Space Matrix to focus on setting up innovation hubs in India

With office space leasing in India pegged at over 40 million sq ft and new supply at 47.5 million sq ft, international office design firms are looking to tap this segment.

Singapore-based Space Matrix, which has set up innovation hubs to showcase workspace design concepts in Bengaluru, plans to set up three more in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Hyderabad with an investment of Rs 30 crore.

These labs will showcase how automation and design can add value to workplace.

"After Bengaluru, we will be setting our innovation hubs in Gurgaon, Mumbai and Hyderabad," Akshay Lakhanpal, Regional Managing Director, India, Space Matrix, told Moneycontrol.

The office in Bengaluru has an innovation hub where each floor showcases different types of lighting, air conditioning and IP technology. Companies planning to design new office spaces can experience a pre-designed facility at the hub. The company has invested close to Rs 5 crore into it, he says.

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It plans to develop similar innovation centres along Golf Course Road in Gurgaon called Betalab where it intends testing furniture and human behavior through technology.

"We are creating different space formats – for active brainstorming, a library type environment for serious work, fun environment such as a cafés. Organisations planning to design offices can send their members for a few days to actually experience the work environment at the facility and decide which design suits them best. Instead of getting locked with a massive capex investment, companies can actually test out their future office spaces at the design facility," he said.

On the design interventions that may be brought in to control the spread of epidemics such as the Corona virus in an office environment, he said that the most important design intervention is to ensure that the air conditioning systems in the office have the ability to extract 100 percent air so that the same air does not circulate through the day.

"The design of the office should be such that the airconditioning system has the capacity to extract 100 percent air with a flick of a button and not recirculate the same air within.  Overall, an office environment should emphasise on the wellness aspect. Air quality should be built into the design so that wellness related aspects are taken care of," he said.

The company acquired a firm in China in 2018 and has presence in Shanghai as well as Beijing.

"This year our focus is to use a hub and spoke model and our primary cities will be the main hubs. We want to get into Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Surat. In the South we want to get into Coimbatore, Hyderabad, and Cochin  to develop our profile in Tier-2 cities," he added.