The DCPL office building is located on a busy highway in Valsad, the site abuts farmlands and public property, introducing a relatively new strand of urbanity within an older infrastructural – agricultural fabric. Given a rather dreary context, the design for the office revisits a traditional archetype that of a container with an atrium - well proportioned with a rational structural grid.

The atrium provides a continuous visual connect amongst employees, while also allowing diffused light to penetrate through a large East facing skylight. A varying structural grid marked by exposed columns demarcates spatial allocations in the form of cabins and open office layouts.

At the entrance, a linear gravel bed between the staircase and the lift encourages contemplation, providing a much needed relief as one transits from the highway into the office premises. A 2 meter deep metal frame characterizes the façade, and is to be covered by plants in order to buffer the building from sound and dust.

An added advantage of a contractor - as - client resulted in efficient delivery of the project. The DCPL office was completed in 7 months, which in other circumstances would have taken at best 14 months for a building of its scale and size.