Holiday shopping gets an upgrade
Photographs: Anand Jaju Photography
Planning travel can be about more than just booking a holiday and picking up a ticket. The Travel Tours Group wants its customers to look at travel as retail, where there is a focus upon creating an experience while shopping for a holiday. Thus, Studio Decode has designed a one-of-a-kind, retail, holiday shopping experience in Bengaluru. It aims to be inviting, relaxed and sophisticated yet warm.
This 2,500 sq ft office for the Travel Tours Group, in existence since the 70’s, gives its customers and visitors the feel of an open office where the customer is allowed to interact with the office representatives and be part of every decision that would allow the travel experience to be bettered. The office is fronted with a lounge which has books, magazines and a TV through which the pre travel experience begins and one is allowed to explore before making a decision.
From the bold, red color of the railing at the entrance steps, the use of wood, exposed brick to the customized lights designed by the architect, the office becomes more than a formal space of function. It is an aesthetically knit palate of elements that creates a visual experience meant to heighten the excitement of travel and exploration.
The focus of the design is to provide visitors with a unique experience as opposed to a familiar visit to an office. At the same time, it is also meant to provide its employees with a lively yet comfortable working environment. The primary design challenge was in transforming the traditional office layout of a reception, lobby, work spaces, office cubicles and group discussion spaces and to create a visually connected open work space with a mix of smaller private spaces in a relatively small available area. Layering of materials, textures, colors and graphics were explored to create the mix of visual treatments and are part of the language of the eclectic adopted in the design which can be seen in the spaces, walls, false ceilings, doors and the furniture.
This office does away with traditional notions of formal corporate interiors to create a fun, eclectic, boutique travel office.
