Driven by details

Akshay Lakhanpal and Jaiprakash Aildasani, regional MDs, India at Space Matrix set out their vision on how design can work as a productivity-enhancing tool for workspaces

- Rashmi Naicker

Tell us about your approach to design…

Akshay Lakhanpal (AL): There are two ideologies behind all our projects. Firstly, we endeavour to understand the client, what they stand for, their vision and their business. We ensure that these elements are included in our designs. Although there are few elements that might get repeated from time to time, depending on market trends, all our offices look different from one another. They are truly designed and built to our clients’ ambitions and aspirations, and we do not leave a signature of our own. Secondly, we try and work around the experience. While one design aspect follows the client brief, the other focuses on understanding the kind of experiences they wish to give employees, both existing and potential, as well as visitors.

Jaiprakash Aildasani (JA): While there is no particular style that we follow, the core idea stems from customer needs. We aim to understand their culture and demographics as well. Our designers understand and study the needs of the client to the very core to offer comprehensive and holistic design solutions.

What are the fundamental aspects of your design?

AL: I think besides a client-focused approach and experience, we also emphasise the biggest differentiator for a specific office or design, and try to bring that out. This is built on the issues that clients may face or want to address. Some of these may be purely functional, while others are aspirational. We understand these and address them through design. The idea is to provide design solutions for business problems.