India's tallest building under construction....

MUMBAI | India Tower | 126 floors | 700m — Mumbai’s tallest skyscraper begins construction!

India Tower, Marine Lines, Mumbai, India

…Mumbai’s, India’s and the Subcontinent’s tallest, greenest

Big news Skyscraper Fans!

India Tower, (formerly known as “Park Hyatt Tower“), the 126-storey, 700 meter tall mixed-use residential and hotel tower has officially begun construction!

With this news, the 882,000 sq ft tower has set a number of records ranging from “Mumbai’s Tallest” to “India’s First Supertall” to “India’s Greenest Skyscraper.” It also has the great distinction of being represented in the Indian Skyscraper Blog’s logo!

While equally tall and taller buildings have been approved, like the Hyderabad’s 100+ storied Lanco Hills Signature Tower, Hyderabad’s 100+ storied APIIC Trade Tower, and Mumbai’s India International Trade Tower, and almost 10 more supertalls are proposed, so far none of them have actually broken ground yet.

Designed by Fox and Fowle (FXFOWLE) architects as part of a three-hotel luxury project being developed by Neelkamal Realtors in conjunction withHyatt hotels, India Tower is located at Marine Lines, Mumbai, just north of the city’s historical district. It marks the southernmost point of a major region of skyscraper development that currently stretches north to under construction Parel/Back Bay skyline.

For more information, and a large collection of hi-res pictures of this awesome project originally posted by me on Skyscrapercity.com, read on!…

The 882,000 sq ft project, India Tower, in the architects’ own words:

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…centers on creating an iconic residential mixed-use building within India’s emerging new economy.

[India Tower] is informed by distinctive indoor/outdoor environments and the desire to optimise the panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

The tower’s rotated form emerges in response to the buildings functional requirements and its mixed-use program – which changes with each twist of the structure. This circulation pattern separates retail, 5-star hotel and serviced apartments and long lease duplex penthouse condominium apartments within a sustainable network of green roofs and hanging gardens; creating a singular, extraordinary building that, when completed, will be the tallest and greenest building in India.

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Fearing knee-jerk protests by NIMBYites, developers in Mumbai tend to be ultra-secretive about their projects until they have broken ground. India Tower is no different. Though the tower obviously was planned many months before, it was only officially announced in a very low-key manner on May 4, 2007, when Hyatt Hotels told the Economic Times newspaper about it.) Even then, it wasn’t picked up by any other news sources.

The architect’s website was originally the only other source of information, and there was a lot of confusion as to the status of the project for a while, until news came trickling down in architecture magazines and symposiums divulging precious more information by a rightfully proud FXFOWLE about its engineering marvel.

Finally, on June 21 , 2007, FXFOWLE officially launched the project in a press release:

FXFOWLE Architects: “India Tower in Mumbai is under construction”

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Greenest Skyscraper in India?

Tuesday 17 Jul 2007

Construction has started on India Tower, a new 126-storey (700 meters) world-class Park Hyatt hotel, retail, and residential tower located in South Mumbai, India. The developer is committed to making India Tower a United States Green Building Council (USGBC) LEED Gold-rated project. Construction is expected to be completed in 2010.

India Tower is located in the prestigious South Mumbai coastal area fondly referred to as the Queens Necklace. The tower’s rotated form emerges in response to the 3-acre site (1.2-hectares), the building’s functional requirements, and its mixed-use program that changes with each rotation of the tower. This circulation pattern separates retail, a custom-designed residential-style Park Hyatt hotel and serviced apartments, and long-lease and duplex penthouse condominium apartments.

The design concept for India Tower was informed by Mumbai’s climate, the site, and the desire to create distinctive indoor and outdoor spaces with optimum views, inspirational settings, and personalized contemporary accommodations for all users. Designed to have the least possible impact on the environment, the tower will integrate current innovative sustainable systems and technologies throughout the building – solar shading, natural ventilation, daylighting, rainwater harvesting, and green interior finishes and materials – to make it one of the greenest skyscrapers in India.

India Tower’s 3-story podium will include restaurants and cafés, luxury-brand retail stores, a health/fitness club with a swimming pool, and a nightclub/lounge. When arriving at India Tower, Park Hyatt guests will be directed to the Sky Lobby (levels 30-35) to check-in, then descend to levels 14 through 28 to their hotel residences.

India Tower’s long-lease apartments will be located on levels 38 through 50, and will feature stylish and spacious two-story living spaces that have been specially designed to take full advantage of the expansive views from this height. Levels 52 to 59 of the tower will house one-of-a-kind duplex penthouse condominium apartments with unparalleled panoramic views.

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While currently rather separated from the current skyscraper construction, it is located at the southern end of what will be a massive skyscraper-laden redevelopment region that will see a long skyline anchored in the north at Dharavi, west at Worli, in the middle at Parel, and in the south at Back Bay.

But it shouldn’t be isolated for too long. Peter Weingarten, AIA, FXFowle’s director of international architecture seems to have predicted the future when he told AIArchitect Magazine

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Weingarten’s vision of India Tower’s transformative potential is emblematic of developers in many emerging nations. “It will have a much more intangible effect than just another big building, and then it will spur more development around it,” he says. “It becomes a magnet and a center, and if enough of these dots start to get created and they start to become connected into a network,you can really start to see some dramatic changes in the landscape of Mumbai and India.”…

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…as other developers have made known that they are planning skyscrapers at Marine Lines. Currently a 50-storey commercial skyscraper, and 2-3 other projects, including the possible supertall Mumbai International Finance Centre, are planned around the location where Park Hyatt tower is being built.

Here are some more renderings of India Tower:

Aaand a couple older renderings of the building, which don’t look to be accurate anymore:

I will keep updating this post as more renderings and information come out!