Efficient…With Style!

Designing a consultancy office in Vikhroli, Mumbai for thecargo industry, Parthenon Architects have followed the briefwith customary efficiency, adding a judicious dose of style tothe offering, says Devyani Jayakar.

- Devyani Jayakar

Our design strategy and conceptual approach address the workspace with the semantics of domesticity, promoting a comfortable and familiar seating to recreate the connection to home,’ says Zaki Shaikh of Parthenon Architects of this 20,000 sq ft office at Vikhroli, Mumbai. The client, Accelya, required the office to be in two main areas – Executive and Operations – all within a tight budget. In the executive area there is a breakout space, interview room, and conference room. The office area seats 175 people and includes a workstation, another breakout area, cafeteria and cabins. There is no single-user room. ‘The client also specified preferred colours which included white, dark blue, light blue, grey and light grey. We designed the colour scheme based on this colour palette…but had to fight with the client to use red accents so that the space didn’t look too clinical,’ laughs Zaki.

‘Accelya is a leading global provider of technology products and services to the travel and transport industry, formed through the merger of Accelya and Mercator. They deliver financial, commercial, cargo and analytics solutions designed for a world on the move. This means providing the mission-critical solutions that account for and manage more than 5 billion financial transactions and 75 million tons of cargo annually. They serve as a strategic partner to more than 400 airlines, travel agents and shippers,’ says Zaki, narrating the profile of the client to which he had to tailor the office ambience.