Cressida Lobo a student of JD School of Design, Goa pursuing her Advanced Diploma in Interior Design showcased her project ‘Modern Offline Banking’ at JD Design Awards 2023. Her inspiration was Ar. Alvar Aalto’s elements. The Finnish Architect and Designer gives the space a natural grounding feel that inspired Cressida to curate a design that has a human-centric approach. 

The aspiring Interior Designer curated a bank which essentially caters to the public of every age group and to those individuals who are willing to open accounts in a private sector bank. During the time of choosing a topic, the designer looked around her area to get an idea. Cressida visited a bank and noticed that constantly walking in and out of it was suffocating due to a bad plan. As a designer, she wanted to change that and provide a better space for the public to interact. 

While doing her research, she identified that the main problem was the arrangement which was initially designed to be more spacious and organized but as time progressed and the demand of space became higher, got occupied to  encompass more cabins for working. 

She came up with a solution that has a better spatial organization and incorporation of waiting rooms, so that the entire area can be spruced up to make the work efficient. 

The designer chose the colors of the materials in their raw forms. The main materials used here  were brick, concrete and wood. They had a color scheme (red, brown and gray). Bricks are the ultimate sustainable material as they last forever, require minimum maintenance, and can be reused and recycled.

Modern Offline Banking by Cressida Lobo also received the Most Innovative Design Solution award from the prestigious JD Design Awards.