Meghana Shetty

The Mahaphant Fibre Cement Public Company Limited is one of Asias leading manufacturers of fibre cement building boards, fibre cement planks and more recently fibre cement ply, an innovative fibre-composite panel for all interior decorative applications, including ceiling, walls and built-in furniture, under the trademark SHERA. Headquartered out of Bangkok, with several manufacturing plants located throughout the country and more being planned in the Asian region, their environmentally friendly fibre cement building products are certified to international standards and are widely known and available throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. In India , Shera ply, was first of its kind to adhere to all the green certifications and be used for various functions both interiors & exteriors including furniture applications.At this Juncture it was rather a challenge for us, to ourselves first explore the material to its complete potential, keeping the context in mind. The Brief needed the space to remain, young, welcoming yet formal enough to encompass the staff & an array of multidisciplinary clientele. It also needed to be a brand experience centre, exhibiting the maximum possibilities of usage of Shera Ply As a result, we decided to first recreate the loft Design style. An office ambience which was neat, clean & precise in its decor made in hues of grays & walnut, juxtaposing against exposed, polished cement floor & exposed true ceilings. The layout was kept flexible by creating an open office setup with meeting & cabin spaces hidden behind large facades of clear glasses. Then, to an otherwise raw looking office, we did realize that a warm graphical note wd be needed to provide the required wow factor. This was introduced, by converting some part of the library into a sparking yellow asymmetrical shelving rack. Further to it, the entire space was interspaced with the use of surfaces themselves turning into textures, light fixtures, & even FURNITURE. One could say that the end product was distinctly an outcome of being prompted by the brief to create an UNOFFICE atmosphere.