MUMBAI: According to Cushman & Wakefield study, India’s top seven commercial real estate markets became the most economical office interior fit-out markets in the Asia Pacific region. These markets include Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune.

These major cities of India continued to dominate the top 10 list of most expensive office fit-out locations in the Asia Pacific with an average fit-out cost of $150 per sq ft. The study disclosed that Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Sydney lead the rankings, with Melbourne climbing four spots to fifth in 2020.

Shashi Bushan, Managing Director, Project & Development Services, Occupiers – India, Cushman & Wakefield said “From an office design perspective, the workplace will evolve from a regular office to a place for networking and with a social feel. We expect that while social distancing and a flexible work policy will reduce the number of seats in an office, there would also be a bigger focus on agile seating formats”.

Mumbai retains its rank as the most expensive office market in the country with an average fit-out cost of $133 per sq ft. The cost of the average office interior stood at $126 per sq ft and $33 in Chennai.

After COVID-19, the focus on health and safety is expected to rise. It brings the concept of touchless technology, improved heating, ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), and smarter cleaning practices.

Tushar Mittal, Managing Director of SKV, an interior design firm specializing in commercial offices, said “We expect the companies to place more emphasis on employee wellbeing, hygiene, safety and security given that the pandemic has underscored the requirement to do so. Based on our interaction with our clients, we are observing that companies are inclined to de-densify their offices with this objective in mind. While the fit-out cost is already low in India, it will further decrease with de-densification of offices, and modernization and industrialization that is underway in Indian office interior construction industry”.

With increasing work from home culture, lots of employers see a requirement to scale up the usable area for each employee. Various companies are expected to change their offices to match new norms and guidelines.

Prolonged, enforced work from a home culture has proved that productivity can be maintained in this way as well. This culture puts questions around the small size and composition of the corporate footprint while highlighting the need for ongoing investment into IT and audio-visual technology for collaborative team working.