cmyk High Rise Building Sky is the Limit The desire to rise higher and higher to set a record is a fashion for U.S, Europe and Middle East. Not to be left behind, India too has joined in the trend. But we must keep our ears to the ground to insulate these highrise buildings from remblings below. Highrise buildings must meet earthquake requirement, says Maria Rasheeda, surveying Highrise buildings in India. ising alone above the crowd has in the metropolitan cities. always held a special thrill. So With income growing and large Revery country and city intents on number of people moving to metropolitan asserting its presence on the globe by cities, the demand for housing is on the building skyline instantly recognizable upswing. Due to high construction cost around the world. But the case is different and non-availability of land at preferred with India. If on the one hand it designs locations, people opt for buildings or the high-rise building to reflect its identity apartments. These buildings offer many on the world map, on the other hand it advantages such as round-the-clock has also the responsibility to provide security, back-up power supply, accommodation to its growing population. maintenance car-parking facilities and All this has led to an alarming increase kid’s play areas. And above all these multi- in high-rise buildings in India especially storied buildings have their downside too. Constructing high could be due to two reasons, either for the ‘Tower Battling’ i.e the desire to rise high or for the ‘Need for Housing’ i.e to fulfill the demand of accommodation. In this article, some of the highrise buildings coming up in India with the involvement of the foreign companies in the form of contractors, consultants or architects in these projects has been discussed. Diamond Tower, Gujarat Designed by ECADI Architects the master planners of many of Shanghai’s newest projects, Diamond Tower was designed as the centerpiece signature tower that will cap the new GIFT CBD Skyline. The tower is called ‘Diamong Tower’ to mark Gujarat state’s eminence as the diamond capital of the world. Diamond Tower is a skyscraper proposed for Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar. It is India’s first major supertall Central Business District project that is designed to be the focal point of both the world’s and India’s booming financial service.GIFT will have 312 tall buildings and the tallest being the Signature Diamond Tower. 188 NBM&CW JUNE 2009 cmyk cmyk High Rise Building The tower will be constructed in The tower is designed to convey both phases. The phase 1 of the project, began the brightness and shape of the diamond. in March 2008 and to be completed by The various cuts and facets in the tower’s 2010, will consist of the 400m Diamond shape are designed to reflect and refract Tower and core CBD of GIFT, comprising the light on the tower similar to a cut a total of 25.8 million sq. ft. Already 15 diamond, helping to achieve its goal of million sq ft of the floor space of this first being one of the world’s brightest and phase has been secured by a host of most eye-catching towers when it catches national and international companies, with the light of the sun. MoU for the other 10 million in the works. The tower actually went through a Two more phases will then be rolled out major design change from its initial for an eventual 2017 completion date. proposal. After sifting through tens of Eighty Seven floors tower takes its proposals by ECADI, the private-public design cues from the cut facets of a development consortium finally chose the traditional Indian-cut diamond and is a tip new design of the diamond tower. The of the hat to the state’s diamond industry, new tower is of 400 meter height and which remains a huge economic stimulus gives an impression of a rock-solid jewel to the state. rising over a much more aggressive and massive skyline, rather than the delicate crystal shard complementing an equally visually delicate skyline of the older design plan. Waves Worli, Mumbai Architect Sanjay Puri designed a beautiful residential skyscraper crowning one side of Mumbai’s Worli sea front. The building form is derived from the outline of the crests of the waves of the sea. Linear undulating balconies traverse the length of this residential apartment building offering unrestricted views of the sea to each of the apartments. Four blocks with apartments varying from 2000 sq.ft. to 6000 sq. ft are connected together rising from 40 storeys towards the land end up to 80 storeys towards the sea front. The fluid balcony decks that undulate along the length extend further out at upper levels to create sky gardens overlooking the sea. The tower is significant not only due to its size, but its location. It will be built in Worli, one of Mumbai’s most expensive neighborhoods, on a piece of land jutting out into the Indian Ocean that will soon be spanned with Mumbai’s massive Bandra-Worli Sealink project. NBM&CW JUNE 2009 189 cmyk cmyk High Rise Building Jupiter & Elphinstone on ancient Indian Vaastu Shastra design.The size of the tower is significant, Mills Tower, Mumbai likely pushing it to supertall heights. Chicago-based Adrian Smith + Gordon While on the other hand Elphinstone Gill Architects has released the rendering tower rises from a square podium for both Jupiter & Elphinstone towers for extending upwards to a flat roof which is the redevelopment of Jupiter Mill. devoid of any height adding spires, peaks Developer IndiaBull is the owner of both or aerials. The facades are glass and the towers. feature cut outs and recessed balconied According to the architects, “Jupiter green areas which contribute to the towers Mills is a 75-story luxury residential tower platinum standard LEED rating. Each of in the heart of downtown Mumbai. To the atria are connected to a central atrium maximize views, the tower includes 50 located in the core of the tower, air from stories of residential condominiums from the exterior of the building flows down the floors 25-75. The building was designed core and as it accelerates down the shaft to a LEED Platinum standard.” hits wind turbines which will create energy This tower will come literally right for the building. beside Indiabulls’s Elphinstone Mills (The Comparing to the 60-storey tower is one of the first projects to get Elphinstone Mills Tower right next beside underway in a series of redevelopments Jupiter tower, this 75-storey tower will likely of former textile mill lands in South be significantly taller, owing to its Mumbai). unconventional design and tall ’stalk’-like While still in the final stages of central core. If the rendering is anything to design, the Jupiter Mills Tower is the go by, this tower will likely be at least 300 latest project reflecting the new trend in meters tall. Mumbai for organic-looking towers, based The Imperial, Mumbai Designed by Mumbai based architect Hafeez Contractor the Imperial is a pair of residential towers under construction in Mumbai that are set to jointly be one of the tallest skyscrapers in India upon completion. This building(s) is about 240 meters high The towers each of 63 storeys are built on earlier slum land where the current re-development model of builders providing free land and rehabilitation to slum dwellers in exchange for rights for property development, was first put into practice on a big scale. This model became the standard for slum redevelopment across the city, and across India as a whole. The towers are ultra-high end residential towers that sold out even before the first brick was laid. The Imperial offers sea-views by virtue of its height, and a resort-like gardens and fountains on top of the parking-structure podium, with hanging gardens that mask the structure itself. The facade is swathed in aluminium composite panels with green and blue glazing. The building tapers as it moves up owing to the terraces at the higher 190 NBM&CW JUNE 2009 cmyk cmyk High Rise Building the DB Tower, like the erstwhile India tower, is still going to be LEED Platinum certified, and is designed by the same architects, Fox and Fowle (FXFOWLE) and being developed by Neelkamal Realtors, a subsidiary of the low-profile Dynamix Balwa Group. Located on Maharshi Karve Road, the 75-storey building, will cost Rs1,100-crore, and will be managed by Park Hyatt. With a built-up space of 9 lakh sq ft, the tower, coming up on the plot where Ruby Garage once stood, will offer a panoramic view of the Arabian Sea. DB Tower’s beautiful levels. A conical triangular canopy covering the roof is crowned with a 50-m high spire. It is expected to be finished by 2009. Dynamix-Balwas Tower (DB Tower), Mumbai One of India and the World’s greenest towers has changed in name and design! Rotating-Blocky India tower is officially redesigned and rebadged as DB Tower, the flagship project of DB Realty. The finalized design will be huge — at 75 stories of residential and untold more in lobbies, sky lobbies and utility floors, and boasting a height and crown that will push this supertall to over 400 meters! Like its India Tower precursor, it will be of mixed (residential + hotel) use. Construction will soon commence with an aim for completion by 2011. Indeed 192 NBM&CW JUNE 2009 cmyk cmyk High Rise Building design and amazing location will make it of the skyscraper is expected to be one of Mumbai’s and mordern India’s December 2012.