JLL India's new office: The future of Workspace

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A showcase of ‘Future of Work’, JLL’s new Mumbai office at One BKC embraces the best work-tech to simplify modern working while keeping the environment ‘human’ enough for staff to feel at-home. JLL recently relocated its Mumbai office to One BKC building in the new de facto CBD of Bandra-Kurla Complex. The 22,000 sq ft new office is a live model of ‘WorkSmart. The office design adapts the new style of work –agility, flexibility and the ambience for wholesome daily interactions. The Concept The thought behind the design was to prioritize spaces that allow flexible workspaces to match employee’s tasks and needs – solitude, casual teamwork, quick interaction, serious deliberation or telephonic conversation. The office had to be vibrant with a ‘cool’ quotient to appeal to the young workforce, but at the same time reflect the ethos of the company. Spaces The hybrid planning of the office combines open plan work areawithclosed door cubicles, meeting rooms, conference room, sitting areas and phone booths. The 15-minute room replaces seating with just a high table and soft walls to lean against. The timer indicates the close of session and switches of the lights, the phone booths with bean bags are ideal for telephonic conversation or discussion. The meeting rooms feature soft stools instead of chairs to discourage people from using them for unnecessary long periods. The swing, the seating under the tree and the plush sofas and sofa chairs strewn around the entire office space offer informal seating to work. The hot-desking provides a pool of fully equipped desks to be occupied as required. The library corner, the amphitheatre and the work-café offer spaces to unwind or for discussions and meetings. Technology The space has a dedicated seating capacity of 200 desks including hot desks, ceiling-mounted microphones for audio/video conferencing as well as a high-performance modular partition system which simultaneously boosts room acoustics.. There are 20 height adjustable workstations desks for senior management. The one-touch height adjustment makes it easy to change desk height, share desk with other users or avoid fatigue. Intuitive meeting rooms with people detecting lighting sensors are enabled with video conferencing facilities. The phone booths contain Skype enabled screen, the media scape and open areas are technology enabled for video teleconferencing and wireless AV systems for simplified multi-location collaboration. Employees enjoy the convenience of app-based personal lockers to avoid desk clutter. The tech-enabled meeting room reservations are via a mobile app and the visitor management is also app based. Branding Ingraining the cultural legacy of the firm in the office space is an engaging and an innovative design idea. Branding is treated as canvas paintings in all the meeting rooms. Likewise, the names of the meeting rooms are derived from company strategies. The wall of fame in the open work area displaying awards & recognition is another clever idea of instilling a sense of pride among employees. Wellness With a focus on employee wellness, the office has included fully-equipped gym, jogging track within the office and enhanced air quality HVAC. Also ergonomic office chairs & furniture and height adjusting tables improve posture and avoid work fatigue& back pain. Abundant natural daylight, life-sized trees and green walls bring calming effect. The nature sounds at frequent intervals and swing and foosball table help in de-stressing. Green Features The office is targeting LEED V4 Commercial Interior certification by incorporating energy-efficient mercury free LED lighting, occupancy/vacancy detecting lighting sensors, daylight harvesting via daylight sensors, water-efficient fixtures, enhanced air quality via Low VOC paints, adhesives and sealants, energy efficient air-conditioning system and waste segregation at source.