New-age yet functional: How power décor motivates employees, and informal rooms spark imagination

BENGALURU: Tech-savvy probably describes the route management consulting firm The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) took when planning its office at UB City this April. They do not even call it a conference room. The ‘Immersion Centre’ houses write-and-wipe walls, interactive wall-screens and VR headsets including a flexible centre table that dismantles into 12 smaller ones depending on the size of the meeting.

Sreyssha George from BCG said, “The idea was to have a new-age yet functional conference room. Formal rooms force you into a box. An informal techsavvy engaging space gets you to think out-of-the-box.”

Walls at the conference rooms of the Myntra office have framed high fashion magazine covers, art, posters and luxury labels. Abhishek Sen, VP-HR and Consumer Experience for Myntra and Jabong, pointed out that in an industry like fashion, it is important to have a vibrant and a relaxed open culture to spark creativity.




“Our office décor should reflect our core culture. The Myntra office is thus embellished in themes of fashion, sports and technology. The walls on our board rooms are adorned with success stories and contributions of brands and personalities from across domains to inspire talented young employees to think big,” said Sen.

Meanwhile, walls have come down at Lowe’s India office at Manyata Tech Park. Opened in September, they have done away with the concept of meeting rooms, creating informal nooks and corners across floors with interactive walls with word games including lego.

Director-HR Priya Singh said, “Walled-down décor ensures easy communication between teams. The average age of our employees is 27 years. They need a space that suits their culture and mindset.”



Interior specialists are pushing their creative envelopes too. Conference room walls is a frequent canvas for local artist Agni Janakiram. “Framed quotes by Bill Gates or Sachin Tendulkar don’t make the cut anymore. Custom-art on a focal wall with whimsical themes, bright colours and key positive words are popular,” said Janakiram.

According to design consultant Avantika Agarwal, the startup boom and rise of co-working spaces have led to this trend. “Millennials don’t want just a good salary. They are looking for soft benefits and companies are going all out to keep them motivated.”

Udita R Tayal, interior consultant, speaks of offices buying statement pieces like horses, jaguars and ships for their conference rooms alongside signature tables for coffee, stationary, vase and candleholders.

“Power décor motivates employees and informal rooms spark imagination as one feels relaxed and open to ideas,” said Tayal.