Architecture and design in the recent times has made immense progress and innovation, environmentally friendly designs and constructions are a testimony to this. Government offices in and around the national capital too are making efforts to use such innovations within their premises. One such project recently concluded is that at the FDA Bhawan, in Central Delhi which is also the office of the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India.

Kamini Constructions, the real estate developers and Government Contractors have recently executed a state of the art Terrace Auditorium on the top of the building along with creation of an eighty seater conference hall with an experience zone for the Food safety & Standards Authority of India. The project not only adds value to the infrastructure but also gives back to the society and environment.

Mr DhirajNavaniof Kamini Constructions candidly responds to us explaining how he executed the project with the  vision of Sh. PawanAgarwal IAS ( CEO of FSSAI ) while brainstorming the ideas with the client and their technical consultants Ar. Manish Gupta, Ms.Rashmi Gupta and the Landscape designer Ms.PreetiVarma.

Ques – What according to you was the most interesting thing about the project that fascinated you to involve yourself in it?

Ans: The fact that this project would be the first of its kind in the public sector challenged me to work upon something spectacular. While brainstorming with Mr Pawan Aggarwal (CEO – FSSAI), I had gotten an idea that this project would be a pioneer for setting up a trend for innovation in the public sector offices and hence has to live up to that expectation. This challenge induced me to take up the project by bidding my lowest possible rates in the tender. It was my way to push my limits and boundaries and I had built up a planning pyramid of how my team would go about it.

Ques – What was the innovation in terms of materials used to better facilitate the project?

Ans: Galvanized Smart Steel Trusses in frame work, insulated with Rockwool and fibre glass insulations materials and covered with waterproof cement fibre boards and finally finishes with cement planks on walls and Dura steel roofing sheets etc. in the terrace auditorium and conference areas.We wanted to deliver a long lasting base for the first ever terrace Auditorium in a public Sector office and hence we wanted to choose the best among all available material options. We designed the space thinking of it as a green project and hence a provision was made to install solar panelson the roof top in the future. Rather than providing a higher number of electrical points and use artificial lighting we planned the structure with a skylight and a laminated 30mm thickglass floor slab over the existing atrium to allow maximum natural light to pass through.

The FSSAI have also been able to execute terrace farming on the developed premises which is one of the first of its kind in such a premises. The official terrace has a vertical plantation apart fromagricultural crop farming.

Ques – What were the challenges that you and you team faced while executing the project?

Ans: A major challenge while executing the project was the fact that it was an operational office premises and day to day office activities could not have been put to hold during the execution of this project. Our team had to work in shifts to make the delivery happen. Mostly we began our work post the office hours and then wound up by the early morning of the succeeding day before the office hours began. Due to this constraint, we had to closely monitor the progress of the project since the delivery of the project was also time bound in nature.

Another challenge that we faced was the presence of a shaft/atrium, at the center of the structure that was a hindrance to move ahead with the new construction so we planned closing the atrium with a 30mm thick glass allowing light to pass through the structure. Also we had to elevate the level the floor to meet that of the attrium’s and also make some temporary arrangements to ensure sound water proofing systems during the course of the construction which later had to be demolished.

Ques – What were the basic requirements?

Ans: The client was clear in their vision of what they wanted which also helped us better suggest a sound design to meet their requirement. Team of architects and designers sat with the clients to brainstorm how the structure should look like. The CEO Mr.PawanAgarwal IAS formed a core team to look into the speedy decisions required for executions which included Mr Ravinder Kumar and Mr Raj Singh from the FSSAI. The client FSSAI had specifically mentioned that they wanted a terrace garden in landscape & hardscape of sorts which could accommodate a population of 300+ people and can be utilized as an open auditorium to hold national and international level congregations. They had also shared a few of their ideas to have this as a green project some of which were also accommodated in the final plans executed at site. The idea of terrace farming was one such suggestion made by the client.

The brief was always to  build a world class structure with a light weight dry construction material, providing high class audio visual equipment and video conferencing facilities for the conference hall and a high tech experience zone,  environmental friendly and one of its kind.

Ques – What has been the average delivery time for the project?

Ans: As most projects are required to be completed on a stiff timeline this too had a similar requirement. At the end the team successfully executed the project in flat 135 days. This included both the design and the execution of the same at site.

Kamini Constructions has successfully delivered the project of creating a beautiful open terrace auditorium on a challenging structure, at a fast pace, that is the perfect venue for official events hosted by the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India and other government departments. A structure that is green, eco-friendly and a treat to the eyes; it has already been used to host various meetings of national and international significance with prominent dignitaries & Ministries from various countries.

Kudos to their exemplary efforts and we look forward to seeing more such innovative projects from them in the future

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