ORCHARD: Learning Center for MindTree

“Orchard”, is a learning centre for campus recruits at MindTree’s headquarters in Bangalore. It is designed to reflect the needs of the new generation. This generation, born after 1980, who are also known as “Millenials”, prioritize opportunity to learn over job security, and collaboration over solitary work. They have grown up being comfortable with technology, and want their work to be enjoyable. They respond to mentoring over supervision, as mentoring is oriented towards learning and is a two way communication. Therefore their training must not only cover technical issues but should also build a bond with the ethos of the company. This is done by evoking the evoking the support one gets in school from the combination of home and school. The school for Orchard is a set of training rooms that are in another floor of the same campus. Orchard builds the sense of home by dividing the 600-person centre into three 200-person “homes”. Each home is mentored by a senior MindTree manager and contains a large amphitheatre 'hang-out' and gathering space, a classroom (for classes scheduled by the house mentor) and a computer lab as a space for working, surfing, blogging and so on. A community spine, called “The Discovery Trail” links the three homes and displays information on the company. Along this trail lie the shared facilities of a knowledge centre, a room for quiet work, and a room for training in soft skills such as making presentations and interacting with clients.

The project won a Special Mention under the Innovative Interiors category in the Architecture+Design& Spectrum Foundation Awards 2010.  It has also been covered in the business newspaper Mint as an example of an innovative approach to corporate training.