Global workplace innovation program from Philips

Designed by Adrianse, a Delhi-based firm, ‘hot-desking’ will give flexibility to expand employee rolls without incurring huge additional costs in terms of office space. Though the concept, popular in the West, was piloted in a 50-seat office in Amsterdam, the Gurgaon office is the first full-fledged rollout in the world. The 92,500 square feet office, spread over two floors, has about 500 employees, but fewer work stations, because almost 25% of the employees will be traveling to meet customers or other business associates on any given day. With only 11 chambers in the office, employees can book work stations or one of the 35 conference rooms in the office through the intranet. Spread over the eighth and ninth floors of a Gurgaon high rise, the office has some 30 enclosed work stations for employees to work undisturbed. Employees can park themselves to work whenever they like with about six ‘touch-down’ points around. With the employees not having fixed seats, the entire set can move if they need to interact with another team. Each floor has break-out zones with a small cafeteria and beanbags thrown in. The ninth floor cafeteria doubles as a meeting place for a large gathering of up to 200 people. The ceiling is fitted with screens which can be rolled down for presentations. Smart, vibrantly colored and youthful, the work stations look new and spacious. The drawer-less work stations ensure that the employees are not tied down to one spot in the office. The company has also opted for ‘light harvesting’ to cut down energy consumption by using a lot of glass. It has put sensors in all the meeting rooms that switch the lights on when employees enter, and off, when they exit.