SURAT DIAMOND BOURSE_2015

It is indeed such a proud moment for our city to have the ‘World’s Largest Office Building’ - the Surat Diamond Bourse, replacing the decades of legacy held by the Pentagon, USA. The project was won by the architects through an international design competition held in 2016, where EssTeam featured as one of the top 5 finalists, and it was a very happy moment for our team. However, missing out by a whisker had it’s own share of disappointment too. What is little known is that a year earlier, a competition for Surat Diamond Bourse was organised inviting 5 architectural design firms from Surat. This competition was a great experience for the team at EssTeam to exhibit tremendous hardwork and synergy; however, unfortunately, the competition was scrapped after the entries were presented. We are grateful to the diamond industry and the committee of SDB to have given us an opportunity to work on the designs twice in two years. Here we would like to share our proposal for the first competition.

We find lots of similarities in this organisational aspects of the design proposal with the one which has been built now and we are happy to see this remarkable co-incidence!
EssTeam Design Services LLP’s proposal for the Surat Diamond Bourse’s first design competition, presented a comprehensive vision to establish ‘sPark’ as the backbone of the diamond industry worldwide. It aimed to structure the vast 100-acre site in a way that minimised travel time, facilitating seamless connections between distant offices. The plan included efficient, convenient and swift movement of brokers between approximately 12,000 offices. Moreover, the design offered flexibility by accommodating office spaces ranging from 500 to 1,00,000 sq. ft. within the same complex!

The proposal exhibited numerous design elements that prioritized efficient traffic and circulation management, catering to the needs of approximately 1,75,000 visitors to the complex. Moreover, each office was strategically positioned to offer breathtaking views of the tastefully designed landscaped green park, spanning nearly 50 acres. To ensure the safety of high-value goods such as diamonds, advanced Hi-Tech and Smart security systems had been proposed. Additionally, a sustainable approach was integrated, resulting in an impressive 20-30% energy savings compared to standard projects.