Climatic Zone: Warm and Humid

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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai

Climatic Zone: Warm and Humid
Computer Maintenance Corporation House,
Mumbai
An energy-effi ci ent, i ntelligent, hi-tech building in Mumbai

General description

The CMC (Computer Mai ntenance Corporati on) bui l di ng at Bandra,
Mumbai , is an intelli gent, hi-tech, and energy-effi ci ent building.
Archi tecture, i nteri or desi gn, and servi ces are i ntegrated to compl ement
these features.

The design process was initi ated with the requi rement analysis
based on a seri es of meeti ngs between the desi gners and the ` users
commi ttee of the CMC, to deci de i ssues rel ated to space
organi zati on, desi gns and provi si on of recreati onal and servi ce
faci li ti es for the staff.

In order to encourage i nformal i nteracti on among the staff, who are
seated on di fferent fl oors i n the bui l di ng, i t was deci ded to create
smal l work modul es of 10 to 25 persons, each arranged around an
atri um. These are arranged i n the form of a heli x, resulting in a
building in which fl oor di vi si ons have di sappeared and
communi cati on i s enhanced, wi thout compromi si ng on pri vacy and
spaci ousness. It even encourages peopl e to take the easy-goi ng
stai rs i nstead of the el evator.

All publ i c spaces such as the recepti on and meeti ng rooms, art
gal l ery, computer room, and demonstrati on room are l ocated at the
l ower l evel s, l eavi ng si x fl oors of conti nuous offi ce space topped by
the staff faci li ti es. Car parki ng and other servi ces are provi ded i n
the basement.
Climatic Zone: Warm and Humid
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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai

The form of the CMC buil di ng was determi ned by the prevai l i ng
zoni ng regul ati ons, whi ch cal l ed for a buil di ng of di mensi ons 22
25 30 m.
Design features
Architectural concept
The archi tectural concept di vi ded each fl oor i nto four l evel s
connected by short fl i ghts of stai rs. Three of these l evel s are offi ce
spaces whi l e the fourth i s the servi ce modul e wi th the el evators and
the mai n stai rcase.
The mai n ci rcul ati on route i s pl aced around the atri um i n the form
of a hel i x, whi ch creates an i nteresti ng spi ral li ng space.

Interior design
The materi al s used i n the i nteri or desi gn were careful l y chosen wi th
envi ronmental conservati on i n mi nd; CMCs tradi ti on of usi ng
handcrafted natural materi al s i n preference to syntheti c materi al s
has been fol l owed.
An open pl an l andscape office concept has been used al l through.
The furni ture i tsel f i s made out of the waste wood from rubber
trees, processed to produce a durabl e and aestheti cal l y pl easi ng
materi al .
In order to reduce noi se i n the open offi ce, sound absorbent
cei li ngs, parti ti ons, and fl oori ng have been used.
The modul ar sound absorbent di vi di ng screens i ncorporate a
suspensi on system that al l ows modul es such as tabl etops, si de
racks, and storage uni ts to be attached to them.
El ectri ci ty, tel ephones, and computer communi cati on cabl es are
i ntegrated wi th the screens, fl oori ng, wal l panel s, fal se cei l i ng, and
al so wi th the furni ture.
Speci al l y produced coi r mats wi th l atex backi ng have been used to
provi de a durabl e and i nexpensi ve fl oor coveri ng i n offi ce.

Climatic Zone: Warm and Humid
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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai
Building systems
Lighting system
The thoughtful l y desi gned l i ghti ng system provi des a uni form
general i ll umi nati on i n the range 175-200 Lux i n the enti re worki ng
area. Low wattage and hi gh effi ci ency sources such as CFL or
fl uorescent l amps (40 W) wi th hi gh frequency el ectroni c bal l asts,
mi rror opti c refl ectors, and parabol i c l ouvres have been used.
Si nce the work surfaces requi re hi gher i llumi nati on (~300 Lux),
task l i ghti ng has been provi ded wi th the hel p of 9 W CFL PL task
l amps. Together, these requi re no more than 10 W of power per
square metre of offi ce space.
The on/off and di mmi ng of arti fi ci al general li ghti ng i s control led by
a mi croprocessor that responds to the avai l abl e dayl i ght.
The l i ghti ng of computer areas requi red speci al attenti on i n order to
avoi d a gl are on the computer screens. Speci al fi xtures wi th
metal li c parabol i c mi rror l ouvres sol ved thi s probl em wi thout
sacri fi ci ng the effi ci ency of the l umi nari es.
A more uni form l evel of l i ghti ng has been achi eved by usi ng cl osel y
spaced si ngl e-tube l ight fi xtures i nstead of the common twi n-tube
fi xtures.
Air-conditioning system
Four i ndependentl y control l ed uni tary AHUs (ai r-handl i ng uni ts) are
l ocated on each fl oor al l owi ng fl exi bi li ty in use. When the bui l di ng
i s not ful l y occupi ed (over a weekend, for exampl e), i t i s possi bl e to
cool onl y the secti ons bei ng used.
The HVAC (heati ng, venti l ati on, and ai r-condi ti oni ng) pl ant i s
l ocated i n the basement and mi x-matched to al l ow vari abl e capaci ty
wi th hi gh effi ci ency.
The enti re operati on of the pl ant and the AHUs i s control l ed by a
mi croprocessor. Apart from provi di ng effi ci ent control over the
operati ons, the mi croprocessor control system al so ensures
automati c l oad management when the building is to be run on a stand-
by power generator and full plant operation is not possible.
Climatic Zone: Warm and Humid
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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai
In the event of a fire, unitary AHUs will be switched off, ventilation fans will
be started, and the lift lobby will be pressurized.
Innovative design systems
Integration of daylighting with the lighting system
Wi ndows l ocated on the peri phery are unabl e to transmi t dayl ight
deep i nto the worki ng areas (11-13 m i n the case of thi s bui l di ng).
A central atri um wi th ci rcul ati on routes around i t i ntroduces
dayl i ght to al l fl oors and effecti vel y reduces the depth of worki ng
areas to 9 m.
The doubl e-gl azed peri pheral wi ndows are spl i t i nto two parts-the
upper hal f i s used for dayl i ghti ng and the l ower hal f for vi ewi ng.
The upper wi ndow i ncorporates smal l li ght shel ves i n the form of
refl ecti ve (mi rror coated) veneti an bl i nds operated by
mi croprocessor-control l ed motors, whi ch til t the sl ats at
predetermi ned angl es i n response to the angl e of i nci dence of
sunl i ght on di fferent faces of the bui l di ng.
The motori zed l ouvres are desi gned to be automati cal l y adjusted, to
refl ect sunl i ght on to the cei li ng, whi ch has whi te pai nted fl at and
angl ed panel s. Thi s method provi des more l i ght deep i nsi de the
offi ce space and i mproves dayl i ght di stri buti on near the wi ndows.
The lower half of the window is fitted with reflective glass and ordinary
veneti an bl i nds, whi ch peopl e can adjust accordi ng to thei r needs.
For better mai ntenance, the bl i nds are encl osed between the outer
and i nner sheets of gl ass. The net effect of these measures i s that
during daylight hours, practi call y no artificial lighting i s needed.
Insulation for reduction in heat loads
To reduce the cool i ng l oad, thermal i nsulati on was provi ded i n al l
exposed wal l and roof surfaces and doubl e-gl azed wi ndows. The
wi ndows were seal ed to reduce i nfi l trati on l osses.
To al l ow more effi ci ent pl ant operati on, the ai r-condi ti oni ng l oad
was determi ned by the more commonl y occurri ng ambi ent
condi ti ons i n preference to the normal practi ce of usi ng the worst
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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai
combi nati on of ambi ent factors whi ch mi ght occur on one or two
days i n the year.
The total ai r-condi ti oni ng pl ant capaci ty thus worked out to about
17 m of cool ed space per TR (tonnes of refri gerati on), whi ch i s
much better than the Mumbai norm (~10 m per TR)
Intelligent (hi-tech) building
Integrati on of computeri zed management and control i n the buil di ng
desi gn i s not just to manage normal bui l di ng functi ons but al so to
achi eve a hi gher l evel of effi ci ency.
The system control s ai r-condi ti oni ng, l i ghti ng, securi ty, and
automati c mai ntenance of equi pment and communi cati ons.
The computers al so make the bui l di ng respond to outdoor weather
condi ti ons to opti mi ze energy use i n the buil di ng.
Computers are al so used here to al l ocate seats to fi el d workers on a
day-to-day basi s, and for i nformi ng the EPABX of the l ocati on of the
worker. Thi s enabl es the company to opti mi ze the seati ng capaci ty
and other faci li ti es i n the bui l di ng.
Performance
The desi gners esti mated that the CMC buil di ng consumes about
25% l ess energy than the tradi ti onal l y desi gned offi ces i n Mumbai .
The mi croprocessor for control l i ng the movement of the l ouvres was
i nstall ed i n some parts of the bui l di ng onl y and i n most of the
buil di ng the bl i nds work no di fferent than i n any other conventi onal
buil di ng. These bl i nds are now control l ed by a manual l y operated
el ectri cal swi tch.

Economics
Si nce the control s for l i ghti ng, veneti an bli nds and the ai r-
condi ti oni ng pl ant were part of the Bui l ding Automati on System
devel oped i n-house by the CMC, i t i s di ffi cul t to gi ve authenti c
esti mates of the addi ti onal cost i ncurred i n desi gni ng thi s system
and other energy-savi ng features.
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Computer Maintenance Corporation House, Mumbai
The cost of the automati on system was 6.5 mi lli on rupees and the
savi ngs i n reduced i nstal l ed capaci ty of the HVAC pl ant were about
3 mi ll i on rupees.

At a glance
Project details
Project name CMC House, Mumbai
Building type Commercial office
Climatic zone Warm and humid
Client/owner CMC Limited
Architects Vinod Gupta and Rasik Bahl
Vinod Gupta
Space design consultants
K-38 Jungpura Extension
New Delhi- 110 014

Consultants
Project management Stup Consultants
Structural S V Damle
Electrical Electrical Consulting Engineers
HVAC Gupta Consultants
Plumbing S G Deolalikar
Mechanical G P Khungar
Lighting Ashok Gadgil
Automation CMC Limited & Space Design Associates
Interiors Carl Christiansson & Space Design Associates
Energy Vinod Gupta