New office, new opportunities

“Employees spend 9-10 hours at work everyday.
They need to feel good about it.
It builds motivation and improves productivity.
An office is a reflection of our working style.”

Gautam Kar, Executive Director, FLOVEL Energy Private Limited

An interview with Gautam Kar, Executive Director, FLOVEL Energy Private Limited, and Rahul Bhatt, Managing Director and Chief Architect, Cherry Hill Interiors Limited.

A new office for so many people is not a project from today to tomorrow. What were the motives for you to start such a project?
Gautam Kar: Since its inception in 1971 FLOVEL has grown organically with the additions of new markets and projects. Today we have close to 300 employees and are serving 12+ countries worldwide. A fully-functional Corporate Office with modern amenities is a business requirement. Technology plays a big role today in conducting business and offices need to be able to support it. Employee expectations from workplace have also evolved. A new office enables us to build it as per FLOVEL’s current and future requirements.

The new office expresses a new mentality. What were the first thoughts when you first met FLOVEL and were informed about its field of business-activity?
Rahul Bhatt: I was delighted. Typically, Indian companies, specially in manufacturing segment, view Corporate Office expenditure as an overhead. Their approach is cost driven and functional, which is at odds with an architect’s view of a building. But at FLOVEL, they viewed the Corporate Office as part of their business strategy and that was exciting.

The new working world also mean significant investments for the company. Are these even worthwhile?
Gautam Kar: Human capital is vital for our business. Employees spend 9-10 hours at work everyday. They need to feel good about it. It builds motivation and improves productivity. An office is a reflection of your working style and culture. It assures visiting clients of the company’s capabilities and intent. Besides, technology and connectivity have become key to modern day working style. An office has to be able to support it. It should have spaces for the varying work-related requirement of both the individuals as well as the organisation.

What were the difficulties in planning the new office?
Rahul Bhatt: The key challenge is to integrate the feel and the functionality in a seamless manner. There are basic requirements – technology, seating, facilities etc. – to be taken care of. But it should not compromise the idea of office as an extension of the brand. As an architect we need a design that syncs the two.

FLOVEL is in a relaunch phase, which concerns the general company appearance. Also the logo and the website were redesigned. How is this reflected in the new office?
Gautam Kar: Our new logo and the tagline (“Advantage on your side”) reflects who we are and what we offer to our customers. We have carried the same theme to our office with its design reflecting our personality and vision. It has an open, flexible space that makes one immediately feel part of it. It is technology enabled and is equipped with all the modern facilities. It has a futuristic, comforting feel.

An important part in the office architecture is light and acoustics. How did you solve that?
Rahul Bhatt: These are intrinsic parts of design. Walls and materials are chosen keeping the ambience required. Keeping in mind FLOVEL’s open and collaborative business approach, we designed the office to reflect the same.