Problem

The primary objective for this Campus was to create a sustainable and healthy workplace for the future that stimulates the mind, brings nature to its central setting and merges indoor with outdoor.

The brief for this project was to unify the surrounding landscape with the architecture of the headquarters in a way that the designed landscape will encourage ecological engagement throughout the site.

The main challenge was to blend a new development into the natural environment. Obtaining the LEED certification was not the end of the design parties’ commitment to keeping the building sustainability throughout its life cycle. Another challenge was to set the path on meeting the LEED requirements that is to reduce carbon foot print, track the energy and water consumption.

Solution

The solution to these challenges was to envision the site as an ecologically rich park on both a horizontal and vertical axis of the building. The building sculpturally integrates the landscape vertically through a sequence of green terraces and horizontally through a series of water bodies with a Bio-lake as the heart.

Sequences of green terraces, sky roofs and balcony gardens integrated the landscape into the building as vertical gardens. Seen as a driving force of nature and wildlife, the Bio-lake was created as an extension to the adjacent existing Veera Sandra Lake. A visual connection was established to the central pool through a series of cascades where stone boulders in water simulate a natural stream within a park.

The landscaping around the terraces invites employees to engage in working outdoors. The walkways and special water-edge treatment allow for end users to truly enjoy and soak in the beautiful green building in all of its glory. The feeling of being surrounded by nature in a tranquil water setting that blends elegantly with the existing landscape is a breath-taking sight of future green workspaces.

The actions that led to the final design

The concept for this Campus is to create a park that extends on both a horizontal and vertical axis of the building.

The horizontal landscape features the construction of a Bio-lake; establishing a strong visual connection to the existing Veera Sandra Lake. The cascading idea was intrinsic to the overall design of the site. Not only does it mimic the flow of water but also has structural shape and form that was critical to how the landscape can be blended into the landscape design. It extends into the building in the form of green terraces as a fluid transition from the lower to upper levels. The cascading green terraces on every level and along with the lake the terraces create an adequate micro-climate, thus minimizing mechanical cooling. The Bio-lake and its dots of green islands introduce an ecological habitat linking local wildlife and birds to engage with the said green spaces.

The vertical landscaping involved applying green spaces to all available open-air areas of the building. This signalled a vertical park design where green terraces, green roofs, and application of green spaces in semi-outdoor areas.

The overall concept vision was to weave a green fabric thoughtfully and delicately into the building to blur the line between landscape and architecture. The Headquarters building’s outer surfaces are wrapped primarily with stone and thus becomes a large rock sculpture set across a series of water bodies with a Bio-lake as the heart of the setting. Subsequent green terraces, sky roofs, and balcony gardens are used to extend the landscape into the building. The entrance is set against an undulating land art that emphasizes this motif.

Stone is a major design element throughout the site. It functions on both a philosophical and creative level. As a design philosophy, it was incredibly important to feature stone in various forms, be it used in the form of a sculpture in the Bio-lake, or as stone boulders throughout the landscape, or as monolith stone seats dotted around the buildings, stone is used in various forms of different shapes and sizes to create a naturalistic transition between the clear water pool, the Bio-lake and the buildings. The use of stone was essential in creating a seamless visual connection between the one existed lake, Bio-lake, and central lake. It became an important material to make this integration happen naturally, through its use in landscape design.

Social facts

Design value benefited to clients, employees and the neighborhoods. The changed in workplace design by creating outdoor workplace with more green space which help in creativity, while the client is in design industry. Because of the rich landscape setting with its abundant nature on site the project inspired an artist to create a supreme outdoor clock. The design of the clock is driven by dragonfly that can be found on site in abundance. The supreme clock is a fitting tribute to the power of transformation landscape design.

The project perfectly encapsulates green architecture where landscape and architecture boundaries are blurred. It truly provides a green office campus where employees are encouraged to work in tandem with the outdoor setting.

Environmental and Spatial facts

Distinct characteristics are the immediate surrounding landscape. Designs were focused on connecting the new site to the adjacent existing Veera Sandra Lake. Natural plants merged naturally into the landscape of the project. Applying maximum vegetation and green spaces to the building were a means of designing a workplace for the future. While Bio-lake served as a visual link to the existing lake, it also functioned to collect rainwater. Bio-filter was applied to the stone pebble wash in the Bio-lake. This helped regulate chemical imbalances in collected rainwater in the lake.

The provision of ample green space around the building to promote bio-diversity, designed of landscape, planted trees to shade walkways, courtyards, and reduce temperature differences between the exterior and the interior. Reduction of hard and impervious surfaces is also applied to limit storm water runoff. Designed vegetated roofs to reduce heat ingress and installed external lighting to reduce night sky pollution.

The whole office development becomes a dramatic sculpture for the neighborhood.

The project aspires to become a LEED Platinum Building giving great emphasis on landscape and sustainability. For instance, the re-created lakes are built to store water especially during monsoon season, where due consideration is given to its edge end base treatment making the lake side park a user-friendly place to enjoy.

The sustainability measure includes minimization of soil erosion and disturbance before construction; Preservation of top soil, stockpile and protection until construction completion through planting and mulching; Coco-fiber was mixed into the soil for the green terraces and green roofs; greatly reducing the weight impact of the soil on the campus infrastructure.

  • Good health and well-being
    Green spaces are applied where possible in and around the building encouraged healthy life style and environment for the workplace.
  • Clean Water and Sanitation
    The design not only protected the natural environment around the lake nearby successfully, but also created Bio-lake, special rooftop light wells and green environment to extend the sustainability concept, minimize maintenance effort at the same time reducing use of water. Two methods are applied to involved water efficiency. First is to involve selective planting. While extensive vegetation promotes bio-diversity, selections of native, non-invasive and adaptive landscaping species also helped in reducing the need for excess irrigation for plantings. Second, coupled with combining of soft and hard landscape surfaces, lawn areas were reduced, further with pulled in natural plants area, results in lowering water consumption and minimizing pesticide and fertilizer usage.
  • Affordable and Clean energy
    Besides LED light is widely used throughout the project, minimize maintenance effort on landscape area also help reducing unnecessary use of energy. The site is also designed to promote alternative transportation including bicycle, battery vehicles, carpooling by restriction of car parking and allocation of carpooling spaces. Ride-sharing is also promoted in the office.
  • Sustainable Cities and communities
    Protecting the surrounding green environment and rivers with new development, further with creating green space all in and around the office area so as to bring natural environment into the workplace allowing enhancement of human settlement. A green wall on the western side of the building shields the usable spaces from harsh western sun. The green buffer zone in between green wall and usable space further cuts off the radiation.  A green fabric is then delicately and thoughtfully laced into the architecture. Office workers are never out of walking distance from nature given the adequate and intentional positioning of green spaces in and around the building.
  • Responsible Consumption and Production
    The establishment of comprehensive recycling program for paper, plastic, glass and metals. Special focus on selection of materials with high recycled content. The procurement of materials that are locally manufactured (within 500 mils) was also a means of working responsibly in how we treat and manage goods, resources and materials.
  • Climate Action
    Large amount of green space throughout the project helps on reducing greenhouse effect, absorbing heat and turning carbon dioxide into oxygen.
  • Life on Land
    Natural environment and nearby lake are protected which allow ecological sustainability both inside the lake and on land, at the same time attracting wild life and growth of different kinds of natural plants.

Project Info:

  • Name of the project: TITAN Integrity Campus
  • Project category: Office Project (Campuses and Corporate Landscapes)
  • Role of the entrant in the project: ONE Landscape Design Limited enters the integrated Architect and Landscape design where landscape is the key design driver and the most important role in the making a truly sustainable work space of the TITAN Integrity Campus.
  • Architecture offices involved in the design: Titan Company Limited and Mindspace Architects
  • Project Location: Electronic City Phase 2, Bangalore, India
  • Design year: 2015
  • Year Built: 2018
  • Total Site Area: 2.6 hectare
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