Jetsons erects a narrative on minimalism and functionality while putting materials in the limelight.
Curated by: Rupali Sebastian
Photographs: Yadnyesh Joshi; courtesy Jetsons
The site
Sitting on the 18th floor of a business park in Powai, this office affords views of the greens of Thane on one side and the cityscape of Navi-Mumbai on the other side. The location and floor level helped to get a good amount of natural light into the space. However, when the site was handed over to Jeet Soneji and his team at Jetsons, it was “in complete dust and ruins from the previous tenants,” says the architect.
The brief
The client’s requirements was to design a space that would not only cater to their growing business opportunities but one that would also depict their personality in a minimalistic manner. “One of the initial conversations with our client that we can never forget centred around making the place look elite and sleek while using rich elements to highlight the place in a number of ways,” says Jeet.
The design intent
“The first thought that crossed our mind was to create a layout that was organised, rich in materials but simple in taste,” discloses the principal architect of Jetsons. “The key idea behind the design ideology was to create a harmonic materiality and a neutral monochromatic colour scheme that would bring out an eliteness of space in a sophisticated manner.” The simple idea of keeping things functional and minimal without disturbing the adjacent environment is what helped the team achieve the design ideology of ‘minimalism’.
The planning
The space was divided in grid fashion to maximise utility and provide a dedicated space for each activity. The reception area opens up to the common floor space with a small sit-out waiting area along with a small pantry with two washrooms next to it. Towards the right side of the layout, is the master cabin 01 facing the window with workstation area 01 on the outside. Opposite this cabin and workstation 01 is the conference room. As you start moving towards the other side of the space, you come across a partition with a door which separates the two sides of this office space to create two different zones. This is in case only one part of the office needs to be operated at any given time. After this glass door, is the main workstation area 02 in the centre along with the master cabin 02 on the right and the manager’s cabin on the left side. “One of the most crucial factors that dictated the design,” reveals Jeet, “was how to bind the zones with materials and partition systems and also cater to the privacy of each cabin.”
The material and colour palettes
To encapsulate the overall visual direction where colour and material directions are concerned, this office was all about whites, greys and black with a mix of glass to make the space look lighter. “The use of different glass surfaces in partition screens and marble in different colour schemes are the show-stopping elements of the space,” opines Jeet. In fact, the use of marble in a manner where it grew into the space gradually to transition from the floor to become table/countertops and then going onto the walls to accent the space with its texture and material tactility, was something that excited him greatly about the project.
To come to the specifics of materiality, the floor is clad in a light white-grey marble, while the walls are covered in whites and a grey textured stucco paint. For the storage units, the team opted for matte white shutters with matte black concealed handles. The partitions are built in a matte black aluminium frame with fluted and clear glass in between. The reception area has a dark teal blue two-seater sofa with the reception table wrapped in a dark grey bottom with a black and white patterned marble on top. The desk has a backdrop of frosted-glass bricks. Master cabin 01 has a wooden-finish PVC panelled ceiling and a brass-bordered bluish-grey marble piece as wall art on the textured wall. The table tops of this cabin are topped in a horizontal wooden hedge-bone pattern in a matte PU finish. For master cabin 02, the team went in for a completely white theme starring white terrazzo stone in different finishes. In the conference room, the tabletop is wrapped in the same black and white patterned marble stuck to the window wall with a fat round bottom leg in dark grey. “We really love how textures, colours and patterns can change any space,” smiles Jeet.
Fact file
Project: The Monochromatic Minimal Office
Location: Mumbai
Area: 1,000 sq ft
Principal architect: Jeet Soneji
Design team: Deval Shah and Deepali Bangera
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