PATHFINDERS
Commercial Design | September 2019 | 67I
n this world of cutting edge technology
and innovation, agility, ideation, creativity,
collaboration and speed are of the essence.
Over the years, V 0 ware’s globally built ofÀces have
focused on these business needs. “I was involved in
the latter stages of construction and operations’
commissioning. The areas of collaboration involved
focusing on partnering for innovative and out-of-the-
box concepts with industry experts and stakeholders.
Other actions focused on driving cultural change,
transformation, transparency and customer excellence. In the Ànal stages,
active partnering and transparent communication assisted in change
management and expectations’ setting,” says Rajagopal.
Team building and development, enhanced customer focus, building a
winning culture for the organisation have been emphasised. Value addition
through continuous improvements and embedding industry best practices
as needed are also part of the journey. Rajagopal believes that organisation,
employee wellbeing and sustainability are at the centre of everything the
company does.ROSHAN GOWDA
Lead – India, Corporate Real Estate, AccentureRENUKA RAJAGOPAL
Senior director – Real Estate & Workplace, VMware IndiaW
hile different industries and allied
workplaces need to develop their
stylised design imperatives, the
preeminence of the employee at the centre of
workplace design has never been so prominent.
According to Gowda, the various manifestations of
this experiential building block include technology,
agility and Áexibility, sustainability and wellness. +e
shares, “Designers need to provide a variety of ‘activity
settings’ or purpose-built areas for speciÀc activities
that are accessible to all. These might include impromptu meeting areas, formal
meeting spaces, individual work spaces or work cafes that can make up for the
constraints of dense, open-plan environments.”
The desire to minimise environmental impacts of buildings is the most
signiÀcant driver of sustainability but indoor environmental Tuality and its
impact on employees have taken on increasing visibility as well. While digital
gets actively used in areas like asset management, automation is an effective
tool in areas like transport and expense management. AI is a common building
block to activate chatbots for daily workplace interfaces and IoT is beginning
to be a game changer towards increased smart, connected buildings.