(2012 March) Built Expressions

KARENG/2011/40351

ENGLISH MONTHLY

ISSN 2277 - 324X

EXPRESSIONs MARCH 2012

Bu i

lt E

xp re ss io ns

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 3

96. TECHNO - CRATE : Interview with Namma Metro Builder- B. S. Sudhir Chandra, Director (Project & Planning), BMRCL

SUPER SPECIALITY HOSPITALS

30. BEYOND EXPRESSIONS : Exclusive

Interview with Niranjan Hiranandani, Founder and MD, Hiranandani Constructions

INFINITE

BOUNDaRIES

ITC Fortune, Navi Mumbai

xp re ss io ns

xp re ss io ns

ARCHITECT REZA KABUL

Foreign architects are looking at India more closely now, but they are naïve to Indian culture, mentality, sensibility and lifestyle.

Art in Architecture

Bu i PG14 Built Expressions

lt E

e has constructed some of the best offices, residential buildings and commercial complexes in India and abroad. His firm’s name is synonymous with designing the Raghuleela Mall in Vashi or The Raddison Resort in Mauritius, creating the genius Landmark Hotel Rigga and Hotel Holiday Inn in Dubai or Atlantis in Mumbai, to building townships and undertaking private landscaping.

But it is also ironical that the man who has crafted many a masterpieces and is enroute to starting his first office outside of India, in United States’ business hub California, San Francisco, embarked on his success journey in the mezzanine floor of an Iranian restaurant.

Architecture was not something Reza Kabul planned getting into – it happened just by chance. In fact he aspired to become a pilot but seeing his father’s friend’s son, who was into his final year of architecture, draw huge landscapes in a single sheet of paper, prepare power point presentations and design blueprints of office compounds and aesthetic homes, sketch colorful drawings and clinch business deals captured his undivided attention and developed further his budding interest.

This inclination, inquisitiveness and passion gave birth to M/s Arch Reza Kabul in 1988 with a meager 200 sq ft office space.

He was his own boss, but his own peon and secretary too. It was tough times. As he reminisces, “Computers for drafting were not

heard of as it was the time of T and set square, pencils, rubbers and tracing sheets. I took up work of just creating a bedroom or even a bathroom at times - always ready to do any type of project.

Slowly but surely, projects and clients started trickling in and I got to create stand alone apartment buildings of +2 and 3 in far flying places like Kalyan, Badalpur and Thane.”

Sheer dedication, hardwork, perseverance and not letting go off the smallest of opportunities helped him to find foot in the architectural arena, to now creating one of the most well-known firms in the country. He strongly believes, “If opportunity knocks on your door and you are not there to open it, it would knock some other door. So I am always eager to try new things, keep discovering and learning everyday alongside each project that comes by.”

There is a turning point in everyones life and Kabul’s came in the form of an 18-storeyed tower in Byculla, Sagar Classic, an area where he spent his formative days. The overwhelming response it Vol:1 Issue:3 March 2012

gathered amongst his clients and in the media scripted his first success story.

There was no looking back thereafter. Barely three years into the business, he grabbed his first international project in Dubai, a 4 star hotel with 80 rooms. As more clients and contracts started pouring in, business too needed an expansion. Now an upped 1,000 sq ft premises and 20 staff members helped him with various business propositions.

With many achievements come many challenges and the mark of a true entrepreneur is to fight fearlessly and emerge successfully.

This was exactly what he encountered while modifying the Marine Plaza Hotel on the serene waterfront of Marine Drive, which was earlier Bombay International Hotel. He says, “My biggest challenge was turning the existing residential structure into a five star hotel without demolishing it. The central atrium, a chowk with staircases and drainage pipes going through had practically

Bu i

H

lt E

Finest Gems from Ar. Reza Kabul

Vol:1 Issue:3 March 2012

no open space for a swimming pool leaving me with the only option, the terrace. So I converted the chowk into an atrium and in order to take the load of the structure, erected the column from the ground in the atrium and put the swimming pool on the top. The need for natural light in the atrium surfaced the idea of a glass bottom pool.”

He kept building buildings and adding feathers in his cap.

Another milestone and yet another unique construction was the Shreepati Arcade, the tallest at that time. Kabul had never ventured into this territory at that point in time but the determination and risk-taking ability he had, egged him to accept the challenge of this project.

Several visits to Singapore and Hong Kong to get acquainted with architects there and factor in their views and get tips proved to be handy. He went on to build a 153 meter structure which registered with the Limca book of records 2003 as the tallest building of India.

Built Expressions PG 15

The list is endless

And his current upcoming projects include: - Shreepati Garden 100 storeyed - Shreepati Skies 81 storeyed - Shreepati logistic park 1,100 acres - Khalapur - 5 star hotel at Sudan (Khartoum) - Hotel for Fakruddin properties at Dubai

- L & T Asian Realty - Amit Enterprises, Nasik - Colori, Amit Enterprises, Pune - Popular Bazar, Kanakia - Ekta Tripolis - JMJ Japiur - Seirra Vista, Sankpal

xp re ss io ns

With more acclaim and bigger projects, operating with a larger office space and more staff became the need of the hour. Thus a 7,000 sq ft office in Mumbai’s upmarket Carter Road in Bandra was inaugurated in 2003 which now employs more than 200 people.

To stay ahead of competition, one needs to innovate at every stage. Shreepati Gardens in Parel amplifies this - four towers playfully interacting with each other and as one climbs higher, the 100 storey towers act like two arms opening up to the sky. They connect with a sky bridge and can hold public functions 403 meters above the streets.

Shreepati Skies, another building, is shaped in the form of a dancing native lady and estimated to be 301 meters tall.

Kabul explains, “It has been inspired from nature’s beauty and complexities of our planet. The plot area is approximately 2 acres and gives a perception of a dancing lady mounted on a platform comprising of 7 parking floors. The tower has an estimate of 81 floors. It is also the most slender skyscraper with a base to height ratio of approximately 1 to 10.”

But he did not want to be bracketed in designing buildings and homes alone. His vast expertise and domain knowledge had to be exploited to the fullest. The retail boom in 2003-04 paved the way to broaden his frontiers.

Raghuleela Mall, bang opposite New Bombay’s Vashi railway station, is designed for an experience of shopping in paradise retail, leisure, entertainment, catering, exhibition, fitness and

- Mega Mall (Oshiwara) - Reliance mall (Bandra) - Link sq mall (Bandra) - City centre mall (Aurangabad) - Bharat Diamond Bourse at BKC.

xp re ss io ns

INFINITE BOUNDARIES

business included. The focal point of the mall is the huge 40,000 sq ft atrium covered by a modernistic conical glass skylight which greets the visitor with a spectacular view from the entrance giving an overview of the rich business ambience and plentiful of landscapes with dramatic lighting and unique bright lights.

The Express Mall in Malad on the western express highway is another sublime piece of design and another testimony to his art and innovation. Here, the central atrium is covered with a magnificent

Bu i

stretch canvas cone supported by a ring beam without any internal support of columns thus providing a clear space an asset to hold big events within creating a lively atmosphere. The two commercial buildings on the top are designed with step terraces which gradually merge on the roof of the mall. The roof of the mall is the most salient feature of the fore building a dynamic structure which can be viewed from the highway. It is a fluid structure in which all the atriums merges out in different forms in order to provide a representative vision of the most innovative recent designs.

But with changing times, the business model and ways of functioning too have undergone a transition. In his over two decades in the industry, the art and industry has transformed, so have the techniques and technology. Computer screens have taken over sheets of white papers and 3D has started making waves.

While technology has made designing and decision-making faster, Kabul still misses the old-world charm. “Autocad, faster machines, rotary pens have made it possible to design structures in as short a timeframe as 5-8 days. With 3D, walls, windows and elevations can be depicted easily. But I am from the old school of thoughts and would still prefer to sketch with pencils. Sketching is the art of architecture and pencil is the main tool. I push the new breed of architectures to sketch on paper. After all, it is important to live the building you sketch.”

Bu i PG16 Built Expressions

Raghuleela Mall, Mumbai

lt E

lt E

“If opportunity knocks on your door and you are not there to open it, it would knock some other door. So I am always eager to try new things, keep discovering and learning everyday alongside each project that comes by.”

Vol:1 Issue:3 March 2012

Vol:1 Issue:3 March 2012

There is a turning point in everyone’s life and Kabul’s came in the form of a 18-storeyed tower in Byculla, Sagar Classic, an area where he spent his formative days.

With the world economy on of the verge of a slowdown again, Kabul says that foreign architects are looking at India more closely now, but they are naïve to Indian culture, mentality, sensibility and lifestyle. His office in USA aims to bridge the gap between the Indian customers’ needs for world-class facilities and the international architects’ ability to understand and customise as per the domestic demand. With his extensive experience in hospitality, retail, townships, urban planning, landscaping, towers and interiors, he aims to blend the Indian lifestyle with international skills.

Renuka Vembu Built Expressions PG 17