EPAM: Creating an innovative and collaborative workplace through office design

So when the company opened a new digital engineering centre in Hyderabad, they reached out to Space Matrix for help in creating an office design concept to spark creativity and drive innovation.

EPAM was looking at using their 3-level office as a space for its engineers to collaborate on new solutions and for business leaders to invite clients to experience EPAM's innovation approach for themselves. Understanding the need for a layout that gives due attention to both these considerations, we conceptualised a multi-use space focused on workstations on the first level, common spaces on the central level, and client-facing areas and an innovation lab on the top level.

Here’s how we designed the space to bring EPAM’s vision to life.

A strong focus on wellbeing

EPAM places strong importance on employee wellbeing and collaboration – and its office space reflects that. The cafeteria is a great example of how a space can be designed to promote a feeling of community and teamwork. This cafeteria is not simply where colleagues come together for a cup of coffee or a bite to eat – it’s also a space to host larger gatherings like town halls, celebrations and viewing parties for live sporting events.

 

We incorporated several wooden elements to give the place a warm, natural look and added bright lanterns and accent seating for a playful pop of colour. In fact, the wooden baffle ceilings and wood-panelled columns have another function too – they help control the acoustics of the room, making it suitable for when the cafeteria brings together over 300 employees for larger company events.

The recreation room, the cafeteria and the library are all located on the central level of the three-floor office, making them easily accessible for employees on every floor.

Dynamic and collaborative work areas for employees

In keeping with EPAM’s values, we wanted to create a space that would cater to the needs of employees, individually and as a team. We designed an open work area that’s divided into smaller ‘neighbourhoods’ for each team.Each neighbourhood consists of several workstations and collaborative spaces. From our initial conversations with EPAM employees, we learned that the majority of teams rely on brainstorming sessions and in-person discussions to further their work. To encourage this collaboration, these neighbourhoods are sectioned off with movable screens that also serve as writing walls. So when an employee or team needs some privacy, they can move the screen to create a semi-enclosed space and then open the area up again.

 

We also included small meeting pods in each neighbourhood for teams to have fully private discussions. Designed to look like islands throughout the open work area, each pod is surrounded by glazed partitions instead of solid walls. This affords enough privacy without compromising the openness of the space.

Visual reminders of brand identity

The top floor of the office houses the boardrooms, client-facing areas, various VIP and interview rooms, and The Garage, which is EPAM’s innovation lab. Customers and guests who come to the office arrive here first when they visit. EPAM’s brand is incorporated into the design to enable any visitor to immediately recognize the logo and brand colours. The main reception area features stunning, hand-painted artwork of Indian monuments to represent engineering excellence.