Project Details
Project Description
Design:
Located in the seventh largest metropolis in India, Falling Lotus Blossoms: EON IT Park is an elegantly arranged quartet of buildings, totaling 4,000,000 square feet, that occupy a site located in the EON Free Zone, a Special Economic Zone established by the government to encourage development. This 21st-century workplace, which sets a grand scale in counterpoint to the rugged Indian countryside, overlooks a river and the fields beyond on a flat site that was previously almost entirely untouched.
Form4 Architecture began the design as different iterations of the petal shape from India’s national flower, the white lotus. Ultimately, four “petals” were arranged like a four-leaf clover in plan with an open space at its center. In part a response to the extreme heat and humidity and the goal of populating the outdoor spaces for more than just a few months of the year, the buildings themselves contain semi-conditioned, shaded atrium spaces that serve as meeting or gathering areas for the building occupants. At dusk, each courtyard morphs into a giant kaleidoscope by the delineation of building elements with neon lighting.
Raised on the ground plane, the complex picks up a teleological dimension in that it becomes a quasi-temple devoted to the future of technology and its own iconography. As the eye follows the sweeping shape of the roof line, a vivid image of the fluid plane emerges. The building opens up and embraces the users of a new society. This iconic project, both in its construction phase and completion, exemplifies technology as a transformative force for the language of architecture in a fast-growing country like India.
Sustainability:
Architecture is inherently sustainable when the design intent springs from a genuine commitment to the betterment of society. This ideal was applied to the Falling Lotus Blossoms project, resulting in a LEED Gold rating. The strategy included addressing energy needs, water use, waste, materials, and heat-island effect.
The project achieved:
• A 20.09% energy savings (against the ASHRAE base case) is a result of optimized energy performance through the energy conservation measures (ECMs) that were incorporated into the project. These include under-deck insulation in the roof, efficient lighting design, occupancy sensors, wall insulation, Variable Refrigerant Volume (VRV) system in office areas, and double-glazed high-performance glass.
• 68% reduced water use. A 7,481,054-gallon reduction of water use was realized through the use of gray water and water-saving fixtures and sensors, as well as with the efficient use of water in landscape, including rainwater harvesting and high-efficiency irrigation systems.
• 100% of the wastewater generated at site is reused in landscaping. An on-site sewage treatment plant (STP) treats the water for reuse.
• 98.18% of construction waste was diverted from landfills. Waste diverted from landfills includes reinforcement steel, cement bags, plastic, broken tiles, paint cans, cardboard, aluminum scrap, concrete cement, and broken bricks.
• 75.60% of the total project’s materials, by cost, were manufactured within 500 miles of the project site. Among the materials sourced regionally are bricks, cement, fire-proof doors, pozzocrete, steel, metal sheet roofing, glass, dry wall, and false ceiling.
• 100% underground parking. To assist in the reduction of a heat-island effect, all 2,226 car parking spaces and 202 two-wheeler spaces are underground. Electric charging stations have been provided for 67 car parking spaces and six two-wheeler parking spaces.
• 100% roof coverage. The project used high solar reflective index (SRI) materials to cover 100% of the 145,000 square feet of roof area.
Firm:
Form4 Architecture believes architecture is the art of giving form to ideas. The award–winning firm specializes in creating environments, whether for tech offices mixed-use developments, or residences, that respond as equally to the topography of a site as they do to the people they serve. Form4 creates formal expressions that are not only poetically moving and conceptually thoughtful, but also reflective of the client’s values and goals. As collaborative partners in the design process, the principals of Form4 Architecture—Robert J. Giannini, John Marx, AIA, Paul Ferro, and James Tefend—are personally involved with every project from concept to completion, bringing the collective wealth of years of expertise and knowledge to each client's vision. Since 1999, the firm has built a rich portfolio of award-winning work for national and international clients within diverse market sectors.