Located on a busy urban street (GS Road) of Guwahati, the site had a narrow frontage with a flyover blocking its immediate visibility and connect to the main street. The programme for design was to build a mall and a suitable commercial mix to make a viable real estate project meeting the high costs of the land.
Second Award | DAF 2016 Awards
Category: Commercial (Unbuilt)
Participant Name: Vivek Rathore
Team Members: Surajit Sengupta
Country: India
The Big idea that evolved was to lead the public realm into the building vertically as a bazaar would building around it interest and curiosity. Guwahati has long rainy months and a place that is duly covered, aspirational, welds daylight and unpredictability shall be more than just a shopping centre.
We inspired ourselves with the terrains of Guwahati hills and also respond to massing that involves terracing and offsets which aim in connecting the built to unbuilt. These terraces shall become the spill over for F & B joints, Galleries and The Mall. They Visually Connect the people in different level with the people on the street and in adjoining blocks and to the changing weather.
The massing exploits the settling views of the hill at its rear for the offices where the perimeter walls go transparent.
The Building sets its foot with a plaza and graduates its massing so that it can be appreciated even while you are moving on the flyover.
The external skin of the mall has percolated corrugated aluminium cladding as a response to heavy rains and also set a tone of sensible aspiration. Glazing is limited to bringing light into the entire course of movement and create a gorge – like public space containing the cauldron of energy and activity. Malls fail in moving footfall vertically as they repeat a cyclic movement – here the movement is progressive and hence preserves the quotient of interest with movement. On every floor the terraces open to changing faces and perspectives.
The centre has two levels of basement parking with 30 percent more provision of parking than what is prescribed – as an urban response to the acute problem of parking on G S road and to the rush in the event of public festivals. The ultimate terrace of the mall becomes a green public area that corresponds to kids play and social gathering.
TGC also acquired a LEED Gold Pre Certification as a sensible and responsive Architecture. A smart intervention of landscape and Tree plantation shall provide for 39 % of site area covered by tree canopy. This will be a responsible move to decreasing biodiversity in the urban sprawl of GS Road.
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