AE Living’s Quiet, Sculptural, and Soulful Blueprint for Cornitos Headquarters in India

Most offices, no matter how new, end up looking like versions of the same idea — shiny glass, smooth surfaces, partitions that feel more about efficiency than emotion. The Cornitos headquarters in Faridabad, spread across 20,000 square feet, is different because AE Living decided it had to be different. The brand is bold, it is rooted in Indian culture, it has a strong identity that does not shout but is present, and so the design of its office had to match that spirit. Not in the obvious way of logos on walls or colors borrowed from packaging, but in a subtler, more layered, more lived-in language. That is what AE Living chose to work with, and the result is a space that feels sculptural, quiet, and soulful.

The first thing you notice is the reception desk. Not a standard counter but a solid slab, almost monolithic, as if carved from stone. It sets the mood instantly — strength, stability, permanence. Around it the details soften: fluted glass screens, brushed brass that glows when the light hits, leather that tempers the formality, small curated objects that add warmth. The palette is calm, rooted in beige and taupe, greys and browns, then cut through with brass accents and darker tones so the whole composition doesn’t fade into flatness. Wood underfoot, ribbed surfaces, tactile upholstery — everything chosen so the office doesn’t just look designed but feels inhabited.

AE Living’s more nuanced move is how it tells the story of leadership through the cabins. Three spaces, three moods. The Chairman’s cabin is dignified, rich but not loud, with leather furniture, veneered cabinetry, and ambient lighting framing a hand-carved artwork that holds the room together. The second-generation cabin is more transitional, clean lines mixed with traditional finishes, continuity mixed with evolution. The third-generation cabin changes the note entirely, lighter, brighter, minimal, more open to collaboration and expression. Together they make a portrait of the company itself — legacy, transition, progression, three eras held in one headquarters.

Light runs through the whole project not just as a necessity but as atmosphere. Daylight filters in through large windows, making the office feel open, while artificial light has been layered to suit different zones. Some corners glow soft and calm, others are sharper, pulling focus onto sculptural elements. It means the office shifts mood as you move through it, and even across the day, never settling into monotony.

The planning avoids rigid separations. Instead of slicing the office into work, leisure, conference, AE Living allows movement between them. Collaborative areas are open and expressive, designed with high material impact. Private cabins and quieter corners are more restrained, calmer. Meeting rooms steer away from stiffness, furnished more like living spaces than boardrooms, with plush seating, sculpted furniture, softer lighting. The effect is that conversations feel easier, less formal, more intentional.

Details are not loud but they matter. Art books stacked casually, offbeat objects, handcrafted décor, touches of biophilia, acoustic panels that temper sound — all of these make the office feel layered. There is no gimmick here, no oversized splash of color or novelty corner. Branding is quiet. Cornitos is present in the mood, in the textures, in the way the space feels, not in painted logos or slogans.

The boldest choice AE Living made here is restraint. In an age where most companies try to project scale and modernity with a globalised, almost anonymous aesthetic, Cornitos has leaned into something warmer. The headquarters is confident enough not to overstate. It values presence over spectacle, culture over convention. It is international in its standard but Indian in its soul. That is the balance the designers managed to hold, and it is what sets this project apart.

For Style Essentials and Design Diary, what is most striking about Cornitos HQ is not a single design gesture but the way the whole comes together — a space that encourages focus without rigidity, collaboration without chaos, belonging without noise. It is more than an office. It is a place that embodies a brand’s character through its textures, through its light, through its quiet but deliberate choices. It shows what modern Indian office design can achieve when it refuses to follow the template.

Fact File

Location: Faridabad

Project Name: Cornitos

Typology and Square Footage: 20,000 sq ft

Design Firm: AE Living

Photography Credit: Chirag Patnaik

Stylist: Pratyaksha Kalway