While redesigning their existing headquarters, United Breweries Limited wanted to create an environment that is light, bright and fresh while taking advantage of the fantastic panoramic views on all sides. The new workplace had to be an amalgamation of two distinct brands – Kingfisher and Heineken.
The design brief was to create an office that supports its rich history, workplace culture and is aligned with company’s values. However, the need for more diverse work settings was clear from our workplace strategy study. The best solution was to enable an ‘activity-based working (ABW)’ that helps support different types of work.
Spread across three floors, the new office also reflects the company’s passion for brewing great beers and cultivates a unique experience inside the office. The redesign saw 140+ staff move from a traditional office layout to a more flexible one. The employee centric design features an open plan with a central lounge area that allows for employee engagement and interaction along with spaces designed to drive collaboration. Doing away with cabins at the glazing led to more daylight penetration in the floor.
The workplace’s visual identity borrows values from the brand identities and corporate identities of two historical brands and both have been integrated into the design along with Vaastu principles. Vaastu was used to place the various spaces on the floor and to guide the overall palette. Although it is quite minimalist and serene in nature, the colour palette draws upon the dynamism of the brands to ensure that discrete pops of colour have been spread throughout the floor. Sustainability and use of locally manufactured products was of paramount importance to United Breweries Limited.