A virtual tour: A day at the Space Matrix Workplace Innovation Lab

Same old address, a brand new workspace — here at Space Matrix, we are thrilled about our freshly refurbished office in Bangalore. Over the last few years, we have been witnessing the increased impact that technology has over workspace design. We have used workplace technology to help companies completely reinvent the office experience for their clients and employees. Now, it was time for us to live these changes in our own workspace in Bangalore. As Gururaj Raghavendra, our Director in India says, “Statistics indicate that in just a few years, the market size of smart workplaces is estimated to stand at a whopping $43 billion. We thus aim to become an integrated design cum project delivery partner for all our clients.” Our refurbished Workplace Innovation Lab, therefore, is designed to highlight how seamlessly and flawlessly technology can be integrated into the office design. During our big launch a couple of months back, we were honoured to have with us over 50 industry leaders to try out and review our new workplace. But now, we would like to give you a virtual tour of our Space Matrix Workplace Innovation Lab as well. Ready to spend a day at our office, just like our designers do? 9 AM: You arrive at the office. You automatically reach into your bag to get out your employee key card before you remember — here at the Workplace Innovation Lab, you don’t have to do that anymore. The building is equipped with facial recognition technology, eliminating the need to carry physical identification. No more digging around the depths of your bag for a tiny key card, or worrying about a lost ID badge causing security risks! You look into the sensor at the entrance and it buzzes you straight in. As you enter, you greet a group of your colleagues who just walked in, too. With so many people arriving together, yet another sensor jumps to action. The smart HVAC unit, noting an increase in space occupancy, adjusts the temperature automatically. Bangalore traffic was particularly brutal today, so after the hour you just spent navigating the congested roads, the cool, fresh air on your face feels soothing. 10 AM: The first hour is usually spent planning and organising your work for the day, and today was no different. You just finished catching up on your emails and responding to all your urgent notifications. With a fair idea of what needs your attention today, you now have a comprehensive to-do list. Time to get to work — but first, coffee. Now, thanks to the on-desk pantry ordering system, you don’t even have to leave your desk to get your caffeine fix — you just use your mobile app to select what you want. The order is placed at your nearest pantry. Once it is prepared, the pantry attendant uses a visual display to see who placed the order. He then delivers your coffee right to your desk. 11 AM: It’s time for a meeting with some of your colleagues to discuss workplace strategy for that new project that you’re working on. There may have been a time when you’d need to spend 10-15 minutes finding a meeting room, notifying everyone and then starting the meeting. But no more! The Innovation Lab has an efficient room booking system in place, so your colleague has already reserved a meeting room. A notification pops up on your screen, and you know exactly where to go. The meeting room itself is driven by cutting-edge workplace technology. The Classroom Whiteboard Solution ensures that you waste no time fumbling with wires and setting up your system for your presentation — it works on wireless technology to offer maximum flexibility. It also eases collaboration by letting all participants access the document being presented, and annotate notes. The room has centralised controls, so when everyone starts feeling a little chilly, you are able to use Alexa’s smart functions to adjust the temperature and keep the room comfortable for everyone. The pantry ordering system works from the meeting rooms too, so halfway through the discussion, when people start feeling like they could do with a hot beverage, you can place an order and have it delivered without leaving the room or interrupting the flow of the discussion. 12.30 PM: The meeting turned out to be very productive. You decide to take a break and head for an early lunch before getting back to your work. The airy cafeteria, with its cushy chairs and funky wall murals, has a friendly vibe that puts you in a relaxed frame of mind. You spot a couple of colleagues who are visiting from one of the other Space Matrix offices. You haven’t seen them in a while, so you’re excited to catch up. The long cafe tables are designed just for situations like this, when you want to share a meal together. The lunch hour flies by in a happy haze of lengthy conversations, delicious food and refreshing beverages. 1.30 PM:After lunch, a message pops up on your device — it is the Host Notification System, alerting you that your client has arrived for the meeting you set up last week. In the past, you would have had to direct her over a call, but now the intelligently designed Workplace Innovation Lab does it for you. Once your client is through the security gate, the Bluetooth-based access control guides her to an empty parking space. When she arrives at the reception, she finds a Visitor Management Tab where she can authenticate herself. This does away with the age-old practice of making manual entries in a register — not only is this a faster, more seamless process for visitors, it is more effective at maintaining security protocols too. After this, the client is guided to a navigation kiosk, where she can enter the meeting room details and find out where to go. Outside the right room, she will see yet another tab, where the meeting schedule and the details of the participants will be displayed. This is where you meet your client and invite her in. You have already discussed a few ideas with her before, but now, she is in for a surprise as you bring these ideas to life in this meeting. Here’s when you start the cool VR presentation that you put together for her! The ideas that you had talked about before now take shape as realistic 3D demos. From the largest conference spaces to the tiniest mechanical or electrical fittings — she can visualise them all. Thanks to the brand new live VR dashboard, you are also able to demonstrate temperature and other ambience settings in real-time. This gives your client a clear idea of how the final design will look, not just theoretically, but practically. This leaves no scope for gaps in communication or expectations. After all, as Akshay Lakhanpal, our Regional Managing Director in India, states “We have developed the Workplace Innovation Lab to curate experiences for our clients (for their employees and clients alike). This also helps us move closer to giving tangible outcomes to our clients, wherein our lab acts as a testing ground for the initiatives, collating and analysing data before we approach the clients to embrace those initiatives.” 3 PM: After the successful meeting, it’s time for a break. You head to the recreation room to see if there’s anyone there who would join you in a game of ping pong. You’re in luck! You see some of your colleagues heading that way too. You challenge them for a doubles match and they agree. It gets pretty competitive after a while but it’s all in good fun — and it’s just what you needed after a morning of meetings and discussions. 4 PM:That was an exhilarating break! Now you are recharged for an evening of creative productivity. But first things first — you stop by the shower room to freshen up after that boisterous hour you just spent. Next, you swing by the pantry to grab a cup of coffee to beat that mid-afternoon slump. Then (since you’ve had enough of meeting rooms for the day) you head to one of the cafe areas. With the comfy sofas and bar stools, potted plants all around, and a spectacular view of the greenery outside, this is a great spot to settle down in for a couple of hours. The goal for the afternoon is to iron out the finer details of an on-going project. In order to do this, you need to coordinate with team members from various IT, QS, and Procurement departments — to get their specialised inputs on the project and make sure that everything is on track. However, some of your colleagues are working remotely today, while others are on-ground at the project site. Thanks to the movable collaboration screen, this is not an issue at all. As they dial in on Zoom calls, they can all view your designs and make real-time annotations as you discuss the finer details. This is complex work, but since you are all able to collaborate together, you know everyone’s on the same page. 5.45 PM:That was a good discussion, and now you’re almost done for the day. But before you wrap up, you need to have a quick catch-up call with a client and give him some updates. Since this conversation is confidential, you step into one of the phone booths for privacy. 6 PM: And it’s time to call it a day! You and one of your colleagues decide to catch up over a post-work drink and a bite to eat. You pack up your things and head out towards the elevators, debating the merits of your favourite haunt as opposed to the new brewery that just opened up. As the elevator doors close behind you, you see the lights in the now-deserted work area go off automatically. The smart lighting system has detected that the workspace is now unoccupied, and has activated the power saving mode. Until tomorrow! If you’d like to see for yourself how workplaces can become more engaging and productive through technology, drop by and say hello. We can help you incorporate workplace technology to improve your office experience too.