By Desaraju Surya
AMARAVATI: The integrated Andhra Pradesh State Secretariat and Heads of Departments Towers (1+4) in Amaravati Capital City, once completed in the next three-four years, will stand tall among only a handful of iconic structures in the world built using the ‘steel lattice grid system’, also known as ‘steel diagrid structural technology’.
The diagrid towers will be the first-of-its-kind in India with complete structural and architectural elements.
The Hearst Tower in New York City, the CCTV headquarters building in Beijing, the Lotte Super Tower in Seoul, the Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi, the West Tower in Guangzhou and the Gherkin (30 St Mary Axe) in London are some of the prominent iconic structures built in the world using the diagrid technology.
Norman Foster + Partners, who designed the Hearst Tower in NYC, is also the architect of the Amaravati Iconic Towers.
The Amaravati Iconic Towers (AIT) are being built at a cost of Rs 4,688.82 crore to be “more iconic and futuristic office spaces”.
The government complex in Amaravati Capital City has been conceptualised as a “modern administration and governance hub” for the 21st century.
It is expected to become the anchor for development of the capital city.
The AP State Secretariat comprises 33 departments while the HODs comprise 107 departments.
While the GAD Tower, which will house the Chief Minister’s Office, will have 50 floors, the remaining four towers will have 40 floors each with a gross plinth area of 68.88 lakh sft.
The AIT will be built to meet the Indian Green Building Council norms for Green New Buildings Platinum level certification.
Being transparent structures, the diagrids enable ample influx of natural light, creating a vibrant interior atmosphere.
Diagrid structures are significant in modern architecture for their structural efficiency and aesthetic appeal, allowing for large column-free spaces and reducing the amount of steel used in high-rise buildings.
Diagrids are known to be effective in resisting lateral loads, including wind and seismic forces, making them withstand natural calamities.
About 60,000 tonnes of steel will be used in the building of the AIT, which alone is expected to cost over Rs 1,600 crore.
As additional workmen force is also required to be engaged for the diagrid towers, the construction cost is expected to go up.
Also, construction of diagrids is seen as more challenging compared to conventional structures and, as such, the risk factors are also said to be high.
The challenge is also more because of limited availability of fabrication workshops in India for diagrid steel structures.
As this is a specialised work, requirement of highly-skilled workmen and also sophisticated machinery is high.
Besides paying additional risk allowance to the work force, the contract executing agency is also required to make extra safety arrangements to ensure incident-free work up to a height of 225 meters (50 floors).