India hosts world’s largest office building in Gujarat’s Surat

Surat Diamond Bourse, a diamond trade centre promoted by SDB Diamond Bourse has been built in Gujarat’s port city, becoming the world’s largest office building.
India’s gem capital Surat in Gujarat has surpassed the United States to host the largest office in the world. ‘Surat Diamond Bourse’ – a one stop shop for over 65,000 diamond professionals, is now the world’s largest office building, replacing the Pentagon in the US.
Spanning over 35 acres of land, the sprawling 15-story complex has been constructed to house the diamond industry. It features a series of nine interconnected rectangular structures emanating from a central “spine.”

The office has a 7.1 million square feet of floor space, making it larger than the Pentagon, the headquarters of the United States Department of Defence, which held the crown for nearly 80 years.

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The project took about a period of four years to complete, including two years of Covid-19 pandemic related delay. The building will be officially opened later this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and host its first occupants in November, as per a report by the CNN.The project’s CEO, Mahesh Gadhavi told CNN that the office space will save people’s time and resources, who travelled to Mumbai daily for carrying operations earlier. “…some people have to spend up to four hours, daily, to come from their homes to their offices and back home again,” he said, noting that the idea to relocate businesses to Surat was a “better option.”

Designed by Delhi based Morphogenesis
The building was designed by architecture firm Morphogenesis, based in New Delhi. On surpassing the Pentagon’s feat, Gadhavi said it was not the original intention. “The project’s size was dictated by demand…,” he was quoted as saying by the CNN.

The state-of the-art building has features including designed to consume up to 50% less energy, qualifying it for a “platinum” rating from the Indian Green Building Council. It incorporates a “radiant cooling” system that circulates chilled water beneath its floors, which will reduce indoor temperatures. Further, solar energy powers the common areas within the building and the offices are interconnected through a long central corridor, resembling the layout of an airport terminal. The building accommodates 4,700 office spaces and 131 elevators.