'IN HARMONY WITH THE URBAN HISTORIC FABRIC

The project designed by DFI, celebrates cultural diversity and historical identity of Lutyens Delhi while establishing its own identity and distinct character, along with serving the functional needs.

Project: Vanijya Bhavan, New Delhi; Architects: Design Forum International (DFI)

The strength of departments involved in commerce-related T activities has exceeded two thousand people, creating the need to rent out additional space around Udyog Bhawan. Due to the availability of land owned by the Directorate General of Supplies and Goods (DGS&D) near Central Vista, the government had decided to bring these departments together under the umbrella of a single space serving all purposes. This led to the conception of Vanijya Bhawan as headquarters for the Ministry of Commerce.

Lying adjacent to the Rajpath, abutting the Akbar Road, the office complex is designed to house the offices of the Ministers of Commerce, Secretary's office, and accommodate around 1800 to 2000 officers. The building lies on the C-Hexagon in Lutyens Delhi within close proximity to prominent heritage buildings such as India Gate, Hyderabad House, Jaipur, National Gallery of Modern Arts, and Bikaner House, amongst others. By virtue of the location itself, one has to be conscious of the materials, motifs, and scale incorporated in the design intervention. Designing within this context, therefore, brings challenges along; one such challenge is to synergise the new built massing with the existing urban historic identity, enabling a coherent distinction. Acknowledging this, the project is envisaged to be a landmark for public architecture that propels and propagates its identity without creating a great departure from its overall immediate urban historic context.