Frankly speaking, the hype around WeWork India was unreal when they finally opened in Hyderabad with not one working space but two. And many people who kept an eye on WeWork’s financial trouble out west were sceptical at how it would fare in India. But it is worth pointing out that WeWork in India is a joint brainchild between the We Company — which owns the WeWork brand — and Indian real estate company Embassy group.
According to a November 2019 interview with The Hindu Business Line , Karan Virwani, CWeO, WeWork India, said the absorption of commercial office spaces in India reached a peak in 2019 during a rise in the past five years. Plus there is the fact that WeWork claims to not be your traditional office space.
So does the Hyderabad offices live up to the aforementioned hype?
WeWork Hyderabad, Krishe Emerald
The estimated square footage for the 14-floor Krishe Emerald site in Kondapur is 2,55,852 square feet while the Rajapushpa site in Financial District is 1,91,560 square feet.
Spatial awareness is one of WeWork's pride points, internationally — whether one works in congested London or the fast developing Hyderabad… and naturally, design plays a huge role in this. The design for both buildings was led by Francois Gramoli, creative director, WeWork India with his team comprising designers Ramya Pillai for Krishe Emerald and Abhishek Semwal for Rajapushpa.
Another design USP is that, with close to 500 setups worldwide and almost 30 across India, WeWork aims to capture each city's ethos and cultural character in a given space. At Krishe Emerald the kalamkari tapestry that hangs above the social space catches the eye and the elements of wooden and metal accents in both furnishings and art break up the predicted monotony of most office spaces.
Mental health in the workplace is one of India’s most important discourses to be had and design plays a huge role in it. Francois has always been vocal about engendering positivity and productivity in equal measures through design. Communal spaces are kept open to drive connections and networking while glass partitions help inculcate a happily contagious feeling of activity and energy.
WeWork Hyderabad, Krishe Emerald
This makes sense given a majority of the companies and startups at WeWork Hyderabad are in the intense fintech and marketing industries.
So green
WeWork Hyderabad’s green mentality is not unlike that of most progressive working spaces in the city — and to power up buildings with more occupancy to the hundreds, the latest and most scalable policies are needed to pull that off.
In terms of electricity the building offers real time energy monitoring and also provides alerts to prevent energy wastage. The warmer-hued LED lighting are equipped with occupancy sensors to optimise lighting energy use, too. Then there is the more technical Modular UPS to optimise UPS loading.
The Building Management System (BMS)-based equipment scheduling prevents extra operating of equipment while there is also VAV & VFD for HVAC control and optimisation through the day and night. Climactic comfort comes in the form of optimum temperature set points for energy saving.
Then there are the more unique green initiatives. There are regular indoor Air Quality checks and the water faucets are geared with aerators in water for water conservation. Plus there is also waste stream segregation at the source. WeWork India also has a strict zero single-use plastic policy as well as composting on site for a few buildings and a chemical-free cleaning pilot.
