CASE STUDY: I

DT3 CITY CENTRE @ GURGAON.

The DT3 city centre is the first of its kind shopping mall located in the National
Capital Region (NCR) of Gurgaon,which is just 35 kms from Connaught Place,New
Delhi.

LOCATION & SURROUNDINGS

 This multiplex cum shopping mall is located near Ansals Sushant Lok-1, Sector-
28, Gurgaon.
 The neighbourhood areas are the residential Sectors of 30 & 41. The Hotel Bristol
is located in the nearby Sector 28.

MEANS OF ACCESS

 This complex is abutted along a 30 m wide

Mehrauli-Gurgoan Road running through Sector-
28;
 It is just 500 m from the National Highway (N.H.)
8, running from Delhi to Jaipur;
 The building complex with its 11 floor high
Advertisement tower acts as a landmark and
forms the main focus of attraction, driving along
the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road. The Mehrauli-Gurgaon road

PROJECT DETAILS

 Plot Area : 14,000 sq.m. (3.46 Acres)

 Area of Commercial Block : 37,150 sq.m.
 F.A.R. : 100
 Ground Coverage : 40%
 Total built-up area : 24,470 sq.m.
 Total saleable area : 23,960 sq.m.
 Architect : Hafeez Contractor
 Owner : DLF INDIA PVT. LTD.

This complex is divided into four parts mainly:

 The Lifestyle Store;

 The Advertising Tower;
 The multiplex; and
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 The retail shops.
 Total Height of the building block : 27 m;
 Total No. of Floors : G+4, Ground floor divided into upper & lower
Ground floors;

FACILITIES PROVIDED IN THE COMPLEX:

Primary Facilities provided are:

 Three screen multiplex;
 Life Style store;
 Retail shops;
 Showrooms;
 Supermarkets;
 Restaurants and cafeteria.

Secondary Facilities provided are: The front elevation of DT3 City Centre
 Administration areas;
 Information Desk;
 Projection rooms;
 Snack counters;
 Various services like air-conditioning, fire fighting;
 Toilets (public and officials);
 Parking facilities for public and officials;

THE BUILT MASS:

The illuminated projected cubic mass over
Entrance: the main entrance
 Two entrances: one flanked by a 5 m wide pedestrian plaza, paved with
sandstone, at +1500 lvl. Accessed by a serious of steps;
 The other entrance is exclusively through the life style store which the main
anchor steps;
 Main entrance is emphasized with a cubic mass at
the top which is illuminated during the night;
 Facilitated with electronic sensors with air curtains
for controlling the movement of the 4.0 m wide glazed
door;
 Fixed glazing extends 2 stories above the glazed
opening to ensure ample natural light into the interior
of the building; view of the interior as seen from the main entrance

Ticket counter:

 Provided near the main entrance, there is only one ticket counter selling the
current and advanced tickets for the daily shows in the multiplex;

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 Facilitated with electronic displays and processing units;

The entrance foyer and the ground floor:

 A 4.0 m wide corridor leads to the main atrium from the main entrance;
 The corridor is decorated with large hanging baffles which draws attention and
increases the dynamic quality of the spaces;
 The flooring is made interesting too with the us e of different colored tiles in a
zigzag pattern;
 Length of the corridor: 26m

Atrium:

 The main atrium is a huge oval shaped space;

 It is well lit with natural light having a funnel
shaped skylight;
 The structure is made steel sections and covered
with blue and white polycarbonate sheets;
 The ground floor consists of 9 restaurants and 32
retail shops at this level; view of the main atrium

BASEMENT AND PARKING:

 No. of basements: 2+1 sub-basement or lower ground floor;

 Floor height: floor – to – floor height of basement = 3.0 m
floor – to – floor height of sub-basement = 3.4 m

Sub-basement (lower ground floor):

 No. of shops = 19;

 A super market of size 48m x 14.6 m is also provided at this level;
 A cafeteria for the drivers;
 Administration office of size 27 sqm area;
 Shops arranged along a central open area, which leads to the capsule lift lobby,
which starts from this floor;
 AHU room and a small electrical room are also present;

Parking:

 The sub basement has a parking capacity for 68

cars;
 Parking capacity in the basement @190 car = 380
cars;
 Open parking space provide in front of the building.
Capacity= 105 cars;
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 Total parking thus provided = 553 cars;
 There is a 6.0 m wide driveway provided all round the complex;
 The building is also abutted by a 12.0 m wide service road;

AREA ANALYSIS:

Life style store (anchor shop):

Occupies approximately 1550 sqm. of floor area in

each floor and goes up for 3 floors.
 Total occupied area = 4650 sqm;
 Separate entrance is provided for the store;
 A pair of escalator at every floor is provided for
vertical connectivity. There is also
provision for separate lifts and fire exit
staircase for this departmental store;

Super market:

Located on the lower ground floor having stalls which sells goods at much lower
price, provided mainly for the drivers. Size: 48 m x 14.6 m, area: 700 sq.m.
(approx.)

Small retail shops:

 Total no. of such shops @ 10/ floor = 30 shops on 3

floors;
 7 Nos. of shops on the lower ground floor;
 Total count = 37 shops;
 Sizes : varies from 6.45m x 3.1m to 6.45m x 5.0m;

Big shops:

 Total no. of such shops @ 21/ floor = 63 shops on 3

floors;
 11 Nos. of shops on the lower ground floor;
 Total count = 74 shops;
 Sizes : varies from 10.2m x 3.15m to 14.3m x 4.95 m;
 Area : varies 32- 70 sqm (approx.);
 The big shops are deep enough for accommodating showrooms, music stores,
jewellery counters etc.
 The small shops are shallow in depth accommodating retail activities like
boutiques , small garment shops, toys, ice-cream parlours;
 The shops are classified as per their dimension and somewhat to their nature of
use.

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Restaurants:

There are 9 designed restaurants at one floor level. The restaurants and food
counters have a mix of local and international brands like Mc. Donald’s, Pizza hut etc.
THE DT MULTIPLEX:

The foyer:

 The foyer is on the 3 rd floor (+14500 lvl.) and is accessible from the 2 nd floor
through an escalator;
 Along the auditorium foyer are the bar counters and gourmet counters;
 A concession counter is provided along these counters where a person can buy
concessional tickets for the second show after watching the 1 st one;
 The foyer is well treated with the hanging posters of Bollywood icons;
 The huge curtain wall along side provides a good quantum of natural light
inside and provides an interactive environment with the nature;
 The side wall of the foyer is decorated with posters of films, diffused shade of
skylights light of the space;

Auditorium:
The three auditoriums are accessible from the same level (+14500 lvl.). The
multiplex covers an area of 4460 sq.m. (approx).

Seating arrangement:
Conventional type with 2 side aisles and 1 central aisle. Clear walking space between
two rows of seat = 450 mm. risers = varies from 140 mm to 320mm.

Projection room:
The projection room is at a level of +20015 mm. it is a single room for the operation
of shows for all the three halls. DT cinemas use state- of- the- art projection system.
Imported from USA based company Christie known to manufacture the best
projection system in the world.

BUILDING SERVICES:

Air- conditioning:

 The air- conditioning is an all- water system, in which chilled water is used as
the cooling medium;
 Air- conditioning plant is located in the basement (lower) of the building;
 Capacity of chillers = 1300 TR (tons of refrigeration);

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 Chillers are located in the separate terrace at the top of the building. Water is
fed to the chillers by means if water tanks located on the same terrace at the
same level;
 Air is being monitored by the sensors for humidity, temperature and
cleanliness;
 Heating coils with blowers are provided so as to supply hot- conditioned air
during the winters when the mean temperature variations are between 7◦- 21◦c;

Fire- fighting:

 Dry carbon-oxide type fire extinguisher are located at suitable places in the
building;
 Fire alarms in the form in the forms of smoke and heat detectors provided on
all the floors of the building at the ceiling level;
 Fire sprinklers and auto smoke extraction systems are provided at the ceiling
level on all floors of the building;
 Water is being fed to the sprinklers from the over- head fire tank. Fire exit
staircase are all over the complex at suitable distance;

Power- supply:

 The daily power requirement of the complex is 3200 KVa;

 The state electricity board supply 2000 KVa of power everyday;
 The deficit is compensated by diesel generators (DGs) installed in the complex
with 100% power back- up with automatic starters to ensure almost no power
disruption during state grid failures;
 No. of D.G. Sets = 1000 KVa x 2 nos. + 500 KVa x 2 nos.

INFERENCES:

Positive aspects:
 Well defined main entrance to the building accessible from a 5 m wide
pedestrian plaza at +1500 lvl.;
 The internal spaces are designed dynamically with the use of zigzag floor
patterns created by means of different coloured tiles, wall colours and placement
of escalators at angles to the floor plates, huge hanging baffles of various
advertisements;
 Natural light is well utilize by providing skylight of different shapes and sizes
and covered with different coloured glass sheets, thus no need of artificial lights to
lid the corridors and circulation spaces;
 Use of latest structural components in the building in the form of various types
of steel sections , space frames, hollow tubular trusses;
 The oval shaped central atrium with its funnel shaped skylight from the main
attraction of the interior;

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 Presence of enough open terraces to look around the building, which not
provides a feeling of openness but also helps in getting a feel of the surrounding
environment;
 The shops are classified according to their sizes and somewhat to the nature of
their use;
 Needs of the drivers are well taken care of by providing a super-market and
cafeteria for them;
 The 45 m high advertisement tower acts as landmark and imposes a
dominating influence over the surrounding building;

Negative aspects:

 The parking space is not sufficient with inadequate spill- over space;
 The front building facade is a complex compositions of forms with the presence
of numerous bill-boards and advertisements giving it a feeling of a huge
advertisement board;

Energy conservation achievements:

Some of the energy saving practices adopted by the owner of the building are:

 Use of energy screw chillers;

 Extensive use of energy saving metal halide lamps and CFL’s are made for
illuminating the whole building;
 Heat reflecting glasses are used on the main façade to reduce the main
consumption of air-conditioning;
 Utilization of natural light by means of sky lights reduces power consumption;
 Rain-water harvesting system is provided in the building;

Environment consideration:

The mall developers have installed STP (sewerage treatment plant) to treat the
waste water and recycle the same for use in the cooling towers. Thus on an average
80-100 KL of fresh water is saved daily. With the various energy saving practices,
the mall has achieved 8% plus saving on electricity consumption in 2005-06 over the
previous year.

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 CASE STUDY: II

DISTRICT CENTRE @ NEHRU PLACE, NEW DELHI

The Nehru Place District Centre was the first one of its
kind developed by the Delhi Development Authority
(DDA), in 1969-72.
It was the biggest of all the 15 District Centers
proposed in the 1962 master plan of Delhi, the 38-
hectare site was built at top the Aravalli mountain
range.
It is the largest Office-Commercial Complex in New
Delhi, after Connaught Place.

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 PIC: 1. The Centre & its surrounding areas showing various land uses.

ACCORDING TO MPD (1962):

 No. of people served : 3 lakhs approx
Components of the District Centre are:
 Retail Shops
 Small & large Corporate Offices;
 Service industry;
 Govt. offices
 Cinemas.

LOCATION & SURROUNDINGS

 Situated in South Delhi at the crossing of Outer Ring Road and Lala Lajpat Rai
Road;
 Its surrounding areas include the higher & upper-middle income areas of Greater
Kailash (G.K.) I and II, East of Kailash, Pamposh Enclave, Chirag Enclave etc.,
middle income areas of Kalkaji and its extension, lower to middle income groups of
Govindpuri extension and the villages of Zamrudpur & Garhi;
 The Lotus temple and the Kalkaji temple are the nearby religious landmarks.
 The District Greens named Astha Kunj stretches from Lotus temple to Nehru Place
and was developed by the DDA. It is another landmark in the vicinity of the Centre
and serve as an interactive public space not only for the residents of the area but
also for the people coming to the Centre.

PROCESS OF DEVELOPMENT

 The centre was initially planned for a population of 3,00,000, whereby the DDA
had given first priority to the shopping cum commercial complex (including the
PARAS cinema hall) and next in importance was the Hotel Intercontinental Eros &
the municipal facilities;
 The place serves as a work centre not only for South Delhi but people from all
other parts gather here for business and official work; the presence of offices, both
government & corporate, has triggered commercial activity especially in the
service sectors.

PROJECT DETAILS

 Plot Area : 301388 sqm

 Ground Coverage : 121651 sqm
 Area under Green : 61270 sqm
 Total Built-Up Area : 817035 sqm
 Area under Parking : 41733 sqm

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 Total Pedestrain Path
with Plaza : 71755 sqm

CATCHMENT AREA

On the basis of proximity:

 Primary: Greater Kailash, Kalkaji, Pamposh, Govindpuri, Chittranjan Park,
Zamrudpur and Garhi;
 Secondary: South Extension, Chirag Delhi, Moolchand, Lajpat Nagar, Defence
Colony.
However, due to its well connectivity by public transport systems, this place has its
influence over entire South Delhi.

PIC: 2. Roof Plan of the Centre

EXISTING BUILDINGS

 Office Towers: Modi Tower, Ansal API, Oriental Bank Of Commerce, IFCI Tower;
 Banks, Central Govt. offices, offices of small enterpreneurs, MNC’s;
 Large number of wholesale and retail shops selling computer hardwares &
softwartes;
 Textile market & State Govt. handlooms;
 Café and food courtconsisting of temporary food stalls;
 5-Star Hotel: The Intercontinental EROS;
 Inox cinema hall
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 The Great Eastern Centre having meeting rooms, Conference & Banquet facilities;
 A 7-storey car parking lot having a capacity of 120 cars per floor;

MOVEMENT PATTERN

Vehicular movemnt is restricted to the periphery of the Centre, the 3 level plaza is
exclusively for pedestrian movement.

PARKING PROVISIONS

 The required number of ECS is 6000

approximately;
 Provided parking space: 3900 ECS
approx.; PIC: 3. Surface parking. PIC: 4. Under plaza parking.
 Parking space is provided on the surface, below the plaza level and the newly
constructed multi-storey parkomat;
 Due to insufficient parking space, the open areas in front of many buildings are
used to accommodate the vehicles.

BUILDING SERVICES

Power Supply: Electricity is provided by a

11KV substation located in the BSES
premises adjacent to the Centre.
PIC: 5. Ramp to 7-storey PIC: 6. Continuous
parking. shopping front.

STATISTICAL DATA (FOOTFALL)

 Visitors every day=1,30,000 approx

 Visitors by car=37600 approx
 Visitors by metro=31200 approx
 Visitors by two wheelers=19500 approx
 Visitors by three wheelers=2900 approx
 Visitors by foot = 357 approx
 Visitors by bus = 70 approx

AREA CHART

The Following chart lists the approx Total Floor Area of some Buildings in the Centre:

[Link]. Name of the Building Covered Built up

Area (sqm) Area
(sqm)
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 1 Satyam Cinema (43) 1868 3736
2 Office No. 22-26 1429 8574
3 Office No. 27-33 1709 10254
4 Office No. 34-44 2804 11216
5 Ansal Tower (38) 1028 16448
6 Chiranjiv (43) 1019 15285
7 Office No. 46-54 2157 12942
8 Office No. 55-60 4468 40212
9 Eros 2623 39345
10 Multilevel Parking 7467 52269

ANALYSIS

 Much of the retail activity is

dependent on the offices in Nehru
Place;
 Though the Centre is at the junction
of two arterial roads, the shops have
failed to create diverse activity,
mainly due to lack of Generator Nodes
PIC: 7. The Centre is completely hidden from
view by dense foliage at the crossing of Outer
Ring Road & Lala Lajpat Rai Marg

 The usual magnets in such places are cinemas, there is only one here, located
adjacent to Voilet line Metro Station;
 Other nodes are office towers which are isolated from the main core, having their
own independent accessibility and parking areas;
 The continuous shopping front is introvert in nature;
 Entries to offices are not on the sides facing shops, thus decreasing interaction;
 Parking spaces acts as barriers to the pedestrian movement;
 Pedestrian access to the main plaza is through these parking areas behind the
buildings.

INFERENCES

Positive Aspects:

I. The Centre today is a specialized Centre for computer business ranking among the
top 10 hardware markets in Asia;
II. Well connected to other parts of New Delhi by means of surface transport system
and Metro;
III. Split-level plaza act as public interactive space for the people working in the Centre.

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 Negative Aspects:

I. This District Centre is a successful office complex but has failed to act as the Multi-
functional Centre it was plnned to be;
II. Main reasons for this could be the lack of permeability along the main roads due to:
 Barriers by dense foliage and parking areas;
 Lack of defined entry/exits to the Centre as well to the individual office towers;
 Absence of any socio-cultural activity in the Centre;
 Entertainment quotient is satisfied only by one cineplex in the centre;
 Shopping is mainly confined to upper main plaza and is not visible to outsiders;
 Absence of an organized food court having permanent food stalls to serve the
large volume of people using the Centre.

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