Firm： vir.mueller architects

Type： Commercial › Office

STATUS： Built

YEAR： 2017

SIZE： 10,000 sqft - 25,000 sqft

This office building for the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) has a built-up area of 1,972 square meters including a basement, parking level and office blocks comprising one research wing and one administrative wing.

The connection between these two sections is a naturally ventilated gallery and a central stair that also serves as the informal social space. This stair is protected from glare by vertical sandstone louvers. The building is designed as a series of parallel reinforced concrete shear walls with the services and circulation located on the west – creating an insulating buffer from the western sun. The north-south orientation allows natural light to penetrate deep into the building, reducing the energy consumption attributed to artificial lighting.

The courtyard anchors the interior by creating a transparent space visible to all inhabitants, enabling informal gathering within a lush, landscaped micro-climate. The vocabulary of the building confronts New Delhi’s harsh extremes of climate, by employing robust and resilient material surfaces. The building may be washed clean by the monsoon rains and illuminated with dramatic shadows playing on the sandstone louvres in the summer sun.