The Project – Mahatma Mandir, Gujarat
The Challenge – To give a homogenous appearance to the entire structure while maintaining its unique texture/aspect and at the same time protecting it.
Mahatma Mandir is one of India’s largest center for conventions and exhibitions developed by the Government of Gujarat located at Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat, India
The complex is spacious enough to handle up to 15000 people with the convention hall having a seating capacity of 6000! There are three exhibition areas, seven hi-tech Conference Halls, and four Seminar Rooms. All this along with a large foyer, ATMs, Travel Desk, Food Court, Photo Gallery, and other amenities add up to a world-class international facility. This expanded complex also houses an exhibition extolling Mahatma Gandhi’s life. Inside a massive structure depicting a huge salt mound, is a multilevel depiction of Gandhiji’s life through the use of many innovations like holograms, augmented reality and interactive touch glass. The tour begins with the catalytic fall, being thrown out of the train in South Africa, and then showcases the freedom struggle led by him. The exhibit ends with a breath-taking display of the Mahatma as a guiding spirit, inspiring leaders all over the world. The complex has been built keeping in mind Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of simplicity, and the architecture reflects this in that the entire structure is made of exposed concrete.
Reinforced concrete is the principal structural material used to build in modern times. As we all know there are two popular methods used for reinforced concrete. The first is to pour the concrete mass into forms at the building site; this is the so-called in-situ concrete. The other method is called precast concrete, in which building components are manufactured in a central plant and later brought to the building site for assembly. As you are already aware, there are always variations in appearance of exposed concrete due to the difference of raw material batches, drying rates etc. Such variations can be observed both in precast and in-situ concrete. This spoils the visual appeal and our challenge was to address this without sacrificing the beauty of exposed concrete, letting its simplicity and unique texture, stand out. In addition to this, we also had to protect the material to ensure that it looks the way the architects have conceived it for many years.
To achieve the above the product used was ProtectGuard Color, which is a breathable impregnation product that comes in color and can be matched to any shade. It’s the best protection available for exposed concrete because it is not a film and therefore does not hide the aspect. It becomes part of the concrete and merges with the concrete surface thereby allowing the underlying concrete’s aesthetic and aspect to be seen.
This project was undertaken in three phases between 2012 and 2016. The first phase of the project was done in 2012 under L&T. The second phase in 2014 and the third and last phase in 2016 were both done under Shapoorji Pallonji. Phase I involved application on precast concrete and in phases II and III on in-situ concrete.
The project architects were looking for a protective treatment in low VOC water-based formulation, maintaining the concrete’s mineral properties, aging resistance, protection against degradation to preserve the longevity of the treated surfaces. The earlier plan was to follow the conventional path and apply a clear which would protect against water and allow the exposed concrete to be seen. However, this would not have resulted in a homogenous look and would mar the aesthetics of this world-class project. In ProtectGuard Color, they found the exact match which met all expectations with regard to both protection and aesthetics. We received a huge thumbs up in appreciation for this solution. The products semi-transparency (at 10% pigmentation) gave a uniform look to the entire concrete surface as well as protect it against the impact of rain, humidity, and pollution.
It’s a great validation for us that the building still looks new including the sections that were worked on six years ago in 2012! In fact, the few parts which were not done earlier had started looking black and dirty quite early on. So even today the protection is doing its job of protecting very well, and we are delighted to have been associated with this project.
Meanwhile, If you would like to know more about our concrete products, you can visit our website https://guardindustry.co.in/.
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