The Shards

Varying heights from 2.1 to 4m, changing widths in the floor plan from 4.0m to 15m in a total depth of 30m across 5 floors make this office space of 2100 sq.m. Very diverse and very complex.
In addition, the structural system of the existing building has no defined grid with columns and beams randomly located within it.
In response to these restrictive parameters, the office is designed organically. Corridors, cabins, conference rooms and open work spaces are intermingled along the length of the office in angular volumes.
Echoing the organic streets of the neighborhood, angled pathways weave between the work spaces creating a different identity for each part of the office.
Unlike most offices, there is no repetitive character in this office with each cabin, conference area, discussion rooms, reception and open work space becoming individual spaces volumetrically.
on each floor, within the irregular shaped existing spaces, the design conforms and simultaneously heightens the experiences by the organizing of a complex brief of enclosed and semi enclosed and open spaces in a natural organic way.
A palette of natural materials including cork and wood used with eco-friendly particle boards. Polished concrete floor & acoustic boards constitute the predominant materials of the interior. Unfinished wood wool boards too have been used extensively for its aesthetic and acoustic properties.
These materials are used to create compositions that vary throughout the office.
The partitions “peel away” to reveal partial glimpses of the internal spaces creating an extent of privacy while retaining openness.
The nature of the design engages people differently in each part creating multiple spaces with a distinct identity that are woven together cohesively.

Principal Architect- Sanjay Puri
Associate Architect- Madhavi Belsare

The Shards by SANJAY PURI ARCHITECTS in India won the WA Award Cycle 34. Please find below the WA Award poster for this project.