Shaping India

ISSUE 01

2013

INDIA

Special Edition TALL BUILDINGS - INDIA 01 Chennai’s Tallest Tower 02 Raheja Oma, Daruhera, Gurgaon 03 Kolkata’s Tallest Tower In Making 04 A City Within A City: Kolkata South City 05 Engineering Melbourne’s Skyline

Albatross Chennai

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INDIA PROJECTS

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INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

MESSAGE FROM THE MANAGING DIRECTOR

Entering the age of the highrise Rajesh Srivastava Managing Director rajesh@meinhardtindia.com

Despite the global downturn, the beginning of 21st century has seen a growing trend in tall buildings in India.

Over the last decade we have witnessed a major construction

As a group we are privileged to have worked on dozens of

boom with hundreds of high-rise structures rising out of the

skyscrapers across the globe giving us the excellent reputation we

ground. With growing urbanisation, 50% of India’s population is

have today in engineering this type of building.

expected to live in the cities by 2030 which would result in lack of space. This is driving the inevitable demand for more high density

We have assembled a specialist engineering team, armed with

tall buildings.

engineering excellence and knowledge of the latest, cutting-edge technology in high-rise design to deliver both practical and

In India, Meinhardt has played an integral role in some of the best

imaginative skyscraper solutions.

skyscrapers in the metro cities of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and beyond, include one of the tallest towers in the country.

Meinhardt has the internal resources to address any structural

Our current portfolio in India includes South City: Kolkata’s Tallest

challenges and deliver cost effective and efficient solutions across

Tower; Albatross, Tallest Tower in Making, Chennai; Urbana I,

a growing range of civil and structural engineering projects. Our

Upcoming Tallest Tower in Kolkata and much more.

focus is firmly entrenched in delivering what our clients need.

The old adage of global reach, local delivery remains important

In this special edition of tall buildings, we will share some of the

in this building type. We are able to harvest the knowledge and

latest thinking in high-rise design in India, as well as internationally,

experience of the global group to optimize schemes at the early

and hope you enjoy reading some of our successful engineering

stages of the project guided by local offices with local expertise

stories.

and understanding.

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01 Chennai’s Tallest Tower Chennai 02 Raheja Oma, Daruhera, Gurgaon 03 Rosedale: Leading High Rise Design In India 04 Bengal NRI Complex, Urbana I Kolkata

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05 South City Residential Township Kolkata 06 International Financial Centre, Tower 2 Singapore 07 Engineering Melbourne’s Skyline Australia

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TALL BUILDINGS FEATURE

In the Making: Chennai’s Tallest Tower ‘Albatross’, located in the plush suburb of Old Mahabalipuram, is a new residential development which will soon feature Chennai’s tallest building. Comprising three towers of G+27 floors (97m) and the signature tower of G+50 floors (168m), more than 60% of the residential units have a direct view to the sea.

Albatross

Old Mahabalipuram, Chennai

Client: Archean Group Principal Architect: SRSS Singapore Project Manager: Fusion Consultant Landscape Designer: SITETECTONIX, Singapore Wind Study: Wind Tech, USA Services Provided Civil & Structural and MEP Designs Estimated Completion: 2014

Value Engineering With the signature tower, the structural positioning of the shear walls has been crucial in order to create an earthquake resistant design but we have also managed to create the optimum configuration to make the structure more cost-effective for the client. Careful consideration has been given to the stringent development control guidelines outlined in the CMDA (Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority), NBCI (National Building Code of India) and International Building codes for high rise residential developments.

The project is a true collaboration with our teams in India and Singapore working alongside SRSS Architect, Singapore. A co-ordinated approach has delivered all drawings in the detail design phase to schedule.

By considering the architectural aspirations, we have placed the RCC Shear walls /columns in such a way as to maximise the floor plate efficiency and create the most pleasant internal environment.

Subhash Kewalramani, Chief General manager

TALL BUILDINGS FEATURE

Raheja Oma, Daruhera, Gurgaon The Meinhardt Design team worked alongside Raheja Developers Pvt. Ltd towards delivering state of art and technically competent engineering solutions.

Raheja Developers Pvt. Ltd.

Raheja Oma creates a world class living experience in an exclusive gated environment. The central feature is a 38 storey residential tower, which is encircled by low-rise apartments.

The iconic 140m high tower, with 392 apartments, has a rectilinear staggered form with floor plates progressively reducing in size along the height with unique a tapering shape. The global outlook of OMA is complemented by an infinity pool and skypad on the 36th floor.

The plan geometry forms a T-shape which provides an inherently high structural rigidity for the tower.

Value Engineering Our team selected shear walls over columns as a more effective earthquake resistant solution. This option also allowed us to reduce the amount of steel needed by using more economical 6kg steel.

Through rigorous analysis we were able to save the client 10 to 15% in steel by adopting the sheer wall concept and significantly reducing the construction costs.

We are also now analyzing foundation design options to improve the high bearing capacity of the structure with the aim of saving a further 10% of steel.

THE BEST HIGH-RISE IN INDIA Bloomberg Asia Pacific Property Awards

Raheja Oma Daruhera, Gurgaon

Client & Architect: Raheja Developers Services Provided: Integrated Engineering Services Estimated Completion: 2014

KOLKATA SPECIAL

Kolkata: Unplugging It’s Vertical Limit

Rosedale

Kolkata, West Bengal

Client: Bengal Shrachi Housing Development Ltd Principal Architect: aCTa International, Singapore Landscape Architect: Belt Collins International (Singapore) Pte Ltd Services Provided: Integrated Engineering Services Estimated Completion: 2014

Rosedale: Leading High-Rise Design In India

The Rosedale project was delivered at a time when high-rise buildings were only beginning to come on the scene in India.

Authority guidelines surrounding fire engineering and drainage were particularly vague and so provided a significant challenge.

We therefore became leaders and pioneers in India of suitable approaches, particularly for fire engineering solutions, which could be introduced appropriately and safely in this building type.

This project comprised of six 26 storey towers with basement car parking together with clubhouse, offices and recreational facilities.

Meinhardt was retained to undertake integrated engineering design for the buildings and the detailed design services for infrastructure and utilities.

Value Engineering As is often the case, value engineering was required late in the project but also had to be carried out quickly to meet client expectations. It was important that this was achieved without compromising the basic MEP systems.

The huge green podium over the basement was a particular challenge and required Meinhardt to pre-plan points in the basement ceiling to allow smooth drainage. Incorporating the collection of rooftop rain water run-off and enabling use after necessary treatment to augment the municipal water supply, was just one of the sustainable measures that provided the client with additional value.

KOLKATA SPECIAL SPECIAL FEATURE IN PICTURES

Bengal NRI Complex, Urbana I Kolkata

Dream Project Aims for the Sky: Kolkata’s Tallest Residential Towers

This is a 67 acre township in a league of its own comprising seven residential towers of G+45 and G+40 each with bungalows, apartments, club house, restaurant, servant quarters, car parking and other ancillary structures along with all the necessary infrastructure.

Bengal NRI complex is a joint collaboration between the government of West Bengal with the Shrachi , Emami, Sureka, MKJ, JB and Nahata Group.

To ensure a holistic approach and integration into the city, Meinhardt has been appointed to carry out the infrastructure masterplanning, as well as MEP engineering design services.

Value Engineering Bengal NRI Complex & Urbana I Kolkata

Client: Bengal NRI Complex Principal Architect: aCTa, Singapore Specialist Structural Engineer: Predrag EROR Landscape Architect: Green Architects, Thailand Serviced Provided: MEP Design Services Estimated Completion: 2014

In the MEP design our electrical team had to revise the load calculation and load distribution system to meet the revised norms of CESC (Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation). Our team reassessed the emergency backup for lighting and small power loads, along with energy limiters. On analysing the shafts space we found that they did not have enough space required for accommodating single mains of huge capacity for the emergency supply. Hence we suggested splitting the rising mains into multiple ones and eventually were able to accommodate the whole system within the available shaft and also cater for the emergency supply requirement of the whole tower.

South City Residential Township Kolkata

A City Within a City India’s largest mixed use development township, covering an area of 31.14 acres and featuring four residential towers of 36 floors each. It comprises of 1600 flats, clubs, school and more than 1 million sq.ft of Shopping Mall, all planned to an international standard. As of it’s the tallest building in eastern India which rises upto 117 meters (384ft).

Value Engineering A group of specialist structural engineers worked seamlessly during the Concept & Design phase of this project. Due to the reclaimed soil which was as upto 20 meters deep, there was no bearing strength in the soil. Our foundation specialist Mr. Sumit Verma carefully analysed the soil reports and offered a Bored cast in situ piles of 750mm to 1000mm diameter upto 50meters length below ground to take care of the huge permanent loading from the superstructure.

Overall out team suggested use of high grade steel and concrete which saved our clients 10 to 15% of the structural cost. This is one of the most prestigious and successful township of India and has become quite a landmark in Kolkata.

Meinhardt has performed their duties and services in a professional manner and we would be happy to utilize their services in future projects as well. We would whole heartedly recommend Meinhardt as a consultant for all challenging engineering projects.

South City Project (Kolkata) Limited Pradeep Sureka, Director.

South City Residential Township Kolkata

Client: South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd. Architect: Dulal Mukherjee & Associate Services Provided: Civil & Structural Designs Completed: 2007

TALL BUILDINGS FEATURE

Meinhardt offers distinctive visual transparency PT Kepland Investama has enlisted Meinhardt in the development of a new tower for the International Financial Centre (IFC) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Although it will only reach completion in 2013, IFC 2 aims to achieve the Green Mark Gold to recognise its energy efficient features.

Situated a mere 1.2-metre distance away from Tower One, the construction of IFC 2 presents significant challenges due to its constrained site conditions. In response to these challenges, Meinhardt’s team developed a total façade and BMU system that can be installed easily onto the building.

Due to the close proximity of the towers and to meet the authority requirements, light weight and translucent glass panels are integrated within the curtainwall. These panels offer varying degrees of light transmission and visual privacy for the occupants.

In addition, as the building design features ten different angles, the glass panels are specially positioned to let in the natural sunlight, creating a feeling of transparency and openness. The angles are synchronised with the surrounding buildings, enhancing the environment aesthetically.

As Mr Domenico F. Lio, lead architect of NBBJ, pointed out: “the soft natural light fills spaces that would otherwise require artificial illumination, additional energy, and also have a potential impact on lease rates.”

The 64,000-square metre development will be fully enclosed with curtain wall and high performing low-E coated insulated glass, allowing it to comply with the Green Mark Gold requirements set by the Building Construction Authority in Singapore.

The soft natural light fills spaces that would otherwise require artificial illumination, additional energy, and also have a potential impact on lease rates.

Mr Domenico F. Lio Architect at NBBJ

International Financial Centre, Tower 2 Singapore

Client: PT. Kepland Investama Design Architect: NBBJ, New York Local Architect: PDW, Jakarta Structure, M&E: T.Y. Lin Green Consultant: Kaer

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS

Engineering Melbourne’s Skyline Meinhardt Australia

Images (clockwise): Zen Apartments Prima (Pearl) Tower 568 Collins Street Eureka Tower Rialto Abode Apartments

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