Reliance Industries, a renowned multinational conglomerate company, consulted Atelier ARBO, an architectural firm based in Mumbai, for the master planning and design development of five separate electrical substations for a Residential Township in Jamnagar, Gujarat. Catering to the expansive township sprawled across an area of 750 acres, the five individual substations have been planned in different zones and cover a cumulative area of about 17,975 sq. ft, with a separate road for entrance and a compound wall to secure them from trespassers and unwanted intrusions. The firm’s vision for the project revolved around replacing the old and worn substations that were approaching the end of their life cycle with new, well-planned, and high-quality facilities.
Causing minimal intrusion on the natural landscape and creating a balance between the built space and the environment, four out of the five substations are lower in height than the surrounding trees. Double-skin facades cover a concrete frame in these newly designed substations. Emulating the triangular steel profiles of the new power line towers, the outer façade of the substation portrays the uniform tessellation of a motif pattern created by hand-made long bricks laid in a zigzag profile. The inner façade layer is primarily prefabricated concrete walls having a continuous glass strip acting as a window for visual connection with the outside.
On entering, one encounters the lobby and the main process equipment room, which take in natural light from the clerestory window strip, also offering glimpses of the outer brick lattice façade. The interiors portray the crude materiality, raw detailing, and structural integrity of the exposed, prefabricated members of concrete. Out of the five substations, one is a tall tower having vertically arranged cross-arms, two are low pylons with cross-arms arranged in a more horizontal configuration, and the remaining two are terminals that essentially connect overhead lines with underground cables. The design of these structures included a repetitive arrangement of prefabricated triangular steel profile sections.
Facing the challenge of recreating and uniting the scattered parts of the old facility, the design team focused on planning technically-sound, structurally-durable, and functionally-exceptional structures that could form a strong, unified substation development. Breaking apart the different aspects of the scattered built context, the design revolved around exploring and reassembling these parameters in a new abstracted form that gives the structures a unique identity. A design language derived from the surrounding context places the project in a new light of innovation, with apt relevance to its vicinity.
