Every Concept of ours begins with a story. And when we were commissioned to develop a Design Concept for Khaleej Times’s new office space – Reception, News Room & Broadcasting Studio who is UAE’s first & leading English daily under the publishing house – Galadari Printing & Publishing Co. LLC, we came up with the concept of ‘FLOW’ which resonates with the nature of news & media in our daily life.
We were challenged to create a 21,000 Sqft future-proofed space where the staff and the customers could collaborate in a cutting-edge tech integrated space. Being a newspaper and a media giant, incorporating screens and interactive displays was key. So, we engaged with PIXCOM Technologies to envision Khaleej Times’s visionary office space. The end result is like a museum, but more of a futuristic one.
More Than A Reception – One of the design’s wow factors is the conical+circular structure that welcomes the customers at the Reception area. This enclosed structure is cladded with LED panels on which the news, ads and company-related media can be projected including live relays of the news from their broadcasting studio. Behind this structure, the other half is carved out to create a Customer experience zone for the staff and customers to collaborate together. This will be a feature of KT’s customer-friendly approach that is flanked by an interactive touch screen, suspended news tickers, and a waiting lounge area before going to the Newsroom/Broadcasting studio on the first floor. ‘Behaviour-based approach’ has let us use the curved LED screen and the mushroom-looking columns along with the ceiling design to guide the customers in a sinuous manner to other adjoining spaces and functions. Original copies of the newspapers from the year 1978 till date covering all the major incidents across the globe had to be displayed in the Reception lobby. To marry with the futuristic concept, we came up with the news content digitally etched over a glass and lit to make the display concepts more interesting.
The News Room – Following the sinuous and dynamic nature that was envisioned for the overall concept, the workspace was designed to allow the user’s eyes to flow from one corner to the next without any sharp edges and to result in one congruous room. All the spaces become visible to the user in one glance. The workspace follows an introverted radial configuration. All the surrounding cabins look inwards towards the main hub formed by the hot desks and the pitch deck. The hot desks are arranged in a horseshoe formation around the deck. To embody the dynamic and continuous nature of the newsroom environment, the news screen curved display “echoes” from the center. A sort of ripple effect is created throughout the office.
Lighting plays a huge part in the design of the newsroom. Each curve and every turn is accented through lighting. The organic forms, be it in the wall panels or columns are brought to life by providing the perfect lighting. A disintegrating pattern that adds to the dynamic nature of the space was incorporated on the walls and the columns were designed to be caught in perpetual motion to embrace the nature of the space.
