- Tell us something about your company?
Vision is an interior-architectural design practice established by Ms Payal Kapoor in year 1991. Its team consists of competent team of professionals. i.e., Architects, MEP consultants, structural engineers, Civil Engineers, Interior Designers backed by our entire team of supervisors, upholsters, electricians , plumbers, carpenter, electrician, mason, polisher, POP etc. is headed by Ms. Payal Kapoor an interior designer of an international repute and member of association of designers.
- What kinds of ‘unique interior’ designing solutions or services are offered by your company at par with the current industry standards?
The young and dynamic firm aims at creating a unique interior experience for every client on the basis of the brief given. Through our work we aim to enrich the overall experience of the client by providing the correct balance of the visual appeal and the correct planning. Keeping in mind the budget, which is an essential and important factor to design a space, we have always had a reputation of being an innovative practice , delivering satisfactory and creative end product.
- Tell us something about the Founder/CEO of your company.
After graduation from the Interiors School in 1987, the Executive Director of Manasara, one of the leading Interior Design Houses in the country, handpicked her. After getting sufficient exposure at Manasara, she was offered a challenging opportunity by the promoters of “Dream City” and was appointed by them as senior advisor of their design firm “Craftsmen”. The projects by this firm were mostly executed on turnkey basis. She became conversant working with labour and all machinery at the grass root level something that is required if you want to get good craftsmanship, maintain timelines and work within budgets. Under her Supervision the company diversified from making panel doors and windows to excellent quality Furniture and executed a number of Projects on Turnkey Basis. In her own words Payal Kapoor says “After putting my efforts, I felt that my creativity and identity as an Interior Designer was being encroached upon. Hence, I decided to launch my own in 1991 and launched my own design firm by the name of “Visions”. Thus, began the process of institutionalization of her Design Genius.”
- What is the current scenario of ‘interior designing’ segment according to you? How are you contributing to making it better?
Earlier the buildings designed across the globe provided instructive examples of sustainable solutions to building problems. Today the modern approach to interior and architecture has led to standardization and repetition of the designs due to easy accessibility to internet .In my point of view a lot of work today has been an outcome of ‘cut –copy –paste’ ideology. Also I feel sensitivity to nature is what is missing and of great concern today. We believe in creating a new and unique experience and space for each client depending on the brief, place, climate and financial constraints. Our firm thrives on creating sustainable buildings maximizing the natural light and ventilation as well as providing courtyards or landscaped gardens wherever possible instead of following the trend of building concrete jungles. We try to use the locally available materials that are climatically responsive and appropriate.
- What tool/technique does your company use to deliver the safer, economical, and more artistic interior designs to the customers?
We at Visions believe in keeping transparency in terms of the design as well as the materials used. Our aim is to provide a long term solution to the clients in terms of low maintenance for which we suggest the use of those materials that are environmentally friendly and creates a safer and comfortable place for the users .For example using a lot of glass in external windows can definitely bring in a lot of natural light but Glass absorbs heat and acts as a greenhouse, hence are not suitable for hot climates. So every design is subjective to the place, climate, client’s choice as well as the budget. Considering that in many cases we are supposed to design economically, we try not to compromise on the uniqueness and the creativity of the design. Following the ideology of less is more and keeping in mind the budget, we have always come up with a new and artistic design with the help of using alternative materials that might be cheaper in cost but helps in achieving an overall positive design experience. We also pride ourselves in working on design brief of client, his budgets and timelines yet keeping our aesthetic credibility intact, trendy and fresh.
- What strategies/techniques do you follow to surpass the various interior disciplines such as fire-safety, architectural programming, cost estimating, civil engineering, and more? How are you shaping yourself to become extraordinary in this sector?
We ensure that there should always be an alternative escape route in the case of a fire. This can be difficult in buildings with open plan design or single staircase escape routes. A fire strategy sets out the means of escape and measures that have been put in place to prevent fire and, if one should occur, to limit its spread. Fire strategies should be developed at the same time as the blueprint for the building. They are specific and tailored to each individual building. Cost estimation should be there since the very first day of conceptualization as it provides the framework for cost control through the lifecycle of any initiative. Cost control is making sure you stay within the budget set during the cost estimating and cost planning processes. Selection of materials, construction techniques, sourcing of materials and effective planning are some of the ways where we can estimate the cost throughout the process. Civil engineering is one of the most important production activities that human affecting the natural environment. Among them, the construction materials production and use, engineering design, construction, use of the project after completed and removal after scrapped and other processes have to consume large amounts of energy, and continue to produce waste, and these issues will cause significant influence on ecological environment. Therefore, as a pillar industry of the national economy, we not only need to develop civil engineering in order to meet the needs of economic and social development, but also pay attention to environmental protection, resource conservation, as well as promote sustainable development strategies.
- What were the major challenges you faced at the initial phase and how did you overcome it? What were the opportunities that came your way through these challenges?
One of the biggest challengers young interior designers face is selling big ideas. Often times, you only have pictures or a floor plan to try and express the feel of an entire room. It’s hard to sell something that doesn’t physically exist. Do whatever it takes to get your ideas across. From fabric samples to mood boards, your clients will always appreciate the extra effort to help them understand the vision.Maintaning books was also a challenge in the initial phase from invoices to purchase orders, accounting can get overwhelming. Biggest challenge was to get the payments on time from the client even after completing the project on time.
- Where is your company heading? How your company is benefiting your clients in this competitive world? What is your success mantra?
We are above board in our practice and maintain complete transparency, comfort factor of client at all levels and work hand in glove as a team. After completing over 500 projects in different fields of hospitality, residential, institutes, saloons, spas, trains and restaurants we are aiming at doing the interior facelift in varied fields all across the globe. We feel that one person with an idea is equal to a thousand who have only opinions. We at visions are continuously striving to provide high quality Interior Solutions to our client’s at most reasonable prices. This commitment to quality has led us to implement a Total Quality Management (TQM) program in our organization, we also intend to achieve ISO status soon, this will act as further affirmation of our quality and would make us one of the few interior Design Houses in the world to have an ISO status. Also since our designs are not repetitive, each project is unique.
- Share with us your piece of advice to the young entrepreneurs in the Interior Designing space.
For interior design firms, time management skills are a must. There are only so many hours in a day and dozens of things need to get done. Organizing your time allows you to budget your hours effectively, prioritize projects, and stay on schedule to meet your forever looming deadlines. Maybe your client wants the project done next month—or maybe next week. Whatever the timeline may be, interior designers often find themselves working within tight turnarounds. This is where time management and organizational skills are really put to the test. One of the hardest roles of interior designers is introducing the latest trends, while maintaining a sense of timeless style. You don’t want your client to feel frustrated when a space is outdated after a few months. Staying on top of trends and knowing how to tastefully introduce them is one of the greatest creative skills for designers to master.
- Please tell us about your current projects. Which are your serving domains?
We pride ourselves as one of the very few firms having had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects – trains, ships, simulators, heritage palace properties to trendy hotels, uber luxury homes, institutes, schools, offices, commercial malls, restaurants, bars and night clubs. Hence we do not capsulate ourselves in a typical mould or restrict ourselves to being generic. We like to experiment, work and put our best foot forward for all sorts of project relating to architectural interiors both on consultancy or turnkey basis.
- How do you see the future of interior designers? Tell us something about your upcoming services/plans.
We feel that this field is for very focused, innovative, hardworking and honest professionals who are willing to grow with time .it needs headwork, constant personal growth with time and trends. Hence anyone who is stagnant and not focused will lose out over a period of time. Competition is growing by heaps and bounds, hence this field requires constant research, keeping abreast with trends, sources, ever-growing materials in market. Also since the world is so shrink thanks to the social media and internet ,one needs to have the art to adapt and imbibe quickly and move with times and set trends as front runners in this field.
