Abhay Vaidya
[ 6 Sep, 2006 0019hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
PUNE: Indian IT giant Infosys Technologies, which has grabbed many a headline in software development, is now set to make waves in architecture.
On September 18, the company will inaugurate the first of its two "spaceships" in Pune — a gigantic, five-storey steel-glass-aluminium clad building that resembles a spacecraft and will house 3,000 professionals.
Truly unique among the thousands of buildings in Pune, if not India, the structure, designed by eminent architect Hafeez Contractor, looks like a spaceship that has just descended on Earth.
Gung-ho over Infosys' Pune operations, which celebrated the crossing of a 10,000 head count last week, Priti Rao, head of Infosys' Pune Development Centre described the building as a "spacecraft that will launch us in the next orbit."
Rao's excitement is understandable as Infosys (Pune) has seen a robust growth of 60-65 per cent over last year and expects the growth and expansion to continue in the next three years.
Broadly satisfied with Pune's infrastructure as compared to Bangalore, Infosys, which has invested Rs 270 crore here over the last three years, sees considerable potential for expansion as it has developed just 24 hectares of its 55-hectare land.
The company's 'spacecraft' is a part of this growth story and is set to be inaugurated by Infosys director and chief financial officer T.V. Mohandas Pai.
The building has 1.5 lakh sq.ft of floor space over five floors. Its form has been derived from an ellipsoid and the structure is meant to speak the hi-tech language of computers, software development and cutting-edge technology.
According to structural designer Dhananjay Dake of the Pune-based Construction Catalysers, which collaborated with Hafeez Contractor in this project, the partially-cut ellipsoid measures 105 metres along its longer axis and 65m along its shorter axis, rising to a height of 35m and tilting at an angle of 10 degrees.
It is this tilt that gives the new Infosys building in Pune the look of a descending spacecraft as "one of its ends appears to be buried into the ground and the other is lifted up".
Dake has been invited to give a presentation on the construction to the Forum for Exchange and Excellence in Design (FEED, Pune).
According to him, pre-stressed grid cell geometry was employed as a part of the innovative architectural engineering that went into this creation.
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IT. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Monday, September 04, 2006
Kolkata: Satyam dreams big in Kolkata
[ 1 Sep, 2006 1939hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK ]
KOLKATA: Satyam Computer Services on Friday assured the state government that its Kolkata plans are on track and it will soon start construction at its proposed facility at Salt Lake's Sector V.
"Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju promised us on Friday that construction on the 2.77-acre plot allotted to them at Sector V will start after the monsoons," state IT minister Debesh Das said.
"Raju also said that the company will hire 800 associates in the first phase," the minister added.
Raju, who is also chairman of Nasscom, was in the city on Friday in connection with a programme organised by the eastern India regional council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
However, Das could not elaborate on the built-up space that Satyam would create at Sector V. The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in February.
"Raju did not ask us for additional land when we spoke on Friday," the minister pointed out. Sources said Satyam has received the necessary clearances for starting construction at Sector V.
In July, Satyam senior vice-president V Murali had told TOI that operations at Sector V would start by October 2007. Murali had then said that Satyam would develop around 300,000 sq ft at Sector V in two phases.
During the first phase, 120,000 sq ft would be established, he had added. In the past, Satyam had said that 2,000 associates would be employed at Sector V once the facility was complete.
Last year, Satyam officials had visited Rajarhat and Bantala with the objective of establishing a larger presence in Kolkata. However, the high price of land at Rajarhat had come in the way.
KOLKATA: Satyam Computer Services on Friday assured the state government that its Kolkata plans are on track and it will soon start construction at its proposed facility at Salt Lake's Sector V.
"Satyam chairman B Ramalinga Raju promised us on Friday that construction on the 2.77-acre plot allotted to them at Sector V will start after the monsoons," state IT minister Debesh Das said.
"Raju also said that the company will hire 800 associates in the first phase," the minister added.
Raju, who is also chairman of Nasscom, was in the city on Friday in connection with a programme organised by the eastern India regional council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
However, Das could not elaborate on the built-up space that Satyam would create at Sector V. The foundation stone for the project was laid by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in February.
"Raju did not ask us for additional land when we spoke on Friday," the minister pointed out. Sources said Satyam has received the necessary clearances for starting construction at Sector V.
In July, Satyam senior vice-president V Murali had told TOI that operations at Sector V would start by October 2007. Murali had then said that Satyam would develop around 300,000 sq ft at Sector V in two phases.
During the first phase, 120,000 sq ft would be established, he had added. In the past, Satyam had said that 2,000 associates would be employed at Sector V once the facility was complete.
Last year, Satyam officials had visited Rajarhat and Bantala with the objective of establishing a larger presence in Kolkata. However, the high price of land at Rajarhat had come in the way.
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