1.1 civic centre

DELHI CIVIC CENTRE B.ARCH II YR 2012-2013

ANUSHA ROY, F/O ARCHITECTURE AND EKISTICS JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA NEW DELHI 25

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 CIVIC CENTRE

A civic center is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal

point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also

include a government building. The building complex may contain a municipality's

administrative offices, various departmental headquarters, courts, etc., and sometimes an

auditorium, libraries, or other community or cultural facilities.1

Examples of civic centre:

Fig 1 Marin Civic Centre California by Frank Lloyd Wright

Fig.2 Cumberland County Civic Center Portland by E. Crawley Cooper

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civic_center



Fig.3 Civic Centre San Francisco by Daniel Burnham

Fig.4 Millennium Park Chicago



1.2 RATIONALE FOR SELECTION:

I choose Delhi Civic Center as my dissertation topic as the complex stands out as a perfect

example of the contemporary architecture. Though it is a corporate office still it provides

recreational zone for the people. The site has multifarious adjacencies with varied activities

giving a scope for better learning.

1.3 AIM:

To understand the functions to be performed and environment to be generated in a civic

Centre.

1.4 OBJECTIVE:

Analyzing the areas given for each of the zones in the building and study of cultural block in

terms of designing.

1.5 METHODOLOGY:

THE CIVIC CENTRE

DATA COLLECTION

PRIMARY SOURCE SECONDARY SOURCE

SITE SURVEYS

FACE TO FACE INTERVIEW

ONLINE RESEARCH

BOOKS

ANALYSIS

LIMITATION OF THE SITE CONCLUSION



1.6 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK:

OBJECTIVE HOW TO ACHIEVE IT REFERNCE

Zoning Visiting the site Self-observation

Traffic movement Visiting the site Self-observation

Building form Photographs , discussions with architects

Self-observation

Analyzing the cultural block Discussion with architect Self-observation

1.7 SCOPES AND LIMITATIONS:

SCOPES: Zoning, Services, Site planning, Area analysis

LIMITATIONS: Detailing of the planning as the site is a commercial complex.



2. LITERATURE STUDY

2.1 INTRODUCTION:

Civic centre is a grouping of municipal facilities in a limited precinct often adjacent to the

central business district of a city. The civic center is based on both the Greek acropolis and the

Roman forum. The plan includes the city hall and adjoining park or plaza, headquarters for city

departments, courthouses, and often a post office, public-utility offices, public health facilities,

and government offices.

IDEAL LOCATION OF A CIVIC CENTRE:

The civic centre should be located at the hub of any city so that it becomes a focal point of the

city from where all the other activities are linked.

2.2 REQURIMENTS OF A CIVIC CENTRE :

The size of the city served determines the range and number of the municipal services required,

which, in turn, determine the size of the site. The program for a small civic centre includes a city

hall, headquarters for police, fire, and welfare departments, courtrooms, post office, and

possibly the central library. A large city will require public utility offices, public health facilities,

and office space for county, state, and national government functions as well. It is also

desirable to include parkland or at least open space in the plan. It should have sufficient parking

space and recreational zone to be accessed by the general public.



2.3 DISTRIBUTION OF AREA:

Chart 1 DISTRIBUTION OF THE TOTAL BUILT UP AREA

(Source: talks with architect)

2.4 REQUIREMENTS OF A CULTURAL BLOCK:

Well-equipped modern library

Museum

Restaurant

Auditorium

Art gallery

Cafeteria

Atm

EXECUTIVE WING 50%

CULTURAL BLOCK 30%

DELIBRATIVE BLOCK

20%



2.5 REGULATIONS OF CULTURAL BLOCK2:

Egress:

The means of egress shall have a ceiling height of not less than 2.4M

Walking surfaces as means of egress shall have a slip resistant surface and be securely attached.

The path of egress travel along a means of egress shall not be interrupted by any building

element.

Elevators, escalators and moving walks shall not be used as a component of a required means

of egress from any other part of the building.

Travel distance between exits <=30M

Accessibility:

Physical disability access to site/building

At least one accessibility route connecting all buildings on the site.

2 International building code 2009



3. CASE STUDY: CIVIC CENTRE

INTRODUCTION

The Civic Centre is a complex of multistoried buildings, which comprises of four six-storey building blocks and one 28-storey tower block. The complex is functionally segregated into distinct zone of institutional and commercial office activity with about 50 % of the space designated for institutional activity and 50 % of the space designated for commercial activity. The institutional activity of the complex includes offices of MCD. The legislative and executive wing of the top hierarchy of MCD occupies two of the six storey and half of the twcnty-eight storey tower block. Commercial office and cultural activities is on the remaining area. One six-storey block host different cultural activities and the reminder floor space; half of the twenty eight-storey blocks and one six-storey block is available as commercial area. The cultural block incorporates a 1000 seater auditorium, a 1,20,000 volume library, 2000 sq.m of art gallery, a museums and a 1500 person capacity banquet hall. Areas for restaurants, banks, communication center, travel agencies and other support services has been provided within the complex. The average area of the typical floor in multistoried block is approximately 2800 sq. m and that of a six-storey block is approximately 1000 sq. m. The configuration of the floor space permits use of one consolidated space or partition into smaller modules. The floors are so configured that accessibility to the circulation core is never more than 25 m of walking distance. The circulation cores have adequate toilets, requisite fire escapes. The maximum wall-to-wall depth is 20 m in the six storey blocks and 18 m in the tower block to ensures adequate daylight and minimize artificial lighting need. To ensure that the complex remains alive after non-working hours, commercial, Entertainment and community facilities form a part of the complex. Building is further planned to segregate vehicular and pedestrian traffic, as well as business and casual traffic through landscaping and traffic planning. The complex offers parking spaces for 2500 vehicles distributed in three level basement-parking zones with adequate entry point and spacious bays. Along with the proper building concept and emphasis on the energy conservation, the complex has been planned as a non-handicapping, barrier free environment, with special arrangement for physically disabled. The need for the project arises with the declaration of the old town hall building at Chandni Chowk as heritage building. The new Civic Centre was planned to accommodate the existing staff and to cater to the increasing requirement of MCD.



Fig.5 VIEW OF CIVIC CENTRE

Fig.6 VIEW OF A BLOCK OF CIVIC CENTRE



Fig.7 COVERING OVER THE BASEMENT Fig.7 THE CULTURAL BLOCK

Fig.8 HARD LANDSCAPING Fig.9 HARD LANDSCAPING

Fig.10 SOFT LANDSCAPING Fig.11 SOFT LANDSCAPING



Fig.13 THE OLD MCD BUILDING TOWNHALL CHANDANI CHOCK

Fig.14 FRONT VIEW OF TOWN HALL



3.1 SITE LOCATION AND DISCRIPTION:

The Civic Centre is located in New Delhi, at the intersection of Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg and

Minto road, opposite to Delhi Stock Exchange building.

Fig.15 LOCATION

Fig.16 CONTEXT PLAN3

3 Source: EIA executive summary civic centre New Delhi



Map 1 SITE PLAN

The site is bounded on the 4 side s up in the immediate vicinity by the following:

East: The eastern fringe of the site is bounded by Waqf board land and M.T.N.L. building

adjacent to the Waqf board land. G. B. Pant hospital, Zakir Hussain College and LNJP Narain

hospital are other major sensitive receptors in a range of 500 to 700 m from the site. River

Yamuna is at a distance of 3 km from the site in eastern direction.

Fig.17 MTNL BUILDING Fig.18 LNJP HOSPITAL



Fig.19 G.T PANT HOSPITAL Fig.20 ZAKIR HUSSAIN COLLEGE

West: Vivekananda road (Minto road) is towards the west of the site. New Delhi Railway Station

(750 m), Police station (l00 m) and MCD Dispensary (200 m) are other sensitive receptors in

western direction. Delhi Ridge is at a distance of 2.5 kilometer from the site in western

direction.

Fig.21 NEW DELHI RAILWAY STATION



North: Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg runs along the northern boundary of the site. Ram Lila Ground

and wholesale markets of Old Delhi are further North at a distance of about 3 km from the site.

Fig.22 WHOLE SALE MARKET OF OLD DELHI

South: In the immediate vicinity of the site in southern direction is CPWD hostel, Tagore

hostels and Press enclave. Institutional area of ITO, which houses important offices as

World Health Organization (WHO), Bureau of Indian Standards, Delhi Development

Authority (DDA), Income Tax Offices. Sale Tax Office is in the radius of 2 Km from the site.

Cultural hub comprising of Lalit Kala Academy. Mandi House. Sri Ram Centre, FICCI (Federation

of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Auditorium is other important landmarks on

the southern side of the site.

Fig.23 CPWD HOSTEL Fig.24 BIS BUILDING



3.2) ZONING:

Map 2 ZONING

3.3) CLIMATE:

Map 3 SUN PATH AND WIND DIAGRAM



Table 1 AVERAGE TEMPERATURE OF DELHI4

3.4 TRAFFIC AND MOVEMENT:

Map 4 TRAFFIC NEAR THE SITE

4 http://www.delhicapital.com/about-delhi/climate.html



Map 5 MOVEMENT NEAR THE SITE

The uncontrolled and ill planned growth of urban centers has resulted in a number of problems

like traffic congestion, shortages of water and electricity, deteriorating environment and public

health. The growing cities have generated the high levels of demand for travel by motor

vehicles in the cities. To match the increasing travel demand commensurate efforts have not

been made to develop the mass transport systems.5

Based on the rate of increase in the number of trips between 1981 and 2001, it is estimated

that the total trips would rise to 280 lakh by the year 2021, including 257 lakh motorized trips

and 23 lakh non-motorized trips. In this context, it needs to be noted that roads already occupy

21 percent of the total area of the city, which clearly limits the potential for increase in road

length6.

Apart from the problems and requirements of transportation at the macro level, there are

special problems in specific areas, particularly the old city, which deserve special attention.

Special requirements will also arise from the mega events such as the Commonwealth Games.6

The major source of traffic around the site is the New Delhi railway Station. It handles an

average of 350,000 passengers and 276 trains a day, is built on 87 hectares of land in the heart

of the Capital’s business district.

5 Traffic Characteristics Of India, Proceedings of the Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 1009 - 1024, 2005 6 Delhi Master Plan 2021



Due to these high numbers the major roads surrounding the sites are always congested leading

to some diversion on the arterial roads from the railway terminal to the site. This causes

pressure on the arterial roads leading to their degradation because these roads are not

designed to experience such traffic volume. Moreover the plots along these arterial roads

mostly have mixed land use-residential with commercial. So they have a distinct nature of their

own, but the extra traffic creates problems. The modes of transport majorly used here are

mostly public transport-bus, auto, metrorail, taxi( due to the railway station), followed by

private vehicles-2 wheelers/4 wheelers and light pedestrian movement along the arterial roads.

3.5 PLANNING:

The architect Mr. Shirish Malpani has designed the building to meet the requirement for which

the building has be designed and with respect to the surrounding.

There are three levels of basement parking for parking 2500 vehicles at one time with an area

of about 70000sqm. F.A.R - 148.38 (permissible F.A.R-150)

Map 6 SITE PLAN

N



Map 7 BASEMENT PL ANNING



Map 8 GROUND FLOOR



Map 9 FIRST FLOOR



Map 10 SECOND FLOOR



Map 11THIRD FLOOR



3.6 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER OF THE BUILDING:

The building is divided into 2 parts:

a) 28 storey semi circular complex

b) Four 6 storey building

The building gives a very aesthetic look having a circular block, some rectangular block,

landscaping and the simple yet elegant façade treatment.

The six storey buildings are constructed in the east, west and south direction. There is no

building on the north. It has projected windows having louvers for ventilation.

Fire fighting and detecting system has been provided in the complex.

Mechanical ventilation has been provided in the parking area, pantry and toilets.

Presently the building the tallest building in delhi which again is the architectural achievement

to the building.

3.7 BUILDING SYSTEMS:

3.7.1 Water Supply and Sewage System

City water supply from Delhi Jal Board (018) would be the major source of water to the

Complex. Two separate connections would be provided, one for MCD and other for the

28 remaining complex. Tube wells would be developed as an alternate water sources and for

other uses like air conditioning etc. Water from tube well feeds the raw water .

3.7.2 HVAC and Building Automation System

The building would be fitted with a central air conditioning system using water cooled

centrifugal chillers to provide summer / monsoon cooling and winter heating. The salient

feature of the HVAC system design include optimization of power demand by installation of

Energy Recovery Wheel (ERW) in the fresh air system, to reduce the refrigeration load by 80%,

this in turn will also reduce the air conditioning plant load by 12 -15%.

The design also envisaged mechanical ventilation for the car parking area, toilets, pantry, and

plant room and other similar areas. Mechanical ventilation for basement involves 10 air

changes per hour and in case of fire, same would be increased to 30 air changes per

3.7.3 Captive Power Generation

Captive power generation units will be provided for the emergency back-up power

requirement. Captive power generation is proposed to be provided for 50 % of the total



power requirement. The air conditioning system shuts down in case of power failure. Captive

power generation unit include 6 numbers 1500 KVA and 2 numbers 750 KVA DG set for the

complex.

Fig.25 CHILLERS Fig.26 HVAC ELECTRICAL PANNEL

Fig.27 COOLING TOWER Fig.28 CONDENSER WATER PUMP



3.8 AREA ANALYSIS:

PLOT AREA 11.54 ACRES

TOTAL COVERED AREA 116755sqm

BUILT UP AREA 10973.97sqm

COMMERCIAL AREA 58377.5sqm

INSTITUTIONAL AREA 58377.5sqm

NO.OF FLOORS 28

GREEN AREA 27855.98sqm

PARKING CAPACITY 2500 VEHICLES

ROAD 7872.23sqm

AUDITORIUM CAPACITY 1000 SEATING

LIBRARY 120000 VOLUMES

ART GALLERY 2000sqm

BANQUET HALL 1500 PERSONS

Table 2 AREA ANALYSIS

Chart 2 TOTAL AREA DISRIBUTION

BUILT UP AREA 23%

ROADS 17%

GREEN AREA 60%



3.9 CULTURAL BLOCK

Library: 30000 sq.ft

(shelving, reading, other support spaces)

Auditorium: 7000 sq.ft

Art galleries: 21530 sq ft

Banquet halls: 20,250 sq ft

Open event areas: 25,000 sq ft

Support offices

Toilets

Service areas

Fig.29 THE CULTURAL BLOCK



Map 12 AUDITORIUM AND CULTURAL BLOCK OF THE CIVIC CENTRE

Six-storey block host different cultural activities .The cultural block incorporates a 1000 seater

auditorium, a 1,20,000 volume library, 2000 sq.m of art gallery, a museums and a 1500 person

capacity banquet hall. Areas for restaurants, banks, communication center, travel agencies and

other support services has been provided within the complex.

The average of a six-storey block is approximately 1000 sq. m. The configuration of the floor

space permits use of one consolidated space or partition into smaller modules. The floors are so

configured that accessibility to the circulation core is never more than 25 m of walking distance.

The circulation cores have adequate toilets, requisite fire escapes. The maximum wall-to-wall

depthis 20 m in the six storey to ensures adequate daylight and minimize artificial lighting need.



Map 13 PLAN OF THE CULTURAL BLOCK OF CIVIC CENTRE

The architect wanted his cultural block to look different from the rest of the blocks to

create an interaction with the general pulic. The cultual block is a six a six storey building

consisting of library, banquet hall,art gallery and museums. It is only through this block

that a person is not able to view the ram lila maidan to make the vistor intract with the

spaces inside.



Map 14 PLAN AND SECTION OF AUDITORIUM



3.10 SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE BUILDING:

According to the MCD officials nearly 11000 people visit the building during the peak hour due

to its proximity with the heart of delhi ,i.e, cannought place. Due to its aesthetic appearance

and height it attaracts the public toward itself.

The roads surrounding the building has been widened to allow a smooth passage of the traffic.

4. CONCLUSIONS

4.1. SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS:

The location of the site is optimum as it is connected to various sectors of the society.

Easily accesible.

Due to its height, it attarcts people towards itself.

Since the built up area is less compared to the green area there are chances of future

expansion for any cultural activity.

Lots of green area on the site.

Managed parking system (ECS/100sqm-3)

WEAKNESS:

A lot of traffic conjestion near the site during peak hours.

Presense of slum near the site.

The CPWD hostel is separated from the site by a 6m wide road thus creating problem in

the traffic movement as the main entry to the site is from the side near to the hostel.

The air conditioning systems takes time to reset again after power failure.

Less interaction of the cultural block with the open green environment.

OPPORTUNITY:

Due to good connectivity it attracts people.

Future expansion is possible.

THREATS:

Presence of slums.

The site is very near to the old delhi market.

High population growth may further increase the conjestion

Problems faced during power cuts.



The buildings stands to be a good example of designing a commercial building. It is not just

aesthetically pleasing but funtionally meets the requirements of a civic centre.

It also has an helipad for emergency evacuation. The building is equipped with modern

technology like the automatic fire detecting systems, centrifugal systems to provide cooling,

hydro pneumatic systems to pump water to the complex.

4.2 MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE SITE:

MERITS:

Optimum location

Easily accessible

Good percentage of green cover

Use of energy efficient systems

DEMERITS:

Presence of slums near the site

Traffic congestions during peak hour

High maintenance required.



5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Executive Summary, Civic Center , Delhi:

http://dpcc.delhigovt.nic.in/eia/MCDCC.pdf

Energy conservation Building code, User Guide, India, July 2009

Urban Sprawl in Delhi: Cause and Consequences, P.HD Thesis, BR Ambedekar Univ.

Agra, UP. January 2007

CIVIC CENTER FOR MUNICIPAL CORPORATION OF DELHI, INDIA A Thesis Presented

by AKANKSHA SHARMA

Personal talks with the architect Ar. Shirish Malpani, the architect of the civic

centre.

1.1 civic centre

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