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THE VOICE FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Contents
Roof & Facade Asia ASEAN Edition February 2014 Volume 10 Issue 118
Commercial Buildings
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Liaogou River Headquarters Business Park Liaogou River Headquarters Business Park is a multi-functional office park, located near Jining City, Shandong province in Northern China. The entire design, project positioning, urban design and architecture have been done by logon. Developed by the Jining National High-tech Industrial Development Zone, it was designed and constructed from September 2009 to November 2012.
Commercial Buildings
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Angkasa Raya
- latest architectural beauty and engineering marvel Angkasa Raya, situated in Malaysia’s capital at the intersection of Jalan Ampang and Jalan P. Ramlee, directly across the wellknown Petronas Twin Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), presents a new typology in high-rise skyscraper design that overtly expresses the inhabitation of diverse urban...
4 News 6 Liaogou River Headquarters Business Park
Commercial Buildings
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8 Angkasa Raya - latest architectural beauty and engineering marvel
Jin Mian Xin Cheng
- Magnificent building facades layered with a woven / folded arrangement of glass and solid panels. Jin Mian Xin Cheng sits adjacent to Beijing's Fourth Ring Road, a focal point of Beijing’s expanding city center. The project is a mixed-use development, consisting of two office towers and a retail podium that conveys a dynamic architectural language.
G+ : Beyond Green
14 10 Recommendations for Adopting Lifestyle in a Green and Energy Efficient Building
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10 Jin Mian Xin Cheng - Magnificent building facades layered with a woven / folded arrangement of glass and solid panels.
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Material Watch G+ : Beyond Green Personality : Mr. Larry Kouma Special Report : Glass Products BIM Competence Center Products Calendar of Events / Product Enquiry
Personality
BIMobject AB: The European Parliament recommends BIM-technology Mr. Larry Kouma
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Material Watch
NEELSUTRA: The India Fashion Store, The New Oberoi, Gurgaon, Haryana, India
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esigned as a first in a series of multi-designer pret stores, where the collections are themed and curated, Neel Sutra- the India Fashion store is emblematic of Indian Design ethos. Sited at The New Oberoi Hotel in the suburban abode of NCR- Gurgaon, the hotel spawns a high-end luxury international experience. The brief was to create a unique and distinct design ambience that would be conspicuous within the context of other established global hi-design brands at the hotel and elsewhere in the vicinity. The customized and curated store, emblematic of Indian Fashion is conceived within this international collective construct as a step ahead of conventional high street retail to showcase a motley bunch of Indian fashion designers. Contemporary design in India usually expresses the complexity in Indian Design discourse with kitsch. The India Fashion Store is a cognizant attempt to stay away from Indian Kitsch, and instead craft a sacred space. The need for a resilient identity and a compelling space was impending- one that could mark a presence regardless of the ever-changing exhibits. At the same time, it was important to create depth within the spatial volume, and induct a sacred sense of vastness. Fashion design in India, is most often connotated as a fiddly amalgam of colours, weaves and layers. In contrast, an extremely structured space is created using multiple architectonic elements. The store hence becomes a figurative response as a tribute to Indian Fashion. Weaves that are reminiscent of Indian Textile Design, are contrived in the form of layers which use material play that befits Indian context, manifesting themselves as fundamentals within the store. The India Fashion Store is envisioned as an austere House of Indian Fashion employing the hut as a rudimentary notion of shelter, with facets of the Indian design ethos as architectural interventions. A candid reference is made to the Single Line hut diagram; planned in the form of the veritable architectural notion of the Plan, section and the Walls, a hut-like section with a pitched roof allows for the generation of a strong axis that facilitates the demarcation of the space into the two key components of a retail storedisplay and movement. The Section exaggerates the linearity of the space, the entrance, and finally, its visual termination with a blue niche at the end to emphasize depth and the axis of the store through dissonance. Given the evolutionary nature of the space with its changing collections, a perception of order and Indian tenet is endowed through a play of scale, materiality and technique. The aperture at the entrance transforms itself into the main door, its solidity becoming characteristic of its physical identity. It also aids in announcing the store to casual observers, rendering its formidable presence, making it larger than life. The niche at the rear converges into an altar-like entity, bestowing the House with a profound solace that only a visitor can encounter. The central space is left vacant for topical display, generating a scale that encourages people to look up towards the pitched roof upon entering, a relic of the hut. This allusion to the pitched roof insinuates the home for Indian Fashion. The Hut Wall mimics the elevation of a house with a window (where the attendant sits) and is clad in distressed zinc simulating the Indian fabrication experience. Upon entering, one is taken in by the rendering of the surfaces with the multiple shades of often forgotten eleven timbers of Indian origin (Padauk, Neem, Babool, Rosewood, Teak, Sheesham, Deodar, Spruce / Pine, Mango, Hollock, Eucalyptus). Typically oak, spruce and other non-
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Indian timbers are used in contemporary architecture, without rethinking the material strategy. In today’s context, Indian timbers cost the same, and have a much more serious sustainable connotation, and befit the regional context of the store. As homage to traditional craft and local materials in India, and as a hat tip to the craft styles of the country and the designers being showcased at the store, the multifarious 11-timber collection from various regions is used in a lattice to highlight the altar-like niche at the termination of the section and the Display System. The sizes of the timber are determined by the dimension of easily available planks and the gaps between are measured using the Indian Five Rupee Coin as a construction module. An interesting visual texture is fashioned, with the timber being finished with an open grain hand rubbed using Neem Tree Oil (another forgotten Indian craft). The diverse colours of the timber breakdown the scale of store, and render it with colour without resorting to kitsch or common techniques such as engravings and cutouts. The lattice terminates into a zinc-clad slit in the ceiling that accentuates the hut-section and the lapse in the pitched roof. The entrance is not a customary shop-window that is planned every season with a new collection, the store façade is conceived as an architectonic entity; a clear glass façade that scales the contiguous corridor and helps to establish the store’s identity despite having a lower clear elevation as compared to others in the vicinity. A 4.5m tall opaque door, finished in distressed hand beaten zinc, augments this vision by delineating the boundaries through a gesture of texture. Had the door been glass, the store volume would recede into its surroundings. The trial room is also finished in the same distressed zinc, creating a continuity of material through the store. The distressed zinc is seized as a reference from the corroded-tin boxes (used by slum dwellers for shelter or households in the 80’s), and is also a remnant of the entrance to the House of royals (the diwan-e-khas) at the Red Fort. Tall, Free-floating, black metal frames are appended to this extremely structured space to enable additional display. The modular storage system fashioned with mild steel members, also makes a reference to the structural members that are used to hold the roof together in a hut. Devised as a framework with voids, the tractable storage system can accommodate an assortment of products to showcase the shades of Indian design. Tall and varying in dimension, the metallic stands add a sense of scale to the sheet volume of the store and whilst being flexible, create a sense of order. An overall muted color palette is used to offset the curated content at the store. All the incidental, residual elements intended as a backdrop, are hence rendered black with a no-sheen, black paint (called Blackboard) that is typically used in public schools to refresh the chalkboards. Another classic technique used to execute the matte black finish, is the use of kajal polish (the Indian Kohl Pencil) to exploit the void-ness of black. The timber lattice defines the volume, with Distressed Zinc, aluminum inserts and Blue Accents. Originally envisaged as a series of the traditional Indian ‘duhrrie’, representational of the Indian weaves, the floor is a hand tufted carpet in Ecru and Blue with nine different tones of grey and knots. Running through both the horizontal and vertical surfaces, this carpet transforms into a blue rung ladder on one wall intended for display and blue niches on the other. The ladder is also a suggestion of the hut prototype of the simple ladder used in traditional huts to move to the top. The Blue carpet terminates into a blue niche at the end of the store, slightly off-centred,
emphasizing the axis running right through. A threadwork installation (sutra- a remnant of textile weaves) at the front of the store in shades of blue (neel) and orange also makes a reference to the branding, terminating in the form of a woven wall at the extreme end. Lighting is premeditated in a simplistic and flexible manner to accentuate the elements of the design process and the blackness of the residual elements. The primary intention is to light up the merchandise, whilst simultaneously exploiting light to enhance the volume of the store by rendering the floor and ceiling uniformly. The apparatus used allows for both functional lighting for the display and ambient light to render the roof materiality. Typically, retail stores have too many “light” punctures; At Neelsutra, the intent is to have a minimum intervention in a defined manner while creating a focus with colour at the far end of the store. This also aids in the definition of the intersection of the church wall and the ceiling with an “imprint” of light from the top of the church wall. The high contrast of display is minimized by generating ambient light with a row of deep, recessed fixtures that are finely concealed in the ridge of the roof. The self-contained track and uplight allows for various levels of light to enhance the store, yet permitting flexibility in display. The experience of the hut-section, the clarity of the plan together with the presence of altar-like backdrop at the far end of the space renders Neelsutra as a unique, well-defined, progressive endeavor with a handcrafted approach in retail store design that is befitting to the avantgarde India.
Project Fact File PRODUCTS / VENDORS
Typology: Retail / Interior Name of Project: NeelSutra Location: The Oberoi Gurgaon Name of Client: Deepika Govind / Sunil Sethi Name of Client’s Firm: Neelsutra Designs Pvt.Ltd. Principal Architect: Architecture Discipline Design Team: Akshat Bhatt, Aditya Tognatta, Nikhil Auluck Site Area (sq ft & sq m): 2,200 sq.ft or 204 sq.m. Built-Up Area (sq ft & sq m): 2,200 sq.ft or 204 sq.m. Start Date: Feburary 2013 Completion Date: October 2013 Photographer: Jeetin Sharma Total cost of project: Rs.1.75 Crore CONSULTANTING ENGINEERS
Structural: Isha Consultants Pvt. Ltd.: V.P. Aggarwal Electrical: Lirio Lopez.: Linus Lopez Lighting Design: Lirio Lopez.: Linus Lopez HVAC: System Aircon.: Yogesh Punjani Fire Fightng: Deepak Kumar & Associates: Deepak Kumar PMC: Architecture Discipline CONTRACTORS
Structural: Naushad Ali Electrical: Radheyshyam Civil.: Dass Karigars HVAC: System Aircon Fire Fighting: Galaxy Engineers Façade: Art & Glass Carpentry & Woodwork: Naushad Ali
Mana Ranakpur - The softness of wood
Material Watch
balanced by the apparent hardness of steel Traditional Indian architecture is typically associated with ornamental detailing, and more specifically in Rajasthan, the architecture connotes the forts and palaces through techniques that are resonant of the wealth and culture of the region. Typically, people engage with tradition in a superficial manner in ways that are ordered, orthogonal and more often than not, a contemporary take on IndoSarcenic architecture. Architectural experience is about creating memories, and often, in an attempt to insinuate traditional architecture in order to create a lasting image while adopting a universal aesthetic, intervention ends up being kitschy and pastiche. Techniques, Technology and methods of construction that draw from the region and are ‘of the earth’ get lost in the midst of mainstream processes. Within this context, the design of Mana Ranakpur attempts to demonstrate the studio’s agenda of regional expression within a global context while being environmentally conscious, without adopting a kitschy intervention and predictable construction techniques.The local and regional forms of expression are explored as vital resources to create an architecture that engages with the future and is of a progressive disposition. Sited in the vivid, enchanted Udaipur valley in the Ranakpur province, the hotel as a public space with a service-intensive program is conceived to celebrate order and dissonance, continuity, stability, the experience of slow-moving time and the vernacular as an imbibed ethos. These values are celebrated through an architectonic intervention, form and material play in a region with a stark change of seasons and landscape, where the forest changes from Lush Green to bare and arid and the hills turn red during spring as the Tesu trees come to full bloom. Amidst the hills, with a clean, shallow river in the front, a km away from the famed Jain temple and adjoining a reconstructed old haveli, the client brief called for a boutique hotel that offers a unique, iconic experience for travelers in all seasons. Through this apparent harshness, extreme weather and striking landscape, the vernacular acts as a bare canvas and forms a stoic backdrop for this dramatic change of seasons. Amidst the vernacular milieu, the site was extremely challenging as a reclaimed river bed with the water table at 600mm. While local sites represent solid stone in an intense and intricate manner in the form of Paleolitic monuments or pathological homes or as boundary walls that segregate the farmlands, the hotel is evocatively fabricated in the frugal stone masonry which is locally available as an expression of timelessness, space and contrast, old vs new, and the light vs heavy expressing the changing landscape throughout the year. Introducing the design intent to the visitor by creating a reading of the building as it is unraveled, allows for moments and spatial intervention. Layering is adopted to restore the notion of the collective memory, and repetition is used as a technique to establish the contrast and difference. The site is planned in a manner that upturns the land, as it opens up to the river on one side, while establishing contrast with the old haveli and the temple. The plan is derived from the time-honored 9x9 grid and the site was dotted with points that would then go on to become trees. Normalcy is achieved through the grid, and deviations are used to break the order. Aligning the grid with the north-south axis through the linearity of the site, a 1.8 m wide sliver is fashioned for pedestrian movement that reinforces the linear planning on the site and brings in a strong order. Settlements happen along these linear walls, crafting straight views to the outside, helping the visitors orient themselves within the site. Superimposition of these various layers establish a dynamic between architecture (constant) and the landscape (in motion through change) and leads to chance encounters and moments of rest. A huge, existing Budh tree on the site with its unique characteristic of a large spread of about 25-30 m dia, is identified as a focal point for the alignment of linear vistas. Views and movement are orientated towards this tree, which is a remnant of the customary tree-chaupal that would provide shade under a large tree to a communal space. Unlike
mainstream hotels, some rooms also look out into this public space using a modern, glassy interpretation of the traditional jharokha (overhanging enclosed balcony), while other room ceilings look up to the underside of the tree. In order to endow a visual clarity to the movement path and to create vistas and open up views as one walks through the site, Buttressed random rubble walls that are symbolic of tradition lend scale to the movement passage by naturally tapering away from the visitor and structural tactics are employed to make the columns disappear. The narrow, linear sliver of space is exaggerated through height while creating a dialogue with time, always allowing the visitor to walk along a masonry wall, hence facilitating orientation. A Linear staircase is wrapped and brought out on the façade to encourage the visitor to walk through, further enhancing the vista. Water bodies are interspersed through this loop that create the water loop from the building to the ground and temper the climatic controls whilst creating points of interchange. Engaging with the sky, the seasons and materials of the earth, landscape is brought as an infill into the built volume. The sloping roof brings in the sky, and expresses three-dimensional direct views whilst the wall remains timeless, as other edifices take support in the wall through temporary interventions that enable an architectural dialogue between form and technique. In order to be environmentally conscious by reducing transportation, local material and manpower dictated the architectural intervention; only what was not available was prefabricated and brought from the outside. Apprising the visitor of local ethnicity, an archetypal regional material palette of Stone Masonry and Sandstone floors has been adopted. For most part, the local Rajasthani craftsmen and construction workers were employed to build in a manner rooted in the region and its landscape. Structural steel has been used as it is a long life span material, reducing dead load & thereby overall material consumption. The concrete consumption is insignificant for a building of this type and size. The spanning system is made with locally available kashia stone- a sandstone that can span up to 3 meters and trusses are used to support it. Being in seismic zone 2, a lean, vernacular method of creating structural stability is adopted that allows for the creation of large spans that are well-optimised by the nature of the space. The steel joists that hold up the Kashia slabs are visible within the guest rooms. The main load bearing wall of the hotel cuts through the corridor one side, in contrast with the fabric panels on the other side. An acoustic ceiling also reminisces the perforations while cutting doing ambient sound. Rainwater is harvested and Grey water from the sewage treatment plant is used to irrigate the hardy, local trees that are a part of the landscape. During construction, treecutting was avoided and the external hardscape is constructed and recycled from the waste materials that was accumulated during the digging process of the foundation. An exclusive HVAC system is developed as a significant element; a system that uses Earth cooling, Thermal Storage and Displacement ventilation to reduce energy consumption. While conventional air-conditioning systems consume 40% of the energy used in a building, apart from lower energy consumption, this system also ensures better indoor air quality and avoid recycling. Both water and air circulate in distinct open loops and air is exhausted from in-between the dry, sandwiched roof. Towers that emerge from the ground help to transfer air to the interiors, and work as a means of architectural expression that is evocative of the traditional forts of Rajasthan. Multiple layers of glass are used to generate draughts of air and to filter sunlight. The minimal heat transmitted through the glass is used to induce the displacement ventilation system. Jaalis that are evocative of traditional Rasjasthani stone Jaalis with filigree are recreated in vinyl as a notional device to filter light and air for comfort. Daylight ingress into the building is ensured in a manner that eliminates the use of artificial light during the day. Night lighting resonates that of an art gallery; all lighting is from the top with a hint of the sky, the jaali or the clear glass. The
landscape lighting is de-cluttered, and is lit with borrowed light from the cottages and the hotel buildings. The overhang roof is used to bounce life from under the cottage and the overall intent is to efficiently orchestrate lighting in line with the running cables with no sharp rendering. Light from the west that is a dramatic, warm yellow, crafts an array of experiences in the different rooms, while bright southern light is used to bring in luminosity into interior spaces. A minimal palette of stone, glass, steel and vinyl that is not distracted by too many surfaces is adopted to craft an architecture that is intense and bare-boned all at the same time. Concrete is used to a minimum, hard edges are contrasted with timber warmth, and the structural system/ construction techniques are expressed clearly with as little cladding as possible. As a hat tip to the 70’s India modern, the solid, minimal furniture in rubberwood and rosewood inlay as inserts is designed to reflect the environmental concerns of the hotel. The contrasting circular pattern in the perforations also mimics and expresses itself as an intention in the upholstery, linen and furniture. As an attempt to blend in the local craft and culture, the furniture is sourced from local artisans and craftsmen. Like a glasshouse in a jungle, Mana Ranakpur attempts to recreate the site as it was discovered, by unearthing the various layers that have been embedded in time. Rooted in regionality and collective memory, through its architecture, it creates interfaces that are expressed not as mere filigree or ornate decoration, but as a reflection of time.
Project Credits: Typology: Hospitality Name of Project: Mana Ranakpur Location: Ranakpur Name of Client: Name of Client’s Firm: Sheevam Comfort Hotels Pvt. Ltd. Principal Architect: Architecture Discipline / Akshat Bhatt Design Team: Sneha Gurjar, Nidhi Khosla, Stuti Sahni, Debbayoti Dey Site Area (sq ft & sq m): Total cost of project: Rs.14.5 Crore Built-Up Area (sq ft & sq m): 65,000 sq.ft. Start Date: Completion Date: April 2013 Photographer: Akshat Bhatt CONSULTANTS Structural: Isha Consultants Pvt.Ltd.: Project lead: V.P.Aggarwal Electrical: Lirio Lopez: Project lead: Linus Lopez Landscape: Plan Loci: Project Lead Gauri Gandhi HVAC: Gupta Consultants & Associates: Project lead: Nirmal C. Gupta Plumbing: Deepak Kumar & Associates: Project lead: Deepak Kumar Furniture: Architecture Discipline Lighting: Rahul Singh & Akshat Bhatt Acoustics Engineering Viren Bakhshi & Akshat Bhatt CONTRACTORS Furniture: Ahuja Furnishers Pvt.Ltd. Lighting: Decon Lighting February 2014 | Roof & Facade Asia Asean Edition | 13