Designed by Saniya Kantawala Design, Soch Office is a Fine Balance of Comfort and Functionality

Meant for young millennials, this office space embodies the equilibrium between comfort, efficiency as well as aesthetics

A mix of varied verticals, Soch Group is an organization with entrepreneurship at its core. Celebrating and materializing the company’s ethos, their office embodies the same spirit. Located in a premium office building in Santacruz, Mumbai, the Soch office is conceptualized  with an efficient approach to planning and eye-catching aesthetics, creating an impeccable balance of the two. Designed to offer maximum functionality within the limited real estate space, it is a warm and comfortable office space for a young, millennial workforce.

Spanning over 3,500 square feet, the office is divided into a central reception zone, with a dedicated staff area on one side and a director’s zone on the other. As one enters the office space, they are welcomed by the reception and waiting area, both of which are designed in colours of sunrise to create a vibrant, yet elegant palette. Connecting with the staff area visually as well as volumetrically, a uniform flooring pattern creates a flow of spaces throughout the office. The reception desk is clad in tiles to recreate the aesthetics and textures of a rug with hand-painted tassels to add quirky details.

The staff area is composed of a chair and table pattern as per the client’s request, creating an open plan layout. Crafted for a young millennial workforce, the staff area offers a variety of seating experiences. Cushioned along the windows, bar-style seating and meeting pods are created to foster community building within the team as well as promote casual conversations. The combination of meeting rooms and meeting pods allows for a formal as well as informal meeting environment amongst the workforce. The community area is designed with a bright sage and red seating, in line with the sunrise palette, while adding bold and vibrant elements to the space. The beams running through the space have been coated in vinyl to imitate the effects of laminates to create a softer, unobtrusive background. The internal partitions used to create the meeting rooms are clad with the same wallpaper to add a sense of continuity.

Flanked onto the ceiling, the art installation travels from the reception area to the staff area. Custom designed for the space, the installation is composed of an aluminium meshwork in neutral tones. Conceptually inspired by paper and its characteristic to envelop and open up, the topography of the installation is designed to reflect the juxtaposed furniture layouts in the spaces below. The installation is created as an individual hexagonal meshwork transforming into modules, then layered together to create the stunning art piece.

As one moves towards the director’s area, the passage is lined with vertical panels to create a sense of rhythm and linearity. The powder room is located along the passage with panels used to conceal the door by creating an intriguing entry into a completely different space. The powder room is designed with a combination of cutwork and mirror pieces creating an illusion of a never-ending space.

The dedicated reception and waiting zone greets them into the space, as one enters the director’s area. The reception area is adorned with frames left for the client to fill in with keepsakes from their philanthropic work for underprivileged artistically-inclined children. A whitewashed veneer finish coupled with a salmon-pink velvet backdrop creates the setting for the reception table. The open seating for the legal department and the personal assistants for the directors, allow for open and spacious planning. As one moves into the space, the passageway is articulated with simple cutwork tiles leading to a library unit in the centre and the director’s cabins on both sides.

The directors’ cabins are designed as pods with bespoke details for each of the directors. The first director’s cabin is adorned with a bespoke blue paint finish table with muted back panels and storage units. The ceiling is finished in veneer with sleek groves and brass inlay to add a touch of elegance. The second director’s cabin, located across the conference room, has a whitewashed veneer ceiling treatment in a chevron pattern to accentuate the space, with a neutral ceiling finish complimenting the velvet finish wall treatment. The conference room table is designed to create a scribble effect with wire mesh zig-zag on a wooden base finished with PU lamination.

The Soch office creates a space that fosters workspace wellbeing. Plants of a variety of sizes accentuate spaces around the office. Meant for a young millennial workforce, the office design maximizes the available real estate to offer comfortable, yet exciting experiences full of vibrancy.

Photographer: Aspire Studios

FACTFILE

Project: Soch Group Office, Mumbai

Architects: Saniya Kantawala Design, Mumbai

Client: Soch Group

Principal Architect/Designer: Saniya Kantawala Godrej

Design Team: Kirti Parab, Nikita

Site Area: 3,300 sq ft

Contractors: Structural – Deepak and Gabriel; Electrical, Civil and Plumbing – Deepak, Landscape – Plants from Greenland

By: A+D Team