For 29-year-old Katheren A. Raphael, the new Flipkart headquarters in Bengaluru’s Bellandur area is a huge change. Raphael, who has been working with the company since she finished her postgraduation six years ago, had been shuttling between the 10 smaller offices the company used to lease in the city till a month or so ago. Scheduling meetings and getting to other locations on time—despite the company’s shuttle service—was time-consuming, and spontaneous catch-ups were rare. The new campus, housing three 10-storey buildings with seating capacity for more than 7,000 employees, 300 meeting rooms and over 200 “huddle spaces”, has ended these commuting woes. “It definitely promotes collaboration,” says the assistant manager, special projects and events.
Close encounters: Raphael’s work involves collaborating between departments as diverse as engineering, merchandise, design and communications. This would often involve shuttling between offices for meetings. Often, they would hold meetings on Google Hangouts or collaborate via Google Docs. “Now I can just walk across to the next building or meet people at Chai Point or even do ‘walking meetings’ where we do a quick-catch up while taking a stroll,” she says, adding that the “positivity” of the space has inspired her to be more creative and spontaneous.
Functional and fun: “A lot of thought has gone into the design and how to make it a fun and comfortable space for employees,” Raphael says. “I love the fact, for instance, that there are USB charging ports at every workstation, so I don’t have to carry a bulky charger, or that there’s a pantry where we can grab a quick breakfast of bread-butter-jam with tea or coffee if we miss breakfast at home.”
The meeting rooms with their outrageously alliterative names bring a smile to her face. “I love scheduling meetings in this room called ‘Khula Aasman’ because I love nature, and the name seems so full of possibilities.... Another room, called ‘Paapi Passion’, makes me giggle and roll my eyes, like, what were they thinking?” says Raphael, breaking into a wide grin.
Breezy vibe: An outdoorsy person, Raphael likes to make her way to the rooftop play areas or the café-style seating area in the wide connecting bridge between two buildings when she is free. The creative use of space, with huddle areas and silent zones in corners and dead ends, is also something she loves, along with the use of natural light. “The meeting rooms are in the centre and workstations around the periphery, which makes them bright and airy,” she says.
Open office: The flat structure of the workspace inspires her. “There are no cabins, not even for Sachin (Bansal; executive chairman and co-founder), Binny (Bansal; group CEO and co-founder), or Kalyan (Krishnamurthy; CEO and co-founder). They have workstations like ours,” she says. Pointing to a workstation in her bay, she adds, “That’s where Binny sits.”
“I’ve seen Sachin waiting patiently outside meeting rooms for the current meeting to get over,” says Raphael. “The process to book a room is the same for all of us. There is just no hierarchy—everyone is accessible.”
The Work Tour is a series which looks at how people are engaging with office design and how it impacts their productivity and positivity at work.