The equation amidst workforces and designed workplaces have witnessed a seismic shift in recent years, all for good reason. The physical design ethos of a workplace has an inextricable effect on its users, essentially impacting productivity, engagement, and morale across the board. Borrowing from this prevailing dictum, groupDCA delves into weaving together the rooted yet neoteric identity of the Pay10 Office in South-East New Delhi.
Project Name, Location – Pay10 Office, New Delhi
Typology – Commercial Workspace
Square Footage – 4,900 square feet
Year of Completion – 2021
Architecture Design Firm – groupDCA
Principal Architect – Ar. Amit Aurora
Text Credit – Lavanya Chopra
Photography Credit – Atul Pratap Chauhan
A cutting-edge Indian company, Pay10 has played an undisputed role in the country’s perception of financial technology. However, with commercial workspaces, there is an absence of a rigid template of spatial constructs. Hence, with their endeavours, groupDCA has ensured that the space at the Pay10 Office is emblematic of the latter’s roots and vision. As a result, the areas echo an artisanal marriage amidst the contemporary and contextual with flair, creating a hybrid amalgamate of indigenous craft and technology witnessed through bespoke design interventions.
A North-facing site hosts the office’s executive floor situated on the second level of the commercial building. The raw shell of the structure was handed over to groupDCA, with views of surrounding lush greenery and an umpteen amount of natural light that permeated the volume through the thresholds of the glass-lined façade.
The internal Vaastu-compliant layout of the space dons a structured yet fluidic persona. The blueprint unfurls into the reception cum lounge, acquainting one with the sinuous feature wall that reigns the backdrop to the same. The portion to the left anchors a group of meeting rooms, whereas the part to the right is populated by executive offices that experience an exalted sense of privacy. The rear and substantial fraction of the floor plate resting behind the bifurcating feature wall is dotted by an array of workstations flanked by arched-entry open HOD working pods and cabins. Each of these zones faces large fenestrations, tethering them visually to the ubiquitous verdure outdoors.
Functionality, spatial dialogue, and natural materials form an undisputed coalition at the Pay10 Office in the form of the feature wall that playfully indulges in a curvilinear trajectory, hence defining the spine of the workspace. Created by stacking almost 300 layers of ply together in a wavy volume, the wall seems to almost erupt amorphously within the space and delimits zones as an extension of its presence.
Representative of the adept union of technology and impeccable craftsmanship, the inception of the feature wall goes to show that the coming together of various disciplines can enhance the DNA of a simple design element by miles! The company’s logo has been organically embossed into the surface of the undulating wall, creating a dynamic visual visible to one upon entry into the reception lounge. Albeit a partition wall, the structure also harbours additional functions such as built-in lounge seating on the receptions side of the floor plan in addition to the community table and as storage and shelving units on the other side that faces the open HOD pods.
The bay of workstations adjacent to the HOD pods adopts a crisp and modern demeanour of geometry, revelling in sleek linear silhouettes doused in deep greens and wood. Light and modern shelving units made in metal and wood line the periphery of the workspace nucleus, almost disappearing into the space while providing an uncluttered look and feel to the zones. This addition nods to the digital data consolidation age, suggesting that the era of bulky storage and filing systems is obsolete.
The sequestered MD’s cabin and CEO cabins epitomise timeless classic design and render them in a modern light. The structural framework of the spaces in terms of the pre-existing columns and beams were worked into the mix, often being seamlessly integrated into the design narrative inconspicuously. Visual symmetry comes through in the space in the form of a panelled wall dadoing that lines the cabin’s perimeter, creating a harmonious sense of continuity.
The spaces celebrate decadence and minimalism with equal fervour, underscoring the use of wood, wicker, tailored furniture, light-weight storage solutions, ornate custom lighting, traditional art, and hints of indoor greenery — all features synonymous with hallmarks of design upheld at groupDCA. The pure oak doors and door jambs make a cameo in the private cabins, reiterating the design firm’s devotion to rooted materiality and handcrafted millwork.
A keen eye for detail is the frontrunner in the design scheme that presides over the Pay10 Office, traversing the structural elements of floors, ceilings, partition systems and components such as furniture and the overarching materiality.
The flooring treatment across the office is a composite of trimix flooring with the elevated nuance of brass inlay, acoustical-friendly carpeted sections, and luxe engineered wood flooring in private cabins. With the modest intra-floor heights, the circuit of overhead running services was concealed into a framework of false ceilings that navigated varying levels while employing diverse surface materials. The ceilings carry tangible materiality that becomes a unifying design element at the office with a medley of umber wooden laminates and grey-toned strawboard panels (optimised to elevate acoustical quality in spaces). The design scheme across the expanse of the Pay10 Office makes detail-orientation and an intrinsic understanding of materials holistic allies, restating that the two are fundamentally linked and complementary.
At the Pay10 Office, the pulse of Modern-Indian design is apparent. The applied interventions meld together a penchant for technology true to the client’s vision and a craft-driven impetus with sincerity. The workspace prioritises the experiential comfort of its users by thoroughly exploring a disposition that focuses on pragmatic function while stringing together spaces that are rooted in the versatile facets of the subcontinent.
Headed by Architects Rahul Bansal and Amit Aurora, groupDCA is a multidisciplinary Architecture and Design firm based in New Delhi. With highly acclaimed and award-winning projects across diverse typologies, the firm’s creations redefine design paradigms intrinsically.
Was mentioned in the DCA Design Presentation. Can be cross-checked.
