The Icon And The City

Sattva Galleria - Office cum Retail Building, Batarayanapura, Bengaluru.

- Ar. Sudhakar Pai  

Initiated at a time when Bengaluru was at the cusp of development with the Silicon Valley era ushering in, the Sattva Galleria by Sudhakar Pai Associates stands on the locus of a literal and figural conflux of development and aspirations for the city.

In the early nineties, as Bengaluru developed into the ‘Silicon Valley’ of India it escalated passenger traffic into the city. The existing airport was unable to cope and a new international airport was proposed to the north of Bengaluru at Devanahalli, a village about 40 kilometers from heart of the city. Operations at the new airport commenced in 2008. Sattva Galleria is located on Bellary Road, which leads on to the Kempegowda International Airport. The Office-cumRetail (ORC) building is equidistant from the city center and the airport. The building programme was aimed at mixed-use format, allowing for quality retail on the lower floors and office spaces on the upper floors. In business district environments of a growing suburban setting, it was deemed essential to bring in an optimum mix of commercial and retail spaces which are best suited within that location. Design on the project was initiated in 2009. At the crux of all design ideas was creation of a simple, functional and responsive building that was not only efficient and sensitive to its surroundings, but also a piece of iconic architecture that reflected the city in spirit.