LEANING TOWERS (Designing an office tower through an alternative approach)

School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi

Project idea

Designing of "LEANING TOWERS" is basically an effort to bridge the gap between the man-made world and the nature. Through this project it has been tried to conceptualize an modular office space which will differ from conventional design and might be a solution to the existing problems.

REALIZATION OF THE PRESENT CONDITION OF INDIA : Now a days, scarcity of land is one of the major problems in India. People from outskirts and other small towns are concentrating in large cities for their livelihood, which is the main reason of land shortage. In major cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, population is growing by leaps and bounds. This growing population and scarcity of land give rise to the gigantic structure, called skyscraper. With modern technology, as we are putting ourselves one step ahead, we are gradually going away from nature. We are getting mechanical day by day. Within four walls, sitting in front of computers, under intense work pressure, we spend almost one-third times of a day.

And THE EFFECT is aggressiveness, depression etc. According to a report of "The Economic Times", 40% of Indian employees suffer from intense stress. If it is not properly treated this could lead to headache, heart problem and many other health issues and reduce workmanship greatly.

THE SOLUTION
Hippocrates said, "Nature is the best physician." The solution lies not in isolating ourselves from nature but in integrating the elements of nature into the built-form. The idea is to create a "HAPPY OFFICE BUILDING" where every employee will be happy to work amidst the nature. The involved design principles which give rise to the concept "HAPPY OFFICE BUILDING" are-

THE APPEARANCE means how the building will appear to the people when they look at it. Use of stepped green terrace (as a symbol of aspiration & also helps in reducing solar radiation) or green spaces that will create a pleasant effect and make people happy.

THE GREEN SKY-COURT : An oasis within the built-form as a means of source of natural elements like sunlight, wind, water, rain, where people could relax and enjoy their personal time.

THE OFFICE SPACE : The space which will be defined by it's use and user and separated by transparent material instead of solid walls.

BLENDING OF GREEN SKY-COURT AND OFFICE SPACE : The glass wall or any other transparent material which creates an interface where both spaces meet and allow an extended continuity of the same.

Project description

The office building is set at Sector-V, which is one of the important business district of Kolkata as well as India. Closely spaced building, very few trees and jostling of busy people characterize this location. Although It's an important part of the Kolkata metropolitan city, the sector is gradually loosing it's architectural characteristics.

The objective is to design an office tower, which is not only defined by dimension but also a function of climate. A replicable module which will minimize the energy use & will give space for lost green spaces. And the volume of the building will be such that it will act as a landmark & give an unique identity to the area (Sector-v).

The building consists of office spaces, seminar complex, food court, refreshment zone(like gymnasium etc.) , parking in the basement and a green ramp(sky-walk at level +98000).

The form generation to integrate four design principles, involves 5 stages -
Twin towers, have been raised to generate a central courtyard, so that all office blocks are naturally ventilated and can get diffused sunlight.

Visual linkage : the towers stand at different heights to enhance visual linkage of spaces & solid mass.

The leaning towers : Both towers have been tilted which forms the vocabulary for the stepped garden. (on the east side of the large tower and on the west side of the small tower).

The void, has been created to reduce wind load

The internal space : The entire office space has been designed as a combination of alternative arrangement of two types of modules. Each module consists of 3 floors and characterizes by alternative arrangement of office space & sky-court which helps to integrate vegetation into the built-form and eliminate dark lobbies. These sky-courts also reduces wind load on the structure. Each tower has 18m width (3m width lobby which is flanked by 7.5m width office spaces on both side). Floor to floor height(3.9m) is set such that direct sunlight can enter through the triple height sky-court and enlighten the lobbies. The clear height of the sky-court h=9.6m. So, the maximum depth upto which light could enter is 2.5h=24m. So, the maximum length of office space is kept below 24m. Where it is unavoidable, reflective mirrors with void as diffuser, has been used to enlighten those spaces.

Technical information

The entire structure is made of steel. vierendeel girder has been used to reduce the depth of slabs by making it two-way slabs.

Cavity walls (double walls) made of AAC block have been used to reduce the heat gain. Heat reflective paint, Nerolac Excel Mica Marble has been used on the outer surface of the western wall to reflect solar radiation.

The roof of each tower is protected from the sun by a protective layer of TP300 Solar PV Panel. Solar Panel has been integrated with facade to enhance the amount of produced energy. Percentage of saved energy by using the solar energy system is 40%.

Rainwater harvesting system has been used (12% of average peak month rainfall). On-site integrated water and waste water management system has been placed in the upper basement.

Open grid pavers have been used for roads to reduce heat island effect.

Co-authors

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