Sena Kallyan Bhaban

AT 195, MOTIJHEEL COMMERCIAL AREA

CLIENT: SENA KALYAN SANGSTHA

DESIGN ARCHITECT   :Mesba Ul Kabir.

ARCHITECT          : Harunur Rashid

ASST.ARCHITECT     : ShahziaIslam Anton  

Project Coordinator    :MezanurRahman Khan

ENGNEER           : Eng.Wahidur Rahman Biswas

                   Eng. Chand Mia

                   Eng. Shamsul Islam

                   Eng. Younus Ali

STRUCTURE         : BRTC(BUET)

                   Team leader Dr Jamilur Reza Chowdhury

ELECTRICAL- MECHANICAL: AVR. Mahos Kumar Mitro

SUPERVISION IN CHARGE: Wahidur Rahman Biswas

AREA OF BUILDING     : 2,99,990 SFT

BUILDER              : NIRMAN INRETNATIONAL

BACKGROUND:

At the time, Major General Ershad was in chargeof Sena Kalyan Sangstha was. After selecting us as the consultant of thatproject, he expressed his desires to build a building that is simple butelegant looking. Height should be impressive, so that the building is visiblefrom long distance. General Ershad wanted this building to be the landmark ofMotijheel, as this was to be their new head office. Thus, it became one of theearliest high-rise buildings in Bangladesh.

THE SITE:

The irregularshaped land is approximately 25 Katha, and at one side, an existing three-storybuilding with a few trees. At the south side is Bangladesh Bank, at the north sideis a road from Shapla Chattar, at the west side is a side road connectingBangladesh Bank which became a dead-end road for security of Bangladesh bank.Tapered at the east side are other private plots. Early eighties DIT DhakaImprovement Trust rules were more relax. Far was not important. In motijheeland Dilkhuse Commercial area entire land can be used for commercial building.Parking of car was not mandatory.

DESIGN CONSIDARETION:

The shape of theplot was not rectangular. One end tapered so to utilize maximum area of landdesign was done with respect of land. Two rectangular blocks with 450 tapered endsin south side and north side. Service and circulation between two blocks linkedsidewise,

The time demandwas more of small space mainly for shop and office so the rented spaceseparated by service and circulation space providing 6 nos bike one commonstair one fire exit stair, air handling unit room with toilet for lades, gentsand executive.

APPROVAL SHEET (DTI SHEET): Constitution signature. AR Mesba ulKabir on 21-12-81,

Ownerssignatural cornel (Retired) Azizur Rahman, directors’ administration andwelfare on 22-12-81, 36”x40” sheet 5 nos, Plan: Basement Ground, Mezzanine,Typical and top floor. Elevation 2 nos, Section 2 Nos on 1/8” =1’-0” seallayout plan on1/16” = 1’-0” scale, Mouza map 1/32” =1’=0” scale. ConsultantPrasthapana, House 4 road 5, Dhanmondi. Area of the project. Basement 14,901sft, ground floor – 12179 sft, Mezzanine floor – 10,662 sft Typical floor-(18nos) 14,411x18= 259,398 sftTop floor 2850 sft. total area 2,99,990 sft.

Basement floor:parking for 19 car, Air conditioning equipment room, pumphouse, work-shops,slope, Guardroom and 2 nos of underground water reservoir.

Ground floor: parkingfor 13 car, double height entry lobby and veranda. 8nos of Shop with other commonfacilities.

Mezzanine floor:Space shop Typical floor: Two separated commercial block of three side opening,with industrial 4 nos executive toilet. In common service area toilet for ladesgents, Executive’s, Air handling room.

Prayer Hall andlift machine room on the top floor.

Plinth height3’-0” Ground floor with mezzanine floor .19’-0”

Each floor10’-6”. Total height 223’-0”. Parapet 8’-0”

Drawingsubmission on 01-01-42 and got approved from DIT on 16-01-82. Takes only 16days for approval.

FACADE:Fare finished concreate used after several experiment on site making severalsamples with different proportion of white cement with different cement brand.Solid 45-degree wallet end surface with fare finished concreate make theboundary elegant and simple.

MATERIAL SELECTION:

For a high-risebuilding, exterior wall coating is required every year or every few years andis difficult to maintain as well as expensive. On the other hand, Farefaced concreaterequires no paint. It provides a lifelong surface with natural look.

CURTAIN WALL:

Probably firsttime used in Bangladesh. At early 80s financially Bangladesh was not thataffluent. In the end, many clients wanted to reduce the expenses, so thearchitect had to adjust and compromise with the original design. Especially inthe case of center air condition system which was usually deferred to future.The building is centrally air conditioned, based on water system. It needs a hugespace in basement for the plant and floor needs separated room for airhandling. For providing central conditioning, initial investment is huge. So,to avoid this situation Curtain Wall was used in all exterior service, so thatclient will be bound to implemented the central air-conditioning system.

FORM:

High-risebuilding spaces articulated in one space or one block is convenient forcirculation and other services. Here site was not in regular shape orrectangular block, so to obtain maximum utilization of space, three differentblocks had to be bundled together. The east side has a tapered boundary, andthe edge of the two outer blocks are tapered at 45° accordingly to accommodatethe building with site. The other unaffected sides are also tapered to synchronizingthe design. Middle block is sandwiched in between these two blocks, and acts asthe service block, providing six number of lifts, three staircases (the mainstair case, a fire stair case and a circular stair connecting only the groundfloor to the 1^st floor), toilet for executive, gents and ladies anda air handling unit room.

PARKING:

In late 70s andearly 80, parking in Dilkush area and in Motijhil area was not so criticalbecause number of cars in the Dhaka city was limited. For approval of the DITsheet, parking was not mandatory and parking was not given much precedence atthat time. Rental space was given priority at the property, and after muchconsideration, 15 nos cars parking was provided at the ground floor and 19 ofcar provided in basement floor.

In road side(North) the clinet managed space between buildings and road for parking on bothside with the driveway. Also, at the west side , a dead end road leading toBangladesh bank is utilized for parking space.  

STRUCTURE:

BUET, headed byDr Jamilur Reja Chowdhury, was responsible for structure. The building standson raft foundation on pilling. The basement has been split and raised toaccommodate height for air conditionings equipment room. As car-parking doesnot need that much height the the raft underneath it was filled 4’-0” with handwith hard slab for parking.

The middle serviceblock provides two underground water reservoirs, one for fire fighting withpump house and other service.

Structure isbased on beam column system with flat plate and with peripheral beam forlateral force and protection from earthquake.

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