Business Bay is a 0.56 lac sq. ft. office building at Okhla Phase II. It is an Eco-Office project which is designed in a neat contemporary and aesthetically immaculate architectural form using bold and playful masses of crisp granite juxtaposed with angular free edged surfaces of glass. It has been a conscious effort on DFI’s part to develop and provide an A- class commercial office space to equip Delhi with tangible working solutions which are permanent, affordable, practical and ultramodern; all at once.

With a crisp client brief of a live and interactive office space, together with an impressive structure, the project is spread over two plots of 2400-sq. yards that are sited adjacent to each other on a 60-m wide road. Since, the prevalent laws at that juncture allowed for a height restriction of 15-m only, the architects’ challenge was to create an impressive and imposing structure, within the height constraint. To counter this, a liberal volume is conceived within which a three-floor high aperture in the front facade which lends scale and clearly announces the entrance. The open space at the front is then created as a hard-scraped plaza in textured granite that is juxtaposed with slim bands of greens and a quaint waterscape feature that also acts as the front boundary. Through the grandiose entrance of the building, one arrives in a sun-bathed atrium that sits in the north-east corner and serves as a welcoming pause point with a reception and a common coffee lounge that acts an informal meeting zone.

The art work was carefully chosen to compliment the design of the office space and give it an aura of artistic opulence and luxe. The office space is a neat L-shaped, approximately 16,000-sq. ft. at one level and based on an 8-m x 8-m grid. The plate is only 20-m wide and is open on all sides so, a lot of natural light streams through the sound proof double glass unit windows. The abundant use of natural light demonstrates the importance of energy-saving through architecture. All car parks have been pushed under into the two well-lit efficient car parks which can accommodate over 65 cars. The top terrace is fashioned as a combination of a gym and a cafeteria, which gives the corporates a feel of wellbeing and indulgence after a hard day’s work.  

Design Forum International is a young-old organization with almost 25 years of experience that has quickly set the right foot to be one of the best architecture firms in India. The firm is a vibrant mix of young and experienced professionals bounded by a common thread: the passion to design. An active contributor to the Nation Building drive and the Indian infrastructural boom, DFI holds vast industry experience in both national and international projects with millions of square feet of construction in a varied range of typology like Affordable Housing, Master planning, Mixed-use & Retail, Institutional as well as Healthcare. Some of DFI’s notable projects include the famous Select Citywalk mall, and the recently inaugurated New Courts Block of Delhi High Court., the ITO Skywalk, Delhi and the Dakshineshwar Skywalk in Kolkata. The Guwahati International Airport in Assam, designed by DFI is also under completion and is scheduled for completion in 2021.