Kochi Refineries Private Limited: 1994-2000* This structure is located along the Kerala backwaters in Maradu near Kochi, just where the river turns sharply affording views up and down the river’s edges that are lined with coconut trees and thick forest cover. The needs of the client and my interests in space and volume, over-lapped. We were both anticipating the “representational” nature of the building, as well as its functional nature. In the mid-1990’s they were anxious to emerge from the socialist era into a period of expansive competition and growth. I was seeking a method to integrate a structural system, a complex mechanical system and a functional program with both “fixed” and “flexible” parts. My solution was what Kenneth Frampton calls tectonic architecture. “Tectonic” refers to the poetics of construction employing appropriate technologies. It grows out of the site, out of the context and out of local building traditions. I had a structural image of a huge central compressive core from which branches (beams) spread out to peripheral columns. I wanted those peripheral columns to be strong tempering and modulating elements that would break down the scale visually. Like an ancient Banyan tree that spreads out from a main trunk, and then reaches back down to the earth, a concept evolved! Deep piles with broad caps provide a resting-place for the columns, which ring the structure along its exterior wall, connecting into an RCC vertical shaft housing elevators, vertical services and the wet core. The system allows the structure to absorb lateral forces in the event of an earthquake. Thus, the building became a kind of “Greek temple in the round,” with a “pediment” in the form of a floating ring beam atop, crowning the entire composition like a spiritual halo, or aristocratic “tiara”. The monolithic elevator shafts would become the “trunk of the tree,” along with the vertical riser shaft for mechanical equipment. Moreover such a concept could grow vertically (see isometric). It was essential that energy saving concepts be built into the headquarters’ design of a company in the energy business. This structure is one of the first “green buildings” in the country, while pre-dating the points systems and “hype” that arose later around LEEDS and Teri Griha. The sustainability of this building grew out of my visits to many traditional settlements and heritage places from which I learned of traditional sun screening louvers. I wanted to use the aluminum louvers horizontally similar to the wood slats I observed in Kerala temples, reflecting the cultural setting. In fact the building is a glass cylinder, set inside this shading jaali, made up of louvers cutting down on the heat gain, yet passively illuminating the interior. This structure is a precursor to the Suzlon One Earth in which another energy giant employed the concepts explored here in Kochi expansively. This “tectonic devise” resolved the technology and the representational requirements, within one “construction.” Louvers block the sun completely, while allowing a clear view outwards. They also reflect ambient light into the structure, saving energy. In fact at night the building appears as a glass volume of illuminated space, while in the daytime the reflecting sun closes the porosity visually into an impregnable solid volume. This mechanism cut the capital investment on air conditioning equipment by a third, and reduced the annual operating cost of air conditioning by thirty-four percent. It was calculated that these savings would amortize the entire capital cost of the building in twenty-one years! The structure is a model for other projects which attempt to protect the environment, while economising on operational costs. The strong building envelope of aluminum allows for space shaping within its geometric volume. The ground level structural glass walls are set back into the shade of the upper levels. This allows the ground floor to act as one continuous open space, with a grand, north facing atrium that flows upwards! Each floor is a wide balcony over-looking this atrium, and visually on out into the borrowed landscape of the Kerala backwaters. A sculptural staircase rises through this atrium, acting as a spatial anchor. At the entry tensile fabric “umbrellas” are supported on stainless steel pipe columns. These pipes also act as drains that are linked to a water storage cistern, while covering the entry ramp running up to the porch. These umbrellas behave like a cluster of protective palm trees, below which people can walk under shade and can escape the rain. These light, festive elements integrate into the palm covered landscape; acting as parasols on rainy days. This work of architecture is themed in the synthesis of various functional and technical requirements. Its simple appearance is a testament to the success of that synthesis. The building becomes a prototype for multi-storied offices in tropical climates. In its fabric live many ideas and concepts about sustainability that found prominence in my later works that are labeled as “Green Buildings!” *Note: In 1996 Christopher Charles Benninger Architects became an independent studio and the Kochi Refineries, Mahindra United World College of India and the Dhamma Hall at Nagaloka in Nagpur were the first three projects to sustain the budding studio, which Ramprasad passionately set up in Melody Apartments in ICS Colony, Pune.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 06:53:26 +0000
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