ID origins is a mixed used revitalization project, designed using undulating calligraphic strokes which seamlessly integrates the old and new. The significance of the project arises both from its location in the city of Mumbai and also the sentimental value the building holds for the owners.

The original structure was built in 1980’s and is the pivot point of where the owners started their business, hence the name ID origins. Twelve additional residential floors are erected above the existing six commercial floors, with a transfer girder between these two strata’s acting as a load transfer, and also additional columns have been designed starting from ground up.

Given the dichotomy of the requirements of these distinct activities in the building, the designs look’s at creating perforated screen on the commercial floors to cut down glare and provide optimum lux level. These calligraphic strokes fade out as they reach the residential floors, thereby maximum the views for the residential apartments.

The new façade of the project creates a focal point for the site, and acts as a visual marker for entrance to the overall site, which spreads over 12 acres of land. In the dense urban fabric of Mumbai, the project will be visible from pedestrian as well as vehicular routes, making the site experience more coherent.

This Urban rehabilitation of the site extends into the urban fabric by the means of, rerouting the entrances and exits to decongest the entrance road, uplifting the pedestrian walkways in the vicinity of the site, removing site boundary and creating an urban lobby which becomes a part of the Mumbai streetscape.

Given the undulating nature of façade, it was important to rationalize it into easy to construct panels. The geometry of the calligraphic moves is planar in nature, with a V profile in plan.  This was done to ensure that we have multiple options of materials and techniques to execute the design, which could range from FRP moulds, CNC routing flat panels with acp, composite grc etc. Given the loading requirements on the old existing structure, this execution flexibility inbuilt in the design was helpful. Mock-ups were done on site for GRC, FRP, ACP and finally cnc routed ACP panels were selected due to their light weight and fire rated properties. The time of execution was reduced by 6 months as no moulds were required and also it dramatically reduced the budget.