The Imperial 3

History

Design Search was started when the real estate developer Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd. under its flagship construction firm S D Corporation Pvt. Ltd. to develop its remaining land where it has already constructed the The Imperial Towers which were the tallest buildings in India when completed in 2010, but it was topped out by another building from Mumbai the Palais Royale in November, 2012. In March, 2013 a design concept from Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture was selected and the two structural engineer firms J+W Consultants and CBM Engineers who already have worked on the The Imperial Towers were selected for the structural engineer consultant for the Imperial 3.

Location

The Imperial is located in Tardeo, Mumbai. The Imperial Twin Towers are built on former slum land where the current re-development model of builders providing free land and rehabilitation to slum dwellers in exchange for rights for property development, was first put into practice on a big scale. This model was used for slum and mill land redevelopment across the city, and across India as a whole. It will stand near to its existing Sister tower The Imperial Towers which were designed by Hafeez Contractor.

Design

Imperial Tower will also offer spacious and luxurious residences. The 2,200,000 sq ft (200,000 m²) tower includes 820,980 sq ft (76,272 m²) of 132 residential units of between 195 and 1,115 square meters, along with 300,000 sq ft (28,000 m²) 138 serviced apartments units of between 72 and 252 square meters. All of the upper-story condominiums offer scenic views of the Arabian Sea. Architecturally, the exterior wall provides a strong visual contrast with the heavy masonry cladding of most surrounding buildings. The exterior wall is highly sustainable, blocking heat gain and diffusing direct sunlight in the hot and humid climate of Mumbai. The tower's ability to stand up to the wind is enhanced by sky gardens which have been designed to dampen wind eddying about the tower minimizing the negative effects of wind action on the tower. Wind vortex shedding is also mitigated by the north- and south-facing sky gardens, which break up wind currents around the tower. The sky gardens also provide unprecedented access to light, views and connection with the natural world that are unprecedented in Mumbai.

The sustainability of Imperial Tower is also evident in its treatment of water, one of the area’s most precious resources. Water from mechanical systems is collected and treated as greywater; rainfall is also collected for re-use by the units. High-efficiency mechanical systems, a green-wall podium and the use of native plants in the landscaping and sky gardens also adds to the project’s sustainable performance. Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd. is also exploring a plan for kitchens and bathrooms to be pre-fabricated, possibly at a nearby mini-factory that would train a new local workforce.

The Building will have 27 high speed elevators which would be provided by Schindler, which has also provided elevators to the its sister building The Imperial Towers.

Eco-friendly design features

The design of the building makes it environmentally friendly, using technologies such as floor-to-ceiling insulated glazing to contain heat and maximize natural light, and an automatic daylight dimming system. The tower also features a greywater system, which captures rainwater for reuse. Shapoorji Pallonji & Co Ltd. states that the building would be made largely of recycled and recyclable materials. Air entering the building is filtered, as is common, but the air exhausted is cleaned as well. The Imperial 3 Building would be one of the first supertall structures in India to achieve a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Platinum rating for environmental sustainability a Platinum LEED Certification from Green Building Council.

This Building is going to be constructed using a concrete manufactured with slag, a byproduct of blast furnaces. The mixture used in the tower concrete is 55% cement and 45% slag. The use of slag cement reduces damage to the environment by decreasing the amount of cement needed for the building, which in turn lowers the amount of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas produced through the normal cement manufacturing process. Each ton of regular cement produced creates about one ton of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Temperature control and the production of some of its energy are accomplished in an environmentally friendly manner for the tower. Insulated glazing reduces thermal loss, lowering energy consumption and increasing transparency. Carbon dioxide sensors signal increased fresh air ventilation when elevated levels of carbon dioxide are detected in the building. Conditioned air for the occupants is provided by multiple air column units located in the tenant space that deliver 50 °F (10 °C) air into a raised access floor plenum. This underfloor air system provides users with the ability to control their own space temperature as well as improving the ventilation effectiveness. When building churn occurs, workstation moves can be performed more easily with lower cost and less product waste. The cooling system produces and stores ice during off-peak hours, and allows the ice to melt to help cool the building during peak load, similar to the ice batteries in the 1995 Hotel New Otani Tokyo in Japan. Ice batteries have been used since absorption chillers first made ice commercially available 150 years ago, before the invention of the electric light bulb.

Water from mechanical systems is collected and treated as greywater; rainfall is also collected for re-use by the units. High-efficiency mechanical systems, a green-wall podium and the use of native plants in the landscaping and sky gardens also adds to the project’s sustainable performance. Water conservation features in the tower include waterless urinals, which are estimated to save 9,000,000 US gal (30,000,000 l) of water per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 144,000 lb (65,000 kg) per year. The tower has a 4.6-megawatt cogeneration plant, which provides part of the base-load energy requirements. Onsite power generation reduces the significant electrical transmission losses that are typical of central power production plants. Some of its other eco-friendly design features include's solar energy for common area, rain water harvesting, waste water treatment, large windows for natural light, and potable water in taps.