ITC MULTIPURPOSE FACILITY

2014, Kolkata, India, with SPA Design

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ITC previously known as the Imperial tobacco company is one of the largest companies in India, its image is synonymous with the identity of the city of Kolkata, hence when the client approached us for a proposal for a multi-use project in the satellite city of Rajarhat, we proposed for a gesture that would at once address the neo-liberal fragmentation of the city and the ambition of the brand to remain associated with the identity of the city. The program consists of corporate offices for ITC limited, along with offices for the upcoming ITC Infotech, a five star hotel, a media centre, and housing for its staff.

The site lay at the end of a major arterial road leading out from the city of Kolkata. We thus tried to evoke the metaphor of gateway entrance into the city through spatial gesturing. Furthermore, in order to make the building truly mixed use, we assigned each of the five programs both a vertical and a horizontal presence. The vertical elements were then arranged so as to give an appearance of a gateway into the city, while the horizontal elements together form an elongated plinth on the site enclosing a linear garden and plaza which opens onto the city. Finally, we proposed a common terrace with a running track at the 6th level which programatically bind the site together through a running track and other leisure spaces.