​​​​​​Charting The Course

The Qualcomm design and projects teams on how workplaces can be conceptualised as agents of change.

- Rashmi Naicker

Designing a workplace for an organisation that enables its stakeholders to create and reinforce their brand value and equity requires more than just a keen eye for aesthetics and laying out office furniture and utilities. Making interior spaces come alive enough to speak volumes of the organisation’s identity and speciality requires a thorough understanding of its values, goals, vision, work culture, employee dynamics, the way the space would be utilised, etc. It requires using these attributes as pointers to build a holistic hub.

The India offices of Qualcomm, one of the world’s largest telecommunications company, exemplifies these principles with its materialistic built form, which exhibits an expressive contemporary organisation with the promise of steadfast commitment to purpose. Explaining the genesis of its facilities, the design and projects team at Qualcomm expound on their strategies and approach behind their office campuses.

Ideation

Gaurav Shah, the director of construction for the company, says the driving force behind the design was to provide an environment that allowed employees to do their best work and support their changing spatial needs over time. Flexibility and sustainability went hand-in-hand and lead the design process.

As a first step in this direction the team thoroughly evaluated the local construction market strengths, to find the means, methods and materials that could be sourced locally. While maintaining a global standard of scope and quality, the execution of the project was based upon viable local practices.