New Delhi, India – Inter-disciplinary architectural and design firm CDA Architects has designed a new office and design studio for themselves.
The Spatial Stimuli in New Delhi is an office and design Studio for the inter-disciplinary architectural and design firm CDA Architects. It is designed to be a 2,400 square feet rectangular open layout that reflects the firm’s commitment to designing spatial experiences with strategies that enhance lives.
The design has been devised from tracking the customary movement of the various end-users of the space, which helps with the zoning while catering to function, privacy, and aesthetics in spatial planning. The office is conceptualised in terms of orientation and curved shapes that are free from rigid lines. The entrance is greeted by a waiting area, which is an inviting and soothing space.
The raw-exposed concrete and a seamless curved section are fused with pops of yellow furniture, which creates a playful and comfortable atmosphere. The project display book panel is a showcase of the firm’s portfolio, which encompasses all project typologies undertaken by the firm. The display panel makes a statement right along the entrance, with a thin layer of moss emerging from the ceiling framing it. Visitors are welcome to flip around pages to explore the portfolio in detail.
The entrance waiting room orients the visitor directly into the meeting room without intruding on the privacy of the studio space. The director’s cabin is placed at the far back in the South-western corner allowing the central studio zone to be the focal point. The studio space is surrounded by an open-loop that diverges along with the East orientation, housing staff workstations. An exciting feature that accentuates the studio experience is that the table loop pulls up like a “cloth” along the axis, allowing people to walk around under it.
The experience of passing through a flexible loop symbolises “enlightenment,” which happens to house a small design library with shelf compartments underneath the loop. Built out of oakwood, the curved 'Enlightenment' tunnel is a stimulus that is meant to evoke a dialogue in the user's mind. This visual axis extends into the waiting room via a thin linear puncture in the wall, creating a seamless, coherent vista.
The open floor plan and design with no ceilings and extra clear glass make the office expansive and functionally resourceful. The design of the meeting room carries forward the 'stimulus' of the studio in the form of a vertical panel seamlessly blending into a floating ceiling. The studio also has several flexible elements such as sliding white-boards which doubles up as privacy screens for the meeting room.
Colours in the space remain neutral with tons of white and grey, which further lightens and airs the space and complements the wooden loop. The yellow peppered in-between adds a joyful ambience to the raw concrete walls. The various wall displays further enhance the visual appeal and invokes motivation to be creative.
Understanding human psychology and the impact of spatial surroundings on the mind played an essential role in the design process. The design of the office is an interior play that creates an aura of energy through the form and the materials. Spatial Stimuli aims to provide a space that fosters architectural dialogue, creativity, and design; with unfolding and unraveling spaces, the design of the office intends to connect users.
