Hey all! It has been another exciting week… and I am delighted to announce a new project! Ariyona Interior is designing the office interiors for Citadel. Citadel is a fast growing company which deals in industrial architectural products. Their existing office space is beginning to fall short, so they have taken up some additional space. They obviously want it ready as fast as possible, so let’s jump straight to it.

New Project: Citadel Office

I met up with R and V of Citadel a few days back to get the brief. Their existing office, which worked fine for them till a few months back, has suddenly become overcrowded and cramped as they have scaled up with additional staff. They have rented out additional space, close to their existing office to meet their expanding needs. I went and saw the new space and this is what it looks like right now.

It’s an empty space of about 350 s.ft., with absolutely nothing at all in it. (The owner will obviously clear out all those racks and cartons).

The Brief:

We discussed the requirements in detail, and this is the final brief.

1. A cabin for V, which will serve as his office and meeting room, and where he will receive visitors.
2. A ‘store room’ equipped with slotted angle racks, similar to the ones seen in the first photograph above.
3. Seating for about 6 staff.
4. Storage for filing.
5. A dry pantry area, fitted with a refrigerator, microwave and a tea / coffee machine.
6. Display of the products that Citadel deals in.

I always start work with first drawing up an ‘existing plan’, of the site in it’s current condition, and this is what I got.

Office Interiors:

As you can see, it’s a completely clean slate to start working on. And that, to me, is the most exciting part of this project! What I also immediately loved, was the high ceiling. You rarely find such high ceilings in Mumbai offices and it instantly gives a feeling of space and openness as soon as you enter the office. The downside is there are no real windows.

There’s nothing like natural light and fresh air to give life to any room.  But we only have these small openings almost near the ceiling. So we’ll make sure our lighting makes up for the lack of natural light.

It is important to keep in mind that this is a rented space, so I wouldn’t want to over-fit it or spend too much on the office interiors. Also, since Citadel deals in architectural products, it would make sense to use their products wherever possible. This would be the best way for them to showcase their own products to clients.

So with a hundred different thoughts and ideas floating around in my head, and many many more design discussions to follow, I’m off to work on the design!

Until next time,

You can read about the office plan we finalised, here.

Thank you, Unsplash, for the beautiful featured image!