Architects at Work
Moshe Safdie, the internationally acclaimed Boston-based
architect has designed the Khalsa Heritage Complex. Ashok
Dhawan, an eminent architect, is his associate in India. |
| Design and layout |
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Being built on
a 100-acre site, the Complex has presently been conceived as
two functionally integrated sets of buildings. The Western
complex forms the gateway for the town. It houses functions
that respond directly to the needs of the people — changing
exhibit galleries; a two-level research and reference
library centred around a great reading room open to vistas
of water gardens to house rare archival materials, books,
journals as well as audio visual resources; and a 400-seat
auditorium to host seminars and cultural events.
A 165-metre bridge from the Western complex provides
pedestrian access to the Eastern complex, the Khalsa
Heritage Museum, that comprises permanent exhibit galleries
on 500 years of Sikh heritage along with museum facilities
to rival any world-class museum. A series of reflecting
pools create a seven-acre water body between the two
complexes. Arcaded walkways and gardens on either side
gently cascade towards the serene pools. Public facilities
and a cafeteria are located at the base of the bridge
overlooking this vista. |

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Components of the complex :
The building project
consists of following parts :-
Complex-A : |
It mainly
houses reception, library, Auditorium, Temporary Exhibit
Gallery in addition to Meeting rooms and Mechanical area. The
library is having a covered area of 2230 sqm. and the 400
seated Auditorium is having covered area as 1980 sqm. split
into three levels. The organisations who want to put up their
exhibitions for short durations shall be offered space in
Temporary Exhibit Gallery having a covered area of 1373 sqm.
The structures for this Complex is made of concrete bearing
walls and Vierendeel trusses. The founding level is 305 m and
top level of this part of Building is 333.9 m. The walls
ascending from the ravine level are cladded with
weather-resistant sandstone.
Complex-B :
It mainly consists of Pedestrian Bridge,
Cafeteria and Kitchen Block. The 165 m long end wide
Pedestrian Bridge, which is connecting Complex-A and
Complex-C, primarily consists of four independently tied
arches (three 33m long and one 27m long).Each arch is in
Reinforced Cement Concrete except the tie beams at springing
level which are of Prestressed concrete. Cafeteria and
Kitchen Blocks consist of Café dining room of covered area
as 1424 sqm. The founding level is 305 m and top level of
Café dining is 316.4 m. |
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| Complex-C : |
It mainly
houses Permanent Exhibit building, Heritage Museum, Media
Exhibit buildings and Entrance lobby. Permanent Exhibit and
Media Exhibit building are formed by a series of sand
stone-clad concrete structures, some curved and some
rectangular in shape, that rise from the cliff faces
becoming extensions of the sandcliffs. This geometric formed
structure consists of Arcade, Receiving dock,
Mechanical/Electrical room, Reception, Storage space,
Workshops, labs, lecture and meeting space, book store and
gift shops, offices, toilet, Exhibit Galleries, Planters and
grand stairs. The covered area for the building is 17,151
sqm. The foundation level is 311.5m and the top level of
highest roof is 356.15 m.
Heritage
Museum with plan area as 1780 sqm. consists of a Ramp which
starts from RL 321.0 m and goes up till RL 327.60m. The long
span roof of the building shall be filled with water to get
the reflecting effect. The structural system is RCC shear
wall structures with inside ramp of Prestressed concrete.
The foundation level is 308.5 m and the top of roof is 330.6
m. |
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| Elevations |
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Salient Technical Features
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Since the project site falls
in Earthquake Zone V, the structure of the project has been
designed to cover all the seismic aspects which are
applicable for Indian conditions.
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Full scale mock-up samples for
every important activity are first created at site with
different combinations, got approved from Architect and only
then the actual work at site is executed. As on date, 35
nos. mock-ups have were created.
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Most of the columns and beams
are of fair face concrete which have been casted in single
pour for all heights/lengths varying from 3 mtr - 5 mtr. The
columns are without any shuttering joints while in beams the
shuttering joints are very much restricted and have been
provided only in pattern. The shuttering ply for fair face
concrete columns and beams has been imported from Finland
because of more length, more thickness and better smoothness
of laminated surface.
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Expansion Joint Cover
Assemblies have been imported from USA and
installed in presence of Engineer from the
supplier. This shall ensure the building as
fully leak proof The roofs has been cladded
with stainless steel of Moon-rock finish which
have been
specially manufactured from Steel Authority of India Ltd.
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The landscaping work shall
consist of Tensar Geogrids and Mats for Soil Stabilization
and recreation of sharp slopes.
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A water body
have been developed
along the valley having an area of 25,000 sqm. Approx with average
depth of water as 0.75 mtr (2½ ft). The water body consists
of use of Geomembrane as Pond liners and is being designed
on Re-circulation System of water after filtration. Each
cycle has a duration of 15 hours. Evaporation loss for water
during summer is 7 Lacs ltrs per day. This is replenished
from Tube Wells.
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The highest point of roof
is approximately 46.00 m(151 ft.) above the water body
level.
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Water requirement for
drinking, domestic & make-up water for air conditioning
plant is 3 Lacs Ltr. per day with peak demand soaring to 4.5
Lacs Ltr. per day. This will be catered to from the main
city water supply system. Water requirement for
horticulture, fire fighting and the water bodies is about 15
Lac ltr. per day which will be met from 4 nos. tube wells.
There are two under ground water tanks with five & six
compartments, each of capacity as One Lac ltr. Water will be
available round the clock for all purposes by virtue of
automatic controls i.e. by computerized Building Management
Systems (BMS).
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A separate system for storm
water in the Complex has been laid to drain off the
rainwater from the Complex. Water from around the Complex
will be drained through open channels along the water body.
Rainwater between Complex-C and the water body will
percolate to ground through perforated wells bored for this
purpose.
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The building is fully
air-conditioned round the clock except for Mechanical Area
and Office Area. This system of Heating, Ventilation and
Air-conditioning (HVAC) is designed for 43.30 C DB during
summer and 7.20 C DB during winter to maintain 18±10C DB in
art and storage area including library and 240C DB in
administrative areas. The maximum capacity during peak
season comes out to be 1046 TR and during winter the load
reduces to 618 Kw. There are 4 nos. Chillers, 3 nos. Cooling
Towers, 29 nos. Air Handling Units, 3nos. Air Washers and 11
nos. Pumps as a part of HVAC System.
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The electrical supply for KHC
shall be fed from 132 KV Sub-Station of PSEB after stepping
down to 66KV and through 66 KV Transmission line upto 66KV
Sub-Station under construction within KHC. The supply shall
further be stepped downed at 66KV Sub-Station into 11KV and
then 11 KV through underground H.T. line upto 11KV
Sub-Station also to be constructed within KHC. The power
shall then be stepped down to 415 Volt by 3 nos. 1500 KVA
Transformer and distributed vide more than 140 nos. LT
Switchboards and DBs through LT Cables. Peak load
requirements for the complex is estimated at 1.9MW.
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There are more than 2800
lighting fixtures to illuminate the entire complex. This
includes outdoor lighting fixtures from M/s BEGA, Germany &
internal exhibition lighting fixtures from M/s Concorde, UK,
Philips etc.
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The Fire Detection, Alarm and
Security System includes fire detectors, smoke detectors,
beam detectors, hooters, manual call points, speakers,
magnetic door contact, PIR sensor, CCTV system etc. All
controls are centralized in security room.
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All the services i.e.
Plumbing, Fire Fighting, HVAC, Fire Detection, Alarm and
Security System shall all be controlled by computerized
Building Management System
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A visitor shall travel
approximately 1.5 Kms starting from the drop-off point if he
chooses to visit all the accessible areas in the Complex.
The time spent shall be approximately 2 hours if the visit
is at a stretch.
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