The Floating Harbour

The Kankaria Lake is one of the most important city level hotspot for recreational activities for the city of Ahmedabad. This brings in high flux of visitors to  the site thus creating an opportunity for a city level intervention which can attract the heavy traffic from the edges of the lake. The intervention intends to act as a catalyst for free and connected movements across the site that is from the densely populated neighborhood to the always active road edges and the promenade.  Since the auditorium  (having a capacity of 700 people) along with all the other ancillary functions are raised above the ground, a public plaza is created on the ground that becomes an extension of the promenade, the residential area and the one tree hill where activities of both formal and informal nature can take place. The auditorium that is designed to host speech oriented shows, programs and workshops sits in the center of the heavy solid mass while other spaces are carefully crafted around it having voids to break the monotony of the bulky structure. Vierendeel beams are used as the structural system. Inviting and attractive staircases with accent colour further highlight the facade and continue over to the roof and into the landscape.