Concept

Covering a built up expanse of 4,60,000 Sq ft, The Patni Campus, situated in suburban sprawl of Noida, is the Second Largest Platinum rated LEED Certified Green Building by the IGBC (Indian Green Building Council), the highest form of honour to be bestowed by the council.

An attempt towards sustainable development, the design of the edifice is inspired by the traditional inward look - 'Indian Haveli Plan'. The basic design concept is that of simple straight line, low-key architecture in context with the surroundings, site and climate. Passive (architectural) and active (mechanical/ electrical) strategies have been optimally designed to minimize energy consumption.

The building is designed around two beautifully landscaped courtyards with water bodies, plants and sculptures as visual nodes, which enhance and bind the space. The building's facade opens out for greater transparency towards the courtyard. The elevation of the edifice has been inspired by a typical Indian haveli 'Jharokha'. The building depth has been optimized to capture daylight for more than 75% of the occupied interiors and in order to maximize the outdoor views. The exterior shading systems of the building has been designed to cut off heat while being receptive towards glare free light.

The aesthetic water features in the courtyards also act as natural cooling bodies that help in lowering the ambient temperature of the development. The courtyard, hence, acts as a light well, a microclimatic generator and a landscape element.

The building simulation results found that the Active and Passive features of the Patni Campus, together, help in saving approx. 40% energy over Ashrae base buildings.

Maximization of landscape areas and a substantial reduction in heat island effect has been ensured by incorporating peripheral vehicular movement, locating the entry - exit ramps in closest proximity to the site's frontage and keeping 100% parking in the basement of the development. More than 50% of the ground area has been kept green to increase the porosity of the site.

The Patni Campus is a zero discharge development - the entire rainwater is collected and taken to the harvesting tanks. The sewage is 100% treated and the recycled water is used for the purposes of cooling the tower makeup, gardening and flushing. Solar water heating, drip irrigation and native and low water consuming plants have been used for the purpose of efficient water management strategies.

The Patni project is a quantum leap in comparison to the conventional procedures, which accomplish lesser criterion. This project sets up stringent standards for its contemporaries to follow and provides them with a direction to further improve on those standards. A strong monitoring process will be put into place to lower the energy consumption of the development every subsequent year.