Raman Aras traced how a large mixed-use development in Ahmedabad approached its outer envelope, mechanical stone cladding, tensile-membrane shading and performance glazing, resolved through full BIM coordination, an onboarded façade consultant and sustained attention to detailing.
The word façade comes from the Italian *facciata* and describes the external faces of a building, the layer where architectural intent, environmental performance and construction reality all have to meet. Raman Aras framed façade design less as a styling exercise than as a collaborative and democratic process, one that depends on bringing the right experts together early and resolving the envelope down to its smallest junctions.
A mixed-use envelope coordinated in BIM
ONE42 is a mixed-use development of roughly 550,000 sq ft on Ambli Road in Ahmedabad, organised as two office towers flanking a central retail plaza. It was among the first projects in the city to be delivered entirely in BIM, to carry genuinely A-grade specifications, to onboard a dedicated façade consultant and to engage experienced façade contractors. That early, coordinated approach set the conditions for a more ambitious envelope than a conventional office building would attempt.
Three systems working together
The tower envelope combines three elements rather than relying on a single cladding type: mechanical stone cladding, solar shading formed by tensile-membrane fins, and double-glazed units with performance glass. Stone gives the building mass and permanence, the membrane fins moderate solar gain while keeping the elevation light, and the performance DGU controls heat and glare at the glass line.
Detailing as the discipline
Much of the talk returned to a single theme, details, details, details. Edge conditions, duct interfaces and the meeting of stone, glass and membrane were drawn and resolved rather than left to the site. A retail and office signage policy was written into the project so that later tenant fit-outs would not undermine the elevation, a discipline rarely imposed on Indian mixed-use schemes.
Public realm and a reimagined substation
At ground level the plaza is shaded by tensile canopies with outdoor dining below, wheelchair-friendly ramps and multiple pedestrian entrances, with the two towers acting as a shield that defines a distinct public space. Even the electrical substation, normally an eyesore, was reimagined as a visual anchor: a ventilated enclosure of triangular modules that camouflages the equipment while doubling as a backdrop for events.
