Hiranandani Lake Castle

Lake Castle is one of the early developments by the Hiranandani Group in Powai. The dominant feature of Lake Castle is its massive scale. Its 183 mtr linear length, strikes you as an ocean-going liner of a building with multiple decks anchored on the banks of Powai Lake. Initial planning envisaged 4 individual highrise building blocks. However, as an alternative to a uniform 18-storey monolith, which the FSI would have allowed, the final design effectively integrated all 4 blocks into one long building. This massive block had floor decks across the intervening space. The design elevated the central blocks and kept the end blocks low, creating a stepped mass profile, which complements the hills in the backdrop. The tower block is surrounded by large gardens and an 8-acre Forest Park. The architectural form is meant to symbolise a city silhouette that is made up of a skyline of buildings of varying shapes and sizes, yet maintaining a distinct character associated with a city. With its varying built forms, the building is almost like a mirror reflecting the densely layered profile of the city itself. The juxtaposing of balconies and apertures of varying shapes and sizes again impart the quality of a city silhouette to the architectural form. To mitigate the broadside effect of this cliff of a building, it has been punctured with significant cutouts known as sky decks, which give a dramatic view of the sky and hills or the lake through the building, in a manner that somewhat evokes the framing eye of a landscape painter. These puncturing square cutouts in the mass also break the massiveness of the building. All the windows are recessed within the double exterior wall, which is detailed colourfully with curved balconies, papyrus tree columns and an exuberant assortment of decorative embellishments. Lake Castle is especially interesting because of a combination of ‘pop’ aesthetics, with conventionalised classical stylistics. Symbolic references to the immediate characteristics of the site are represented through the depiction of caricaturised features like the palm trees that were abundant at the site. Classical motifs are manifested in the exteriors with the treatment given to the columns, the friezes and the details of the ironwork. The crescent shaped projecting balconies, curved projections and Egyptian columns on the facade relieve the monotony into which the building would have otherwise slipped. The 21-storeyed tower, with a lavishly decorated, double-height entrance lobby has a distinctive layout on every floor with projections, balconies and terraces. There are 3 flats on each floor and every flat faces the lake. Large French windows are repetitive features of the facade. The stepped profile and the two huge rectangular cutouts further add to the drama of the composition.