The office of the future is one with residential sensibilities

January 6th, 2022

Tags: future of the workplace, future of workplace, India, office, office interior, office space, post pandemic workplace, quirk studio, workplace, workplace design, Workplace Evolution, workplace trends

Completed in 2020, The Mill Project is a workplace that not only offers the best amenity to its staff but is sensitive to site and heritage. Located in Erode, a city renowned for textiles and also for growing turmeric, in the province of Tamil Nadu, India, this new headquarters is both elegant and sophisticated.

In a city that revers the traditional and embraces the new, this project is a triumph in the blending of the past and the present with much of the original industrial-style architecture retained to complement the contemporary interior refurbishment.

White walls and thick wooden ceiling beams are complemented by grey slate floors, plants and wooden desks in The Mill office.

With 4.2-metre-high ceilings (14 feet) and floor-to-ceiling windows, air circulates freely and there is ample natural light, while the floorplan is generous, with multiple offices and other facilities. Glass partitions throughout encourage visual connectivity and the furnishings are pared-back, stylish and modern.

The interior design by Quirk Studio has been influenced by both Mid-century modern and Wabi-Sabi, an ancient aesthetic philosophy rooted in Zen Buddhism that celebrates beauty in imperfection. This coming together of disparate ideas is perfectly expressed in the material palette that comprises cement finishes, lime plaster textures and timber, along with marble highlights on cabinetry and as desks and tables.

A marble-effect acts as a feature wall in one room of the mill.

Within the 195-square-metre office, the visitor first encounters an entrance and compact reception area that features a chandelier of clusters of black and white globes. At the centre of the office are the communal workstations and this section is delineated by furniture groupings that sit on a cement-finished floor. Overhead, the original timber beams have been retained and the walls have been painted ivory.

At one end of the space, there are windows with views of the surrounding landscape. And at the other end, a timber and fluted glass partition system has been installed. Towards the rear of the floor are the private offices as well as a glazed enclosed meeting room with a round marble table and upholstered chairs where staff can meet in privacy.

A conference room is situated near the wall of windows and a stunning ten-seater marble table has been paired with slender off-white, upholstered chairs. Lime plastered walls and deep-toned timber flooring complement the teak ceiling and rafters, while a black minimalist pendant light adds the finishing touch.

A large marble conference table with white chairs under a wooden ceiling.

There are three private offices, one for the Managing Director and the others for his two sons, and these have been designed with grooved panelling on walls, bespoke lighting, marble desks and upholstered sofas and chairs.

Staff gather and connect at the pantry and adjoining dining nook that is resplendent with tessellated indigo, black and grey floor tiles, and a marble-topped island bench and splashback make a grand addition to this space. The powder room is dramatic with black-veined marble, a bespoke wall sconce, mirror and Venetian blinds.

While The Mill Project has been designed with a clean modern aesthetic, it is also very much at home in its surrounds where windows frame views of the old and new city and surrounding rugged terrain. The interior design by Quirk Studio retains the heritage feel through architectural detail but brings the workplace with all the advantages and comforts of our time.

Quirk Studio was established in 2013 by Disha Bhavsar and Shivani Ajmera. As an interior design practice based in Mumbai, Quirk Studio has completed numerous residential and commercial projects to great acclaim. The ideals of the two co-founders and the practice are best described as a shared penchant for design and how spaces influence the quality of life.

With The Mill Project, Quirk Studio has designed yet another project that responds and reflects those who inhabit it and the result is a considered, exemplary design that is both refined and refreshing.