Ananya Technologies was an experiment in using atypical materials. This was a workshop cum corporate office of a company that manufactured miniature electronic parts for defense aircrafts.
The products manufactured here became an inspiration for the design of the space. Ananya was the coming together of a bunch of young engineers/entrepreneurs- so cost was also a major factor in the design.
The plan of the space was conceived as an integrated circuit board, which was an integral part of their products. The colour coded pipes crisscrossing the ceiling connect various hubs in the space and are reminiscent of the tracks in a circuit board. The pipes travel along the ceiling and vertically along walls to create a 3 dimensional idea of the circuit board and simultaneously double up as electrical conduits. The coloured pipes in the ceiling also helped in circumventing a false ceiling thereby reducing the cost significantly.
The client needed to document and archive each and every product they manufactured. For this they required huge storage which didn’t need to be readily accessible. They also required about 30% of the floor to be left bare and open for manufacture of larger components. We decided to lift the storage off from the floor and inhabit the space below it. A conference room was envisaged below a metal storage loft hanging from the ceiling. A corrugated MS sheet was suspended from the slab to serve as storage. This served a number of functions – a large amount of floor space got freed up, and the volume of the conference room was reduced enough for efficient air conditioning. It also avoided huge amount of cabinetry.
The same language translates into other parts of the design as well. For instance, the visual barrier in the work stations was made from the same sheet.
The wooden fan blades in the entrance area were fashioned to be reminiscent of old aircraft blades.