Founded in 2004, Acme generics, Nalagarh, is engaged in the manufacturing of research based products promoting capacitation and innovation. As a pioneering industry, the design was idealized by Studio Ardete to reflect upon its current success. The style was idealized to be Raw and Rustic but should be able to provide the formality of a corporate office. The mood board for this project included raw oak wood, tinted glass, brick-tiles, a combination of Epoxy and terrazzo flooring, metal and fabric installations and various textured Concrete finishes. The client required a new headquarter that would reflect young, energetic, and humble growth of its company in recent years and aims to accommodate double its current employee headcount over the next few years. This new space should also facilitate meetings with multinational allies of the company.
A place unique for one and a place for many to gather, Acme welcomes its visitors from the farther end of its new expansion building. Grids of white painted 12mm SS bars forms two doubly curved surfaces at the entrance lobby. Pouring itself in a melody, this metal installation becomes a centerpiece. Underneath it a wooden log table with light oak paneling and a featured green wall is the first encounter to the luxury that lies ahead.
On one end sits a table and set of two lounge chairs while the other end leads you to the upper storey. The staircase railing is also an enigma of design featuring a different take on hand rails. Stylized to be a filleted triangle, the handrail is a pleasant surprise of everyday things.
The corridor lobby on the first floor act as a spill-over space for informal meetings to take place. Like disoriented notes of a music, wooden battens are randomly suspended across its entire span. Additionally brick cladding, tinted glass and terrazzo flooring add a retro zing to the space. This space opens up to an additive open to sky balcony space that captures the view to the Shivalik, a low mountain range of Northern India.
The first floor also houses formal working areas like the workstations, cabins for managing director and various departments’ heads, meeting rooms, conference areas and essential services like pantry. Looking at the available floor plate for main workstation it was clear early-on that the rooms for the managers had to be as small and efficient as possible. The result is rooms with an average of 7 m2. They are characterized by tinted glass windows that are almost as high as the clear floor height. The workstations uses bright yellow and white colour, set against concrete stylized epoxy flooring and charcoal grey painted ceilings. Aiming to join professionals in a space that transcends typical working environment, an array of zig-zag custom made bar lights lit-up the room. The design itself is inspired from the various circuitries that exist in a computer and in a working environment. Flexible working arrangements cater to diverse individual and collective needs, including team-based agile neighborhoods and height-adjustable desks for all workstations.
Spanning from ceiling to walls, MD cabin is designed using white wedge-shaped surface paneling, A large white laminated table sits underneath that speaks a similar language.The anatomy of design for the conference room is a curtain fabric crafted as ceiling extension and embedded with lights for surreal charm. The fabric ceiling runs in offset loops across the conference room under which a large horse shoe shaped table rests.
Acme is imagined to bring the serendipitous richness of the city and a ruggedness of a factory to harmoniously coexist. We believe that the meaning of an interior design can be discovered in the continuity of urban space and life experiences.
