Indian Jeweller (IJ) June - July 2020

ExpErt column
Aftab Bandukwala
Founder, Principal
Architect, V-Design
Architectural
Solutions Pvt Ltd
DESIGN DIRECTIVE
The CAwnpore ChroniCles pArT 5
From Visualisation
to reality!
In this series, Aftab Bandukwala’s Cawnpore
project finally takes shape, one brick at a time
Slowly the form starts to appear and in
another few days with the finishes coming
on and painting, polishing and floor polishing
under way, the project finally starts to look like
the store one has imagined!
We have been
‘building up’ this
building on paper
long enough and
I think it’s time to
move on site with
the interiors!
Needless to
say, while we’ve
been detailing
the interiors
drawings, the
building has been
coming up on site
By the time you read this I hope
we have managed to assimilate
the ‘terror’ of Covid19 into our
reality and with soaring morale and heads
held high we are getting on with life and
living every second of it, with adequate
care and measures.
We have been ‘building up’ this building
on paper long enough and I think it’s
time to move on site with the interiors!
Needless to say, while we’ve been detailing
the interiors drawings, the building has
been coming up on site. The architectural
construction can be a bit slow and boring
since it’s en masse so I haven’t spent too
much newsprint on writing about it. It is
a process whereby slab after slab comes
up with intermittent period of no activity
while the previous slab is allowed to cure
and the steel and formwork for the next
slab is being slowly and securely erected.
This being a steel and RCC composite
structure, the construction was very fast
and the main structure was up in a jiffy,
relatively. We allow for the third level
to come up before starting the interior
construction for the first level so that
there is a buffer of one floor at all times
between the interior construction and
the actual structural construction.
Detail drawings are ready by now
and we have already issued the basic
construction drawings to the site team
so the walls, partitions and panelling are
already being put up on the respective
levels as and when they are released
for the purpose. Before this, however,
the layout that was thus far on paper
is actually ‘printed’ on the floor to do
a final accuracy check if the drawings
issued and construction is started after
any minor tweaking.
The excitement and frenetic
activities start in right earnest! This is in
complete contact to the slow and almost
monotonous pace of the structural
work and the project suddenly seems
to come alive! Now the site transforms
on almost a daily basis and schedules
and timelines are far more stringent
and uncompromising.
It’s the services such as airconditioning,
electrification and
plumbing that move in first, even before
construction of partitions because they
need a clear path to run their ducts,
conduits and pipes. After giving them
a head start and with the walls and
partitions in place the next activities
are the flooring and false ceiling. This
work is usually ongoing and ends
just around the time the finishing
work starts. There are many detailed
construction activities that happen all
along as well, such as facade cladding,
staircase construction and cladding and
railings to make a few.
Slowly the form starts to appear and
in another few days with the finishes
coming on and painting, polishing and
floor polishing under way, the project
finally starts to look like the store one
has imagined!
You may think it’s over, but oh no!
Not yet! Next issue, we will have a
look at the climax look. Till then stay
healthy and stay cautious!
60 | june-july 2020 | INDIAN JEWELLER
INDIAN JEWELLER | june-july 2020 | 61