SAACHI PADUBIDRI

ARCHITECT (M.Arch)

PORTFOLIO 2016

1 COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDING

The brief for this project was to put forward a proposal for an office building in the commercial hub of the city of Mumbai. The area of the project was approximately 50000 sq. ft.

The clients brief was to accommodate a car showroom on the ground floor with six office floors above.

The aspiration taken forward by the architectural team to design the commercial office space was to maximize the synergy between the outdoor an indoor spaces.

Elevated courtyards within the building, double height lobbies with lounge experience, landscape elements penetrating within the enclosed office structure and skylights were some of the elements used to design and develop the office building proposed.

Being a commercial hub the preference for the façade material chosen was glass. The design team took it upon as a challenge to break the monotony of the material being used. The concept undertaken thus was to rip the façade of its layer of skin to expose the skeleton (structural system ) of the building gradually.

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Ground floor plan Section 01

Typical floor plan Sixth floor plan Terrace floor plan

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2 DIAMOND BAZAARS — USER ADAPTIBILITY AND OUTDOOR COMFORT

The rapid urbanization of Mumbai has resulted in the loss of traditional and cultural philosophy of an open bazaar.

The project aims to enhance an existing diamond bazaar in the city of Mumbai, by improving the conditions of the space environmentally as well as architecturally.

Protection from direct sun and rain and provision of good daylighting are important considerations for the functioning of the diamond bazaars.

This design application caters for these requirements with its shaded bazaar streets and movable fabric members that can be adapted to users’ individual requirements and needs.

In this climate, airflow is another important factor on pedestrian comfort throughout the year which has been incorporated into the design. The porous nature of the side walls will ensure uninhibited air movement.

The diamond merchants are the key actors on whom the effect of each design strategy was considered.

Materials were studied in detail in relation to environmental design requirements, flexibility and architectural quality.

The project has focused on the development of a module around which various outdoor spaces can achieve comfortable conditions and improved usability in hot and humid climates.

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9M

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road network

market area

pedestrian access

residential units

semi enclosed workspaces

open green area

compound wall

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Daylight and solar simulations—ecotect analysis 2011

Analysis of environmental parameters affecting the diamond bazaar

Conceptual design for the diamond bazaar roof structure

Conceptual design for the end nodes of the diamond bazaar Site plan DIA

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The illustrations show the application of the design on the existing site – Malad Diamond Bazaar. The views indicate the colours of the roof structure in the design proposal along with the movements during different seasons the city is accustomed too.

Aerial view of the entire site shows the relationship between the existing site context and the final design of the diamond bazaar.

The main conclusions drawn from this dissertation are:

The design proposal is a module for the bazaars in Mumbai which can be implemented all over the city

Amalgamation of fixed and adaptable members makes it convenient to modulate the structure as per specific site and user requirements

This proposal will help improve open spaces while increasing their usage in the city of Mumbai

Final design proposal Elevation

Aerial view of design proposal for the diamond bazaar 13962 lux

PET=36.5°C

Asphalt S.T= 27.8°C

1.0 - 1.5m/s PET=30°C

1396 lux

Paver blocks

Concrete S.T= 28.7°

1.5 - 2.0m/s

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3 INTERGRATION AND LAYERING OF PUBLIC FUNCTIONS FOR A TRANSPORT HUB

Mumbai a city of constant movement of people. The

most common layered precinct within a city is near a

transport terminal. Various functions come together

to try and benefit from one another. These layered

functions within the bounds of a transport terminal

work as parasites on the terminal, thus cramping

into their space as well as their workability. Transport

terminals in Mumbai, therefore are the most im-

portant and vital component for the immaculate

functioning of the city. These terminals witness the

flow of the entire gamut of Mumbai’s population from

the lowest to the highest strata of society. The pre-

cinct within which the two terminals lie is not only a

transport hub but also consists of various other city

functions like commercial spaces, office spaces, public

spaces, cultural spaces, residential spaces etc. There-

fore, culmination of all of the above city functions

creates an interesting example to showcase a layered

city prototype.

Since the railway station and the depot at Mumbai

Central are opposite one another the magnitude of

people passing through them during the peak hours is

immense. This gives an opportunity to understand the

need of creating a space which allows the various city

functions to be layered in a manner to work without

causing any hindrance to one another. Thus, from the

various site analysis prepared, the Mumbai Central

precinct was the site preferred to analyse further and

work with. N

Final plan

Elevation 01

Elevation 02

Elevation 03

Elevation 04

Aerial view of design of transport hub

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4 PULAK TOWNSHIP — LANDSCAPE DESIGN

The project assigned was a Township in Indore that spread across an area of 100 acres. It was a residential complex with similar pattern of concrete blocks as houses. The brief given was to design landscape within the site as well as the open pockets that were reserved for green spaces.

As the entire site looked like a concrete jungle it was important to accentuate these spaces in order to provide enough recreational area along with breaking the existing monotony.

The building typologies on site ranged between row house to apartment blocks thus it was important for the team to understand the diverse nature of people living within the township.

The design options for the landscaping varied from functional use to monumental structures for observation.

The design played with levels in these green spaces so as to break away from the uniformity and to allow vertical movement.

Elements for viewing were designed along the roads and large arcades were made for the pedestrians to walk through along the back.

Some of these open pockets were landscaped only to create an iconic structure.

This was mainly done as the areas allotted for landscaping were extremely irregular in shape and some were very small in size to create in space for leisure.

These iconic elements even though not functional followed the brief of being green pockets.

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5 GAURIPADA AND KALA LAKE — SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

The brief for this project was to put forward a pro-posal addressing the environmental problems that the lakes are facing due to the irresponsible dumping of wastes, sewage discharge, heavy siltation, immer-sion of idols during festivals causing severe water pol-lution and to devise a methodology, to connect the lake and its surroundings with the people so as to maintain the sanctity of the lakes, through green de-velopment.

The design solutions are non-intrusive so as to main-tain the social and cultural significance of the lakes to the residents.

The proposal includes a cohesive effort to enhance the quality of environment impact of the surrounding development and improve the ex-perience of its users.

This includes rejuvenation of the lakes, defining their fringe, natural remedial measures to avoid pollution of lake water, use of eco-friendly materials and na-tive plant species, establishing experience zones and oases which provide improved physical environ-ments and deeper understanding of our responsibil-ity towards the lake and its eco-system.

The design strategies developed by the team gave utmost importance to the location and the fabric of the site the lakes were located in.

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6 HERITAGE PRECINCT REDEVELOPMENT — EXCHANGE PROGRAM

The international exchange program between Ka-mala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute for architecture and the Bern University for applied sciences had its first leg conducted in Mumbai, India

The two week exchange was designed to study and analyze the Bandra gaothan for its old structures in comparison to the new fast growing development engulfing it.

The groups of two were made to study the existing old Portuguese houses and their functioning with one another which has been prevalent for years.

As Bandra gaothan is a heritage precinct it was es-sential to understand the rules for designing within the site given.

It was important to realize that the basic fabric of the village had to remain untouched. We strategized three extreme scenarios for the site with help of mod-els and graphical collages.

The first scenario was that of population explosion. In this case we considered allowing the fast growing de-velopment to combine within the precinct.

The second scenario was a sustainable and healthy oasis that completely barricaded the excessive growth around the site.

Lastly ,the third scenario was that of creating green islands within the precinct as well as allowing changes and some amount of urbanization on the fringes of the site.

The conclusions drawn from these three scenarios were that a balanced strategy for restoration and development will be the only way of saving as well as restoring the heritage precinct.

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Scenario 01

Population explosion

Scenario 02

Healthy and sustainable oasis

Scenario 03

Green islands HER

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The second leg of the exchange program was held in Switzerland, Bern.

The program was designed to study a winery at Weinfelden, Bachtobel. Being an eight generation, the owner had very specific requirements for the redevel-opment of the site.

The brief was to provide programs that would facilitate tourist influx as well as all some permanent residents within the complex.

It was also mentioned that a varied range of the kind of people should be catered for. Which hence included luxury along with functionality of space.

Our team looked at three distinct scenarios keeping in mind target groups given to us by the client.

A series of permutation combinations were followed here after to understand the most suitable families to live in co ordinance with one another.

The target groups we looked into were young self employed individuals, families and an old married couple. All with individual tastes and functions to cater to. The design strategy was to make minimal structural changes while allowing the interiors to be as flexible as possible so as to easily interchange programs.

Design elements were introduces considering the her-itage criterions of the precinct. Additional skylights, light wells were added to enhance the light and ventilation quality within the structures.

Special attention was given to the play of light during designing. N

Elevation 01

Elevation 02

Ground floor plan

First floor plan HER

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THANK YOU

ARCHITECT (M.Arch)

PORTFOLIO 2016