Hitherto treated as the rationalist poor cousin of interior architecture, the workplace design market is vibrant, unleashing a wave of creativity across the Gulf region as a desire to be recognised as the-best-in-the-business comes to the fore.

And at the forefront of this opportunity is Bafco, a company that has synergised workplace function and aesthetics.
"These are exciting times for workplace design as Dubai continues to add furiously to its skyline and the clamour for renovating current spaces continues unabated," says Bafco general manager Sunil Prabhakaran. "Private sector and Government offices alike now appear to be in the grip of make-mine-better-than-next-door syndrome."
Composed of three strategic business units - Design & Contract, Contract Materials and Office Furniture - Bafco has evolved from being merely a furniture trader into a turnkey solutions provider catering to the highly demanding requirements of the corporate workplace.
"With each department complementing as well as vying with one another in their endeavours to exceed industry expectations, Bafco is an industry benchmark for pre and post-sales service," explains Prabhakaran.
"There are two critical factors which determine workplace design at Bafco. One is to allow clients to leverage their resources adeptly to help them attain competitive advantage and help them respond to changes in the marketplace and competitor movements. Therefore, workplace design has to be a catalystic management tool, providing for maximum adaptability  - ensuring optimum environments and, therefore, performance.
"The other is based on the assessment that workplaces are designed today for a different type of worker - as the industry has shifted from a manufacturing to a knowledge base, thereby changing the type of organisations and workers. This requires a different approach to the environment design as well," explains Prabhakaran.
"Therefore, there has been a shift in design philosophy from an accent on static aesthetics to one that enables business dynamics. This approach delivers economic value to Bafco's clients - value that translates to creation of 'Strategic Management Environments'," he adds.
Bafco's Design and Contract wing is anchored by seasoned architects, interior designers and project engineers, who carry projects from concept to completion, ensuring that what the client sees is what he gets.
Representing some of the world's leading brands in systems furniture, executive desking, chairs, soft seating, institutional furniture, public seating, computer furniture and accessories, Bafco's ISO 9002 certification is a measure of its commitment to quality and attention to detail.
This 10-year old company boasts 95 per cent repeat business and its major clients include industry leaders including BIF (Korea), Humanscale (US), Shetug (Spain), Lineager (Italy), Assisa (Italy), Bruno Office (Italy), Las Mobili (Italy) Sit Land (Italy), Hoyez (France), Flex (Italy) and Figueras (Spain), among others.
The newest addition to Bafco's versatile repertoire is its Contract Materials Division, which trades in and executes re-locatable partitioning systems, raised access flooring solutions, public signage and crowd control systems, carpet tiles and laminated parquet flooring solutions, and more.
Its newly-formed R&D wing, innovative products and services in the pipeline and a consistently market adaptive approach make it a company worth more than a mere notice.