Akshat Bhatt of New Delhi based firm Architecture Discipline designs new offices at Oberoi Tower in Cyber City, Gurugram

Conceptualised as a tranquil zone with a green oasis, the new Oberoi office in Gurugram is in stark relief to its immediate environment of a bustling corporate park. Spread across seven floors within the new tower, the development overlooks the district of Cyber hub in suburban NCR. Akshat Bhatt, founder of Architecture Discipline, along with his team including Nikita Aneja, Anjula Roy and Himanshu Chopra, were approached to design the offices for East India Hotel’s Executive Chairman Prithvi Raj Singh ‘Biki’ Oberoi and Managing Director Arjun Oberoi.

The expansive workspace features a green courtyard surrounded by glass that illuminates the interiors with natural light. The reception of this pristine, all-white office greets every visitor with a striking view of the bronze wall feature and a glimpse of the courtyard garden. A minimalist brass inlay pattern in a seamless white thassos floor finish guides one to the large boardroom beyond. Further ahead lies the formal dining hall and the chairman’s cabin—envisioned as an office that befits his stature as one of the country’s greatest hoteliers—with exaggerated proportions, sleek geometric lines and sumptuous materials.

The 6,000 sq ft development office is designed around two core ideas of a flexible workspace and program specific areas. It is imagined as an open plan layout arranged around a central glass courtyard. The courtyard leads to a corridor that takes you to different parts of the office. A lounge on the left, with books and accolades on display, flows into a large space with workstations and collaborative desks. Individual workstations with modular furniture are spaced out in such a way as to allow them to be reconfigured to meet evolving needs over time. Turning the corner around the courtyard is the meeting and conference rooms.

At the end of the corridor is the Managing Director’s office. Alluding to the owner’s automobile enthusiasm, a piece of aviation history has been installed in Arjun Oberoi’s office—the decommissioned aircraft Cessna’s eight metre-long wing has been turned into a tabletop. Beige surfaces and red splashes complement an unobtrusive, monochromatic backdrop, lending a cosmopolitan and utilitarian look. The 16 ft high ceiling displays charcoal painted, wooden fibre panels, while a portion of the post tensioned slab is left exposed. The floor finish is primarily polished micro concrete with strategic zones done in walnut floorboards to add warmth. Wall panelling in MDF, which is fluted and stained to look like walnut wood adds a bespoke, tactile quality, while the paneling in textured fabric and brass inlay lends a touch of contemporary flair. High performance glass along with heat reflective blinds that modulate heat gain characterise the office, along with an optimised MEP design that increases energy efficiency and minimises excessive consumption of resources and waste emission—earning the workspace LEED platinum certification.