TATA lecture theatre

A Building in the Garden

The International Lecture Theater at the 4-acre campus of ‘Tata Power Centre for Power Efficiency in Distribution’ (CENPEID) in Rohini, New Delhi is a shining example of Harmony between Built & Natural environment.

The brief to was design a small (50-seater) yet state of the art lecture theatre for CENPIED’s International conferences and training programs. However, placing a building in a large garden flanked with plenty of trees was a challenge SSA was faced with.

Concept & rationale:

Design team at SSA came up with a unique idea of juxtaposing two largely rectangular blocks next to each another with roofs sloping in opposite directions towards the center. The resultant form allowed two sides to be largely opaque with a transparent central atrium.

This created a visual connect between the greenery on either side of the building.

The slope of the left roof catered to the extra height required for the tiered theatre, while the slope of the right roof generated a mezzanine used for the breakout purpose.

Structure & interiors:

Structure was conceived as composite in nature with the insulated metal roof (non-combustible sandwich panel) supported on reinforced concrete framework. External finish was planned to make the building merge with the green surrounding.

Surrounding garden becomes an integral part of the atria with back-to-back glass walls. Simple and minimalistic, the interior finishes reflect the texture and tone of the exterior concrete finish.  Blue tones of the corporate color are used to highlight the ‘Little Blue Staircase’ that goes up to the upper level.

The Break out Zone on the Mezzanine floor

The cozy 60 sqm space on the mezzanine level has modern décor & gets a panoramic 360 degrees view of the surrounding greenery.

The stepped Lecture theatre

The Executive Lecture Theatre for 50 is stepped in gentle curved steps. The pattern is highlighted in the curves of the false ceiling with subdued cove lighting.