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ProjectDamArchitect: Raj Rewal.Structure: Engineers India
Ltd.Builder: Tarapore &Company.Architect & Urban
Design
Consultants: Raj RewalAssociates.
Architectural Assistants:Arvind Mathur, SureshVerma, AkshayJain
,Rajiv Gupta, Divya Kush ,Anil Sharma, Anita Dhar,MukulJha, Avtar
Singh,VK.Jain.
Client: Engineers India(E.I.L.).
Structure: E.I.L. led by C.P.Lahiri.Air Conditioning: vc.
Pranjpe.Lifts: P. Khandge.Electrical Equipment: KC .
Gupta, Mahesh Chand.Contracts: T. V Sitaram,C.c. Dore,
BindooMadhav.
Electrical Consultants:Kanwar KrishenAssociates.
Sanitary Consultant: s.c.Deolalikar.
Project Management: KC.Rao, H.S.C. Swamy, S.KDuggal, C.S.
Mann,Satish Murgai, R. Arora,R.K. Garg , R. Sehgal.
Electrical Contractor: BharatElectrical.
Plumbing Contractor: GuptaBros.
Fire Protection: Vijay FireProtection (P) Ltd.
HVAC: Kirloskar PneumaticLtd.
Completion : 1983.
T ext compiled by the editors.Photographs courtes y oJ
thearchitect unless otherwiseindica ted .
Engineers India House, New DelhiE ngineers India House formspart
of the commercial district centre at Bhikaiji CamaBazaar, New
Delhi. Raj Rewal was awarded the firstprize for this prestigious
centre in a two stage competition organised
by the M.inistry of Works for the layoutplan and architectural
control for a 14hectares site, comprising 220 ,000 squaremetres of
shops and offices.Engineers India building is the firstmajor office
to be constructed within thediscipline of Bhikaiji Cama Bazaar.
Ithouses the administrative, design,draughting, financial and
public relationoffices of a public sector organisationdealing in
design consultancy for industryand technology in India and
abroad.
The concept is based on four cores onthe comers containing
lifts, staircases andservices, resulting in a large hall in
themiddle for flexible office planning. Thesecores also form major
structural elementsand along with four central shear wallssupport
an average office floor of 54metres X 24.6 metres. The long
spansand cantilevers expressed on the facadecreate the appropriate
image for an engineering concern. The office floor slabsare stepped
one above the other to provide overhangs on the south side,
protecting the building from sun and creating space for roof
terraces on the north.
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The aim was to create an airconditioned office space which would
have theleast possible initial outlay and subsequently minimum
running expense. Thestudies of existing offices of E.LL. revealed
that work spaces with a floordepth of 24.6 metres between
windowsshould be acceptable and reduce substantially the energy
loads. It was also decidedto face larger parameter of the
buildingnorth-south and further use the structuralelements of the
cores and floor overhangsto create micro-climate. The end result
isthat the cost of airconditioning in E.LL.building is about 50% of
similar buildings in Delhi.
It may be said that the form of thebuilding is derived from the
point ofview of saving energy. The structuralcores are designed in
such a manner thatthey also serve the dual purpose of cutting down
harsh glare from south-westand three fourths of the slabs are
undershadow during the day. The sliding offloors within the cores
and extended tothe east and west end of the buildingcreate a zone
of surface under shadowreducing temperature. The structuralcores
along with extended floors form agiant sunbreaker.
The E.LL. House is entered on theThe Engineers Inaia House and
its surroundingsseen from the west.
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Cutaway axonometric rendering.
Ceiling plan ofthefirst.floor.
1. air handling unit2. gents toilet3. ladies toilet4. electrical
room5. passenger lifis6. service lifi A typical floor plan .
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ground floor directly from the road bycar and has two levels of
parking under-neath. Pedestrians enter the upper groundfloor by
means ofexternal steps or direct-ly from the future plaza. The
central partof the entrance has a height of 10 metresand gives
access to the mezzanine at threelevels providing changing views of
in-formation and exhibition spaces. The liftsand staircases are
provided on two endsof the hall to separate the morning rushhour
crush as well as to provide twodistinct zones for fire escape.
The structure of nsitu reinforced con-crete diagrid is exposed
internally and theribs on the roof slab form a ceiling pat-tern
incorporating lighting panels and airconditioning ducts. The shear
walls andstructural cores are clad, externally andinternally with
2.5 centimetres thick beigesandstone. The texture and tonal
varia-tions of stone create a rich surface exter-nally. However,
the internal stone clad-ding is polished to harmonise with
floor-ing and teakwood panelling.
The partition within the halls are de-mountable and vary
according to thefunctional requirements of typical floors.The lower
two floors are used as publicrelation offices and contain
exhibitionspace and small conference rooms. Thebuilding is 52 .5
metres high and has atotal floor area of 18,200 square metresand
can accommodate 1800 persons .
Perspective section of he building.
