The Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, will be inaugurating the new building housing the headquarters of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), here on May 14, (Sunday). The new structure is located on a 6.5 acre plot behind the South Block, housing the Ministries of Defence and External Affairs and the Rashtrapati Bhawan. It has been designed to blend harmoniously with these two prestigious heritage buildings and yet be a modern facility, with well-designed work places and will have an intelligent building management system.
DRDO, which is credited with numerous developments in the field of defence production and supplies, will achieve the milestone of having a home of its own. Obtaining a large piece of land in the heart of the city, re-locating offices functioning from the site, fighting a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court and devising ways and means to negotiate the solid rock base, without resorting to blasting, which would have disturbed the VVIPs living and working in the most hallowed part of Lutyen’s Delhi, were a few of the hurdles which had to be crossed.
The six-storeyed building with a huge basement has been designed by New Delhi based M/s Sakhuja Mallick & Associates. The building has an external red sandstone façade similar to the adjoining North and South Blocks and the President House on the Raisina Hill. It has been designed to merge as easily as was possible with these landmark-structures of the country, without in any way overwhelming them. Many of the features of the building were, therefore, required to be similar to them and maintain their rich architectural symmetry of layouts and axial-geometry. The podium of red stone visually strengthens the base while juxtaposing of Dholpur stone and tinted structural glass, impart a light and airy feel to the upper floors. The traditional motifs and the exquisitely carved stone mouldings enhance its extremities, while facilitating the smooth transition from the past architecture to a more modern and functional style.
Its visual elegance is enhanced by a well landscaped garden with water bodies and plants. Several small courtyards, formal gardens and large forecourts have been integrated as in the Lutyen’s concept. The Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) which ensures that the character of Lutyen’s Delhi is not marred by any new structure had approved this building in the year 2003 and an Environment Impact Assessment (E.I.A) was carried out by DRDO, on advice from all the concerned local bodies. Provisions have been made for water-harvesting, recycling and treating all the waste water through a modern and compact sewage treatment plant and using only R134A refrigerant in the central air-conditioning, as per the latest environment friendly protocols. The elegant building with a covered space of almost half a million square feet has been completed by the Ministry of Defence in a little over two years’ time.
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(Release ID :17669)