By : wadeindia | 11 Sep 2017 | Recent projects
LOCATION
Pune is a hilly city found in Maharashtra, India. It is located 18° 32" North latitude and 73° 51" East longitude and it is situated at elevation 554 meters above sea level on the western margin of the Deccan plateau. It is on the leeward side of the Sahyadri mountain range, which forms a barrier from the Arabian Sea.
Towards the western side of the city, in MIDC is Hinjewadi, where the biggest IT park in Pune called The Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park is located. Hinjewadi was a completely rural locale until the construction of the Rajiv Gandhi Infotech Park. The park comprises three phases with further phases planned
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinjawadi
Capgemini / IGATE Global Solutions Ltd. has a 35 acre campus in Phase 3. Located at the Northern end of the Phase 3, nearly 50 % of the site shares its boundary with the MIDC reserved forest land on the North and the East. On the West is the MIDC transformer yard and along the South are yet undeveloped plots.
SITE
Out of the 35 acres, 20 acres was to be designed as the Phase 1 of the campus. The site is located at the base of the ‘Marunje ‘ hill. A spur of the hill turns inwards engulfing the site from the Northern and Eastern side. Part of the site on the Southern side was flattish and docile with a level difference of 7 meters. From the central part the contour started rising towards the hill . Here the level difference was 25 meters.
The site was dotted with native trees of Azarichata indica, Tamarindus indica, Tectona grandis, Pongamia pinnata, Bombac ceiba and Terminalia tomentosa. The trees showed a marked stunted growth on the hill side. The strata was hard rock throughout at a depth of mere half a meter. The way the hill spur turned inwards gave rise to interesting hydrological possibilities.
DESIGN SCOPE AND PROGRAMME
The first phase of the campus consisted of a common podium for 3 buildings namely the Development Block, the Experience Centre and the Training Centre. The podium was at the level of the approach road with three storeys of parking beneath.
Creating a fitting landscape on the podium as a foreground to the three main buildings was the primary scope.
A cafeteria and an Employee Relaxation centre were planned as isolated structures behind these buildings on a much lower ground.
The central area was designated as the open space. The level difference here between the top and the bottom was 13 meters. The client brief had amenities like net games courts, cricket area and a large amphi theatre to be catered to in this zone.
DESIGN INTENT
The primary thought was to continue the surrounding hills in the landscape and to try and merge the site in the existing contour.
The main design intent was to create an environment which was enticing and where a user would feel like spending time in.
Apart from the clients design brief with defined activities, it was crucial to create a natural habitat. (which was disturbed with all the construction activity) It was critical to rejuvenate the environment by restoring and adding to the green cover, by creating a micro climate which was conducive to the birds, butterflies and insects as well.
Despite the level difference, creating a flow and simple movement through the site offering varied experiences was challenging.
Passive areas to offset the active games zone, lush areas to offset the starker ones were planned with a lot of deliberation. Two eco ponds were created which collected the rain water and were strategically located considering the natural water run off and flow. Areas with butterfly attracting species were planned thus giving a lot of colour. Trees and grasses along the eco ponds were planted which could provide shelter and breeding grounds for birds.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT CHALLENGES AND CONCERNS
The level difference on site and the hard rock underneath were the two main elements that needed to be handled carefully.
Establishing native trees on the rocky terrain was done by digging pits of 1 m depth and filling those with soil and cocopeat. The trees survived, but their growth was found to be slow and stunted. To offset this, shrub varieties of Vitex negundo, Carissa carendas, Caesalpinea pulcherrima, Tecoma stans and Bamboo were planted along the boundary for a quicker green hedge and definition.
The water was gushing down from the hills in the rains, and there was the danger of it carrying away the loose soil and the new vegetation. A swale was strategically planned along the upper edge, silt traps were introduced and this water was collected in 2 eco ponds planned at two levels.
MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION METHODS
The podium and the open space were the two marked areas for landscape intervention. The podium was a green foreground to the main three structures. We wanted the surrounding ‘hill slopes’ to cascade down on the podium thus maintaining the natural green continuity.
LANDSCAPE DEVELOPMENT FOR CAPGEMINI CAMPUS HINJEWADI PHASE 3
PODIUM:
The podium slab was a PT slab with a 11 m x 11m column grid. The area under landscape on the podium was 65,000 sq.ft. We introduced drain cells and geomat on the podium for effective drainage.To bring down the soil load, a different soil mix was tried out. Poyta Soil with Cocopeat, peanut shells, organic compost was tried out. This helped in retaining the moisture and for effective drainage.
The mandatory 9 meter wide fire tender road was made green by using heavy grade grass pavers thus making a large area green and permeable. The approach road was kept minimum and was paved in granite slabs of shades in grey and black.
OPEN SPACE:
It was obvious from the heavy contours that many areas would have to be levelled and in this process the natural character would be disturbed during the course of making roads and structures. The clients were sensitised towards maintaining the natural contours in the areas other than the buildings and we came up with a plan to make smaller terraces in the open space depending on the strata. The 13 meter level difference was divided into 3 main terraces. Making use of the terrain the large amphi theatre was placed such that minimal cutting had to be done. The topmost terrace was flatter and elongated and hence a basket ball court and a tennis court were placed here. Two net games courts were located on a mid terrace as was a cricket area with a practice net. The main retaining walls were made in Rcc and were parallel to the contours thus attaining the basic terraces. Smaller level differences were made in basalt stone pitching. Simple rough Shahabad stone and rough kadappa stone were used for paving. Gravel was used in certain areas to allow more water percolation in the ground. The eco ponds were lined using a HDP lining and extra burnt bricks. Ground covers were encouraged to grow along the edge for a natural effect.
GREEN AREAS :
Slopes were first stabilised with a geonet and were planted over with ground covers and trees. Slopes towards the hills had sparse trees with stunted growth – typical of the rocky strata below. The periphery of the site with the slopes was planted with native trees and shrubs and was designed as a nature walk with simple paths.
All possible incidental areas were brought under tree planting with fast growing ground covers as the understorey. This helped in quickly establishing green and stabilising the denuded soil and slopes.
COLLABORATION WITH THE CLIENT
The team from the client side was sensitised towards the impact that the building and infra structure development was causing. We convinced them to have a mix of designed landscape near the buildings which went to become natural and wild as we neared the hills. They agreed and allowed us to plant large areas with native trees. We also used lawn sparingly and only where absolutely necessary. This helped in increasing the biodiversity and helped in creating a micro climate that was totally different from the typical indoor IT office environment. Introduction of eco ponds, butterfly and bird attracting plants helped in achieving a balanced outdoor. They were happy to see a variety of birds nesting and breeding near the water.
CONCLUSION
When the work began, everyone was sceptical regarding the creation of a natural environment that we had talked about. With a lot of patience and effort the entire denuded area was executed and planted over. After an year we could see few birds like the water hen, cuckoo and barbet near the water. After 2 years weaver birds, scale breasted Munias, Lapwings, Common Iora, Purple-rumped sunbirds and Shrikes were seen to nest and feed near the eco ponds. The green cover has now established well and a lot of season variations are seen in the planting.
The landscape can be summarized by four words – Aesthetic, Eye-soothing, Minimal and Naturalistic. It creates a peaceful and serene character, and by few minimalistic elements, transforms a difficult patch of land into a user-friendly environmental delight. The biggest strength of the design and execution is the use of materials and planting that blend in easily with the surroundings to create a desirable environment for humans and many other beings within an ecological framework.
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