Architecture Discipline Offices – New Delhi
As Architecture Discipline entered its teenage years of existence, the design firm demanded a fun yet “architecturally charged” environment to conduct their business in New Delhi.
Architecture Discipline recently relocated and designed their studio offices located in New Delhi, India.
Moving out of a busy commercial surrounding to a quiet piece of land amidst blooming mustard fields hidden within the commotion, that is Delhi. It can be challenging to locate the studio; placed within the quaint boulevards lined with ficus foliage often hindering views to the randomly placed non-descriptive black gates. However, the gate has a “white” google pin for the curious eyes.
The visitor’s ingress on a bed of gravel guarded with trees on either side hiding the front lawn to the east. The gravel acts a porous surface which allows patches of reeds and grass to grow through- transforming landscape every day. One moves down this ceremonial pathway to be greeted by a deep red, shipping container floating on a mound of earth surrounded by token greenery. This cuboid is deconstructed with an acoustically lined double glazed facade, exposing the warm birch ply walls to the visitor.
Turn away from the Red box, and we come across “The studio”, a white box -oriented east-west, nestled within dense foliage of ficus trees. The entire east façade is glazed, farmed within “super” thin black metal sections. The elevation looks over the private front lawn guarded by trees with trim foliage. The setting allows for the yard to be lit throughout the day, providing diffused light into the workspace and reducing the reliance on artificial lighting. Perforated screens on the south-facing windows cut down the glare while giving a glimpse of the constantly changing sky and the dense foliage enclosing the site.
Interiors are predominantly charcoal black walls, offset by birch ply tables over natural finish cork flooring. The unique rhythms of brick piers and the windows provide juxtaposed grids of structure and planning, adding a new layer of complexity within the 4m high volume of free-flowing space.
All workstations are aligned perpendicular to the length of the built in the open studio space. As a creative practice, we believe design as a layered and additive process; the users keep adding diverse elements to the studio- A red bird was recently placed afloat at the entrance. Ancillaries and the conference room are separated from the multi-space office environment using black partitions with discrete doors leading into a concealed closet and general cloakrooms. The conference room is a manually operable floating partition with sliding ceiling, inspired by elements from Pierre Chareau’s Maison de Verre. The Backdrop of the open workspace is shelving unit made out of recycled strand-board, housing the paper pantry and the media hub on one side and a nested bonket seating for the pantry on the other.
The studio offers spaces that are varying in character and volume such as the mezzanine level, music room and the break area that act as different emotive spaces. The scaffold lattice structure is another frequently used space for retreat along with the badminton court. The idea of the scaffold is to indicate continuity and construction. By integrating nature and activity with a working space, Architecture Discipline creates a productive, synergetic environment that defines their vision for a new office experience.
Design: Architecture Discipline
Design Team: Akshat Bhatt, Himanshu Chopra, Paritosh Singh
Photography: Jeetin Sharma
