Suzlon One Earth Corporate Global Headquarters, Pune, India

Architect Christopher Charles Benninger
Suzlon Energy Limited, a world-leading wind energy company, together with the architect, pledged to create the greenest office in India. Living the motto of the company, ‘powering a greener tomorrow’, the architect relied exclusively on non-toxic and recycled materials. A million S.F. of ground plus two levels in a 10.4 acre urban setting achieved a LEED Platinum and TERI GRIHA 5 Star certification with 8% of its annual energy generated on-site through photovoltaic panels and windmills with a total incremental cost of about 11%. There are no other LEED certified buildings with this level of certification and on-site renewable energy that have achieved this kind of cost efficiency. 154 KW of electricity is produced on site (80% wind and 20% photovoltaic). All other energy (4MW) is produced in the client’s wind mill farms. With 92 % (4 MW) being consumed by the project is ‘sustainable energy’ making this a Zero Energy Project!

Architecture of the Corporate World
Architecture has played a major role in the iconization of the world’s leading companies. I. M. Pei’s Bank of China in Hong Kong, Norman Foster’s design for the insurance giant Swiss Re in London, have overnight elevated these companies through spectacular architecture. It has become the need of the hour for global corporations to have sensitively designed buildings which reflect their values, concerns for environment and the image of the new age. The Pune-Mumbai corridor has emerged in the past ten years as the corporate growth areas. Unfortunately, any rapid development comes with its share of draw backs.