Office on a Jetty
Porbandar, Gujarat
2005
This office block sits on a narrow five meter strip of land on a finger jetty, flanked by two dramatic cylindrical cement storage silos on one side and a service road on another. Across the road is a steep drop alongside which ships dock for loading.
The building clamps onto the existing silos almost completing their existence on the site. The lower level houses the services and storage while the upper level, with a better view of the ships, houses the offices.
The construction of the building is based on the ‘Patch-on’; designed as a ready-to-be-put-together system. Corrugated non-corrosive galvalume sheets are the main cladding material. Variation is brought on the surface by changing the directional orientation of these panels. The silos themselves are painted with a pattern that completely alters their materiality and makes them into precious objects that transform their surroundings with their luminosity.
