art and ArchitectureGuide: Bharti Chadha

INTRODUCTION:•Office interiors create first impressions, they influence our perceptions of a company and help reinforce or change preconceived ideas. Design consciousness, as a result, is on the increase and the office no longer means a cluttered and ignored environment.•Office interiors create first impressions, they influence our perceptions of a company and help reinforce or change preconceived ideas. Design consciousness, as a result, is on the increase and the office no longer means a cluttered and ignored environment.•A good office environment makes for efficient functioning and inculcates the right attitude among the staff. A pleasant working environment is the management’s way of showing it cares about its employees.•The office must impress a visitor and at the same time be conducive for him to the business. •With the introduction of IT, computer, etc, furniture design which is suitable to the human body has become an important design criterion.

PROBLEM STATEMENT:The idea that the working environment can be enjoyed rather than suffered is new. Theories of workplace control typically have little to say about freedom. The workplace is often understood as a totalizing environment, saturated with obvious and subtle forms of coercion, so the struggle for freedom is best confined to realm of leisure, or more typically, left off the agenda entirely. Yet emergent neo-normative control theory posits that freedom is now the defining element of the contemporary workplace. In this study, I offer a partial challenge to neo-normative theory by showing that workplace freedom has a tendency to extricate itself from the contractual social relation and reinvent itself in ways that suggest a more pure form of gift. RE

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Research Questions:

The complex relationship between the built environment and human behavior has a very important role to play in the design of the office interiors. The scope of this study is to understand the relation between work place architectural interiors and its effect on employee productivity.

Objectives of the study:

1. To study development of offices in the Indian scenario, the basic functioning and planning aspects of an office environment.

2. To understand the elements of office interiors.3. To understand the contemporary scene of office interiors.4. To understand how an office space can be made ergonomically satisfactory, creative, motivational and dynamic working

environment through the medium of interiors, without compromising on the disciplined environment of the office.

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Methodology:

•Collect relevant information from the guide and other related people to formulate the basic objectives of the study.•Literature revue of office interiors and its components through:

• Library study• Architectural journals• Articles, etc.

•Meeting professionals in the field of office interior design, employees and clients to understand the elements of the office design and their effect on the users.•To study the contemporary work environments, through case studies.

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GOOGLE, ZURICH, SWITZERLAND(DESIGNERS:COMENZIND EVOLUTION)Net lettable floor area: 12,000m2

Number of work stations: 800Architects: Camenzind EvolutionLocation: Zürich, SwitzerlandProject Team: Stefan Camenzind, Tanya RueggClient: Google Inc.

GOOGLE – EMEA ENGINEERING HUB

KEYWORDS Creativity, fun, employee satisfaction, engagement

KEY FEATURES Inspiring work environment that fosters creativity

ORGANIZATION Google/Carmenzind Evolution

LOCATION Zurich, Switzerland

Ratings based on 10 reviews/year. Ratings as of 3/9/12. Rating Scale: 5=very satisfied, 3=OK, 1=very dissatisfied.

Google has long taken an innovative approach to its workspaces. The Zurich office is not alone in providing an outstanding work environment for employees. Other Google workplaces around the world also offer many perks to employees including free, high quality food and a relaxed and positive work environment designed to foster creativity and innovation among workers. This desirable work environment makes the company very attractive to potential employees.

What makes the Google office so Googly?1. Color2. Design that encourages play3. Using the Third Space within the office4. A better cafeteria keeps you working

Google Culture:Google is a high-energy, fast paced work environment. Google employees work hard, yet have fun at the same time. In Google office, workspaces are full of individuality, and the atmosphere is relaxed. .Googlers can play beach volleyball, foosball, videogames, pool tables, table tennis, or even roller hockey on the campus, which makes this young population feel like they are still at a college campus rather than being in an office.Google Benefits: • sports facilities• healthcare facilities• 20% creative time program• Transportation services• 11 free gourmet cafeterias• Employee lounges• Massage services• Informal meeting pods• Bright, well lit and inviting spaces• Personal recreation services such as Gym, Sports facilities, etc.

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INDIA GLYCOLS OFFICE, NOIDAARCHITECTS: MorphogenesisBUILT UP AREA: 3, 91,700 sq ft

INDIA GLYCOLS LIMITED

KEYWORDS Employee satisfaction, engagement, green building

KEY FEATURES Energy consciousness

ORGANIZATION India Glycols Ltd.

LOCATION Noida, Uttar Pradesh

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DYThe office design for the corporate office for India Glycols embodies the issues concerning the workplace today, and explores the paradigm of the office space as a social activity. Sited in a non-contextual suburban area of Delhi, the setting, led to the development of an introverted scheme that would address environmental and socio-economic issues from first principles.The entire office functions without artificial lighting during the day. Large, continuous glass facades allow maximum day light into all office spaces, as the corporate building has been designed as a green building.There is no concept of Third Spaces within the office. The color scheme barely varies from white and cream colors within the bull pen.According to a questionnaire conducted, the employees of IGL feel the need for more such recreational spaces within the office. Also, the general consensus is that dull, colorless spaces cause the employees to feel tired and listless during the day.

Game Changers•Colors•Third Spaces within the office•Comfortable, flexible modular furniture

IGL Culture:A dynamic work environment brings out the best in each of us. The scenic environs of the IGL campus, coupled with other facilities such as a huge playground, a club with various indoor games and a swimming pool makes the IGL campus / colony an extremely pleasant place that offers a unique environment for all-round professional and personal growth.IGL Benefits: •Gym facilities are available from 6am to %pm for employees, on weekdays only. Not accessible on weekends.•Multi-purpose hall is available to employees for birthday celebrations, hosting events for clients, etc.•Table tennis rooms are available to employees during working hours, for refreshment breaks.•Guest rooms are available for company employees from other branches of the country.•Facilities of Medical Emergency Rooms, Building Monitoring Systems, Rain water harvesting, etc.•Library available to employees on need basis only, mostly used by senior executives for leisure time.

Employee Satisfaction (marked out of 10)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12

IGLGoogle

Comparing the Google office and India Glycols Ltd, the lacking recreational facilities and spaces act as a game changer. The vibrant, colorful interiors and theme designed floors of Google office’s working areas are a complete contrast to the colorless interiors of the IGL bull pen. A wide variety of comfortable, flexible and movable furniture equipment in the Google office for employees allows the users to relax, take a break, refresh and start afresh. The provision of Third spaces within the office also acts as a perk, as employees can take their work to a more comfortable, vibrant environment to allow the creative juices to flow.

Game Changers:•Colors•Third Spaces within the office•Comfortable, flexible modular furniture

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Google, Zurich IGL, Noida

EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT

Designed having its employees completely involved in designing process. Creating an employee friendly environment was an important criterion of the design brief.

Designed having its employees completely involved in designing process. Creating an employee friendly environment was an important criterion of the design brief.

COLOR Overwhelming palette of colors used in every space.

Promotes a disciplined, no-nonsense atmosphere by sticking to white for its interior spaces.

ENERGYCONSCIOUSNESS

Office landscaping is limited to need and requirements as per the floor theme.

A green building design. Naturally, office landscape is an integral part of the structure.

ART Art works as an inspiration and mood-lifter element have been used.

Art works as an inspiration and mood-lifter element have been used.

GRAPHICS Use of graphics to reflect the nature of their work .

Use of graphics to reflect the nature of their work .

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TOWARDS THE HYPER-DIVERSE WORK FORCEWhat will tomorrow’s workforce look like and what will it want?The living workplace will be no longer a building, but will more closely resemble a service or a set of facilities that focus on the requirements of different users and contexts—factors that are particularly difficult to predict. Creating truly future-proof workplaces therefore requires the management of uncertainty, achieved through flexible, open facilities that can adapt to workforce fluctuations as well as diverse and ever changing user requirements.

WORKPLACES AS FLUENT NETWORKS THAT CONNECT PEOPLE AND SPACESHow do changes in technology and lifestyles shape future working arrangements?•In the future, workplaces will no longer be isolated, closed entities. Buildings and facilities will be increasingly opened for public access and virtual applications extend the reach of the company far beyond traditional boundaries.•Facilities will be extended for public use and local services will be integrated into workplace design, creating an ecosystem that caters for a variety of users and processes.•To compete with home offices and the like, physical spaces will have to provide benefits that go beyond face-to-face access to people. They will have to be places where people actively want to go; places in which people prefer to work.

A GROWING NEED FOR COLLABORATION, CREATIVITY AND INNOVATIONHow can changes in corporate culture influence future value creation?Facilities that foster well-being, such as on-site gyms, sleeping rooms, flexible working hours and home-office opportunities will have positive effects on the creativity of employees and the levels of productivity they can achieve.

What do the above trends mean for the workplace of tomorrow?•A need for greater flexibility and the smart integration of virtual and physical facilities.•The Living Workplace will be a network of entities that constantly changes.•A place that utilizes technologies to enable flexible working, which offers spaces that are open, adaptable and that cater for diversity. • Workplace strategies always need to respond to an organization’s specific requirements.•The Living Workplace is about offering opportunities that reflect the future needs of the organization, the employees that will occupy a space and the type of interactions that will take pace. To learn from these insights it is vital to carefully analyze an organization’s requirements, to develop a workplace strategy that is both future-proof and sensitive to the unique characteristics of an organization.

The Living Workplace – Incorporating people, space

and technology