Conceived and implemented by Mumbai-based design consultant firm DWP Interics, Jio’s open-office model was rewarded primarily for its collaborative spaces, sleek lounges, and use of attractive color schemes, according to an official statement.
NEW DELHI: Mukesh Ambani owned Reliance Jio has bagged the Herman Miller-REACH award for innovative concept design of their commercial office situated in Navi Mumbai. Conceived and implemented by Mumbai-based design consultant firm DWP Interics, Jio’s open-office model was rewarded primarily for its collaborative spaces, sleek lounges, and use of attractive color schemes, according to an official statement.
Marketed as one of the largest transformational green-field digital initiatives anywhere in the world, Reliance Jio came up with the idea of open-office culture from its founders, the people also behind India's largest conglomerate Reliance Industries, (RIL).
"One of the biggest challenges we faced was the pre-existing cabin culture", said a management executive with Jio who was closely related to the project, "which made people toil only within their own space. The organizational shift, that was very much needed, further fueled the idea, which then led to the foundation of the office design." With a vision to create a work environment in its Mumbai headquarters that would help bring about radical change across the entire organization, the telecom company joined hands with a number of designers and concept artists to carefully plan the layout of the office, which was completed in 2015.
The aim to put a blanket on non-collaborative work stations worked well for the company. “One highlight from their eight-storied glass-façade building is an art installation that is supposedly made out of scrapped remains of a petite four-wheeler which once used to be a ubiquitous black-and-yellow taxi (locally known as kaali-peeli), a type of cabs that still adorns the roads of Mumbai and other cities of India,” the statement said.
Other winners in the 'Commercial Office' group were Airbnb's Beijing office, IBM Studio in Shanghai, Marriott's Shanghai office, and Indeed Tokyo to name a few.
