Project: WinWind Administrative Building, Vengal (45 km outside Chennai)

It was a dream project – a client, Finnish wind energy company WinWind, who was willing to splurge on an iconic administrative building at the heart of the Vengal facility. So this group of 3 young architects, Kesav, Sanjay and Bala of Kratu Space Designers, decided to get creative and give their clients a building that would truly stand out.

They worked feverishly, coming up with designs, killing them all and finally settling on a combination of an Egypt-inspired Sphinx and a pyramid. The first hurdle was crossed when the client okayed the design.

Next came the selection of the building material. For such an iconic building, nothing less than glass would do – because unlike other building materials like brick and wood, glass does not show the patina of age. Moreover, with their client in the green energy business, it was important to construct a building which was green. Glass is 100% recyclable and its aesthetics are unparalleled. Glass merges the indoor and the outdoor and gives an illusion of space.

All of them agreed on the KT series glass for the building. This type of glass is double glazed, meaning 2 sheets of 6 mm glass with 12 mm of vacuum between them. This glass has low U-value, solar factor and shading coefficient, which allow maximum light but minimum heat to pass through. The vacuum cuts out the heat, allowing only light to pass through. The interior of the building was now at least 6 degrees cooler than the exterior. That reduced the load on the ACs in the building and there was no need for artificial lighting during the day, as sunlight would light up the entire office. Kesav estimates that there is at least a 15% saving on the electricity bill for this building due to this KT glass and the amount spent by the client on the glass can be recovered on energy savings in 5-8 years.

Obstacle number three was the shape of the glass. Since rectangular panes wouldn’t suit the pyramid shape they had visualised, the glass had to be cut into rhombus-shaped panes. And at the edges, one sheet of glass was made slightly longer than the other, so that it fit over the one below it. And that solved the problem of the pyramid’s edges.

Kesav is a huge fan of glass. He loves the fact that it is eco-friendly and as the world moves towards green buildings, he too sees the advantages that glass can offer. Glass is as strong as most building materials and can easily be a substitute for regular brick and wood in many buildings. Glass, he says, if used well, not only enhances the beauty and aesthetics of a building, it also creates a fun and peaceful living and working atmosphere.