Virendra K Girdhar
architect
MISCELLANOUS
Three Seasons 5 Star Hotel
Whitefield, Bangalore
Gurudwara, Sikh Temple
Bidar
GURUDWARA at Bidar was commissioned as a Tri-Centenary memorial to BHAI SAHIB SINGH: ONE OF THE PANJ PAYARAS (Five Beloved Ones) OF SRI GURU GOVIND SINGH JEE, the Tenth Guru of the Sikhs.
The most important part of Sikhism – a way of life – is the concept of Khalsa, the pure one. The Khalsa preaches purity of mind, body and soul. This can be achieved by living in total harmony with nature.
The cube – the purest form in geometry after the sphere – when imposed on a steeply sloping site, evolved into a sculpted form perched on an elevated podium reflected in the River Kalyani at the lower level.
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Built up area 28,000 sft
Ramsey County Jail
For Gruzen and Partners
Minneapolis, USA
The Ramsey County Adult Detention Center, St.Paul, is designed to “create as normal an environment as possible for prisoners awaiting trails” while at the same time contributing positively to the city’s waterfront on the Mississippi River.
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Located at the corner of two main streets in the central business district, the center appears only as a roof-top plaza from street level. But from the river, the concrete frame with brick infill building “captures the site’s natural bluff formation and is strongly massed and articulated in vertical contours and folding shapes,” in the architect’s words. Placing the building against the bluff allows the tall structures on the opposite side of the main street to retain the view of the river.
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The main entrance is located at plaza level with administrative offices and courtrooms on the upper storey. This floor is connected by tunnel so the city’s main court building. The inmates (as many as 132) are housed on four levels in six separate units, each with 15 individual rooms arranged around a two-storey multipurpose room. All the windows are of unbreakable glass without bars and overlook the river. The flexible floor plan allows for a mixture of security holding rooms.