After Mumbai and Bengaluru, The Hive arrives in Chennai with collaborative work spaces that accommodate a mix of hot desks, dedicated desks, private office space, and customized offices spread across 20,000 square feet. Designed by Bengaluru-based MYVN Architecture, The Hive is nestled discreetly on the third floor at VR Mall, Chennai, and is accessed just off the food court. But this access, we discover, is only a stop-gap arrangement. Elayaraja Mayavan, founder and principal architect at MYVN Architecture, says, “A temporary entrance was created in the food court taking advantage of the heavy footfall at the mall. Treated as a marketing strategy, this entrance will be later closed off.” Eventually, the facility will be accessed from across the corridor from the boutique hotel that's soon to be completed.
Hive of Activity
The Hive was envisioned as a multi-level hub of activity, making skilful use of the double height ceiling by adding mezzanine sections in an almost entirely open plan. Elayaraja elaborates on the key challenge in designing the space. “A clear height of 5.5 metres was the biggest challenge, making it difficult to incorporate the services on the mezzanine levels. We designed the layout in a way that the services run around the site without disturbing the mezzanines and introduced the sunken slabs as well.” The space also has also been designed to accommodate several ingenious nooks, booths, lockers, a snooker table, communal co-working tables, and even an amphitheatre where community events can be held.
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Symmetry and Natural Light
Few workspaces in the city are suffused with as much natural light and such an expansive view that spans not only the pantry, but also a board room, and several cabins along an entire side of the space. The picture perfect evening sky is glorious to behold from the pantry, with the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee distracting us from the pretty symmetry of Athangudi tiles on the walls, and the subdued tones of light wood in the minimalist furniture. The vast double height glass facade that Elayaraja considers both a key challenge as well as a contributing factor to the design, doesn't end here.
Reimagining Tamil Tradition
The design aesthetic of the mall itself — reimagining the Tamil tradition — extends into The Hive in numerous little touches. There's the choice of Athangudi tiles, this time, as flooring in the sunken level under the three mezzanines, where the hot desks and dedicated desks are placed. It's also in the naming of the four meeting rooms after the ancient dynasties in Tamil Nadu — Chola, Chera, Pandya, and Pallava. The slope of the roof above the cabins too, subtly cues Tamil vernacular architecture, particularly that of Chettinad homes. The palette incorporates just that right balance of black as a contemporary visual element to the honey yellow and forest green that abounds.
Honeycomb Inspired Design
Catering primarily to the IT and enterprise sectors, The Hive makes subtle use of the honeycomb as inspiration in designating spaces, as in the booths that have an octagonal roof structure. And viewed from the vantage point of one of the mezzanine levels, the entire space appears to be a bustling honeycomb, with clearly defined zones. Elayaraja speaks of the difference in the design strategy for a co-working space as against a conventional office. “We designed a co-working space by incorporating elements that cater to multiple user specific requirements. Designing for a specific client comes with a crisp set of preferences where as a co-working space has to harmonize multiple preferences of varied user groups.”
As we leave, we notice a game of snooker in progress, aided by effortless banter and the trading of friendly jibes. Surely, it's the space that plays a vital role in fostering such bonhomie, because the people playing, we discover, are from different organisations working out of The Hive.
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