Integrating Flexibility

This mixed-use commercial building in Ahmedabad, India, responds to the constraints of its environment and functional requirements

- Michele Koh Morollo

Located within an emerging business district in the Indian city of Ahmedabad, Interstellar is a mixed-use, retail and office building with a striking frontal facade featuring terracotta-coloured, fly ash vertical sunbreakers.

more than a workspace

Designed by Mumbai-based Sanjay Puri Architects, the building, which has a built-up area of 17,461.52 sqm, was designed to be highly energy efficient, with passive cooling features that reduce the need for air conditioning. It also boasts screen walls, extensive landscaping, solar panels, and water recycling systems.

The building has 13 levels – two basement parking levels, retail spaces with sheltered arcades on the ground, first and second level, office spaces from the third to the ninth level, and a rooftop terrace tops it off.

The client, real estate developers Suvidha Projects, wanted the building to have maximal space for shops at the lower levels and offices on the upper levels. So the architects designed the office levels to be stepped back from the retail levels. This created space for a large, north-facing landscaped garden that extends from the fourth level, and that’s elevated 12 metres above the road. This large terrace, which features extensive greenery and outdoor sheltered seating areas, serves as a social area for the building’s office workers.