SANJAY PURI ARCHITECTS, CIELO
Designed by the Mumbai-based firm Sanjay Puri Architects, Cielo is a compact residential tower located in Nagpur in the state of Maharashtra, India. The building spans 12 floors for a total of approximately 3,600 square meters on a 900-square-meter plot of land. Each floor has one single 4-bedroom apartment, with three of the bedrooms set in the corners and the kitchen taking up the fourth corner so there is good cross ventilation in every room. The living spaces are centrally positioned to foster socialising and interaction.
Nagpur, geographically located in the middle of India, has long summers and temperatures of above 40°C for 8 months of the year. Aware of this climate, the architects ensured the main rooms had two balconies, one open and the other enclosed, to significantly prevent heat from building up while, at the same time, providing open and sheltered spaces for each room.
The facade features curved elements that form a screen at the lower level as they curve outwards and upwards to create a balcony on the upper level. These curved-section screens alternate horizontally and vertically across the building to provide shelter from the heat, simultaneously creating open green spaces for each of the rooms and giving the building a sculptural quality that makes it stand out in the neighbourhood while also dialoguing with the region's architectural heritage.
Cielo is designed to create naturally cross-ventilated spaces, whose cladding is adapted to the weather conditions. The carbon footprint of the building’s life cycle is substantially reduced by a roof fully covered with solar panels, a water collection and recycling system and even a screened shell to mitigate heat accumulation and reduce air-conditioning costs.
Client Name: Prestige Builders; Construction Company: Prestige Builders; Design Company: Sanjay Puri Architects; Lead Architect: Mr. Sanjay Puri; Design Team: Ruchika Gupta, Nikita Dusing, Krishna Leela, Neha Wadodkar, Diganta Gujaran, Chanchari Malviya; Consultants: Structural Consultant – Patankar Consultants; Façade work – Flexstone. Photo credits: Mr. Vinay Panjwani
