<h5-red>CLIENT<h5-red> MAX ESTATES | <h5-red>AREA<h5-red> (BUILT-UP) 1,40,000 SQ FT | <h5-red>STATUS<h5-red> COMPLETED | <h5-red>PHOTOGRAPHER<h5-red> ANDRE J FANTHOME, MAX TEAM | <h5-red>TEAM<h5-red> SIDHARTHA TALWAR, AMBRISH ARORA, SUBRATA RAY, RANA SHIL
Max House is a commercial complex that is set to comprise three multi-tenant buildings placed within a verdant campus. Two of these towers are greenfield developments designed to accommodate a myriad of workspaces and commercial outlets. <rt-red>The third building is an adaptive reuse initiative to convert an existing structure that served earlier as Max Group's corporate headquarters into a community hub.<rt-red>
The site adjoins a bustling thoroughfare, sitting across from an East-West metro corridor, and is a stone's throw from old industrial buildings such as the Modi Flour Mills and the Baha'i Lotus Temple. <rt-red>Max Estate's project brief for the complex underscored the need for a multi-storey office building that would ease into the landscape and nod to its context while aiming to set a benchmark for timeless architecture. The building was envisioned in line with the brand's underlying design philosophy rooted in sustainability, resilience, and environmental harmony.<rt-red>
<rt-red>Distinguishing itself from its neighbours while remaining firmly embedded in its industrial context, the tower—articulated in brick and glass<rt-red> — references the Modi Mills building through its louvred facade punctuated by spandrel panels, deep-set balconies and community terraces.
The buildings are planned to create a wide promenade on the ground level, to facilitate vehicular access up to the building line. <rt-red>The site periphery, in turn, has been reserved for pedestrian access. This access has been transformed through two primary interventions—the setting back of the site boundary to cede space to the city and the neighbouring traffic, and the softening of the site boundaries through landscaping to enable greater physical and visual connection between the complex and its immediate context.<rt-red>
The design scheme extends the expression of exposed brickwork into the interiors, injecting the space with a natural, 'handcrafted' appeal. <rt-red>While brickwork defines the interior expression in the triple-height lobby, local stone cladding as well as use of Italian marble and veneer panelling in selected areas such as in the lift lobbies imbues the surfaces with understated elegance.<rt-red>
Deep-set decompression pockets facilitate fresh air circulation in all occupied spaces by at least thirty per cent above the minimum rates required by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62.1-2010. As many as 82 high solar reflective index (SRI) tiles are proposed to be installed on the roof to minimise the impact on the micro-climate and reduce heat transfer through the building envelope. <rt-red>Through the incorporation of sustainable design features, integration of renewable energy resources, and passive cooling techniques, Max House targets a LEED GOLD rating.<rt-red>
We collaborated with ROHA Landscape to harvest existing resources i.e. native vegetation and water, and mitigate the heat island effect. The interventions include an efficient stormwater management network as well as on-site water rainwater management treatments such as <rt-red>the integration of bioswales, infiltration trenches, rain gardens, bioretention areas, and open grid pavers in hardscaped areas.<rt-red>
