Salient Features of the Project :
Name & Location: Surat Diamond Bourse, Surat, Gujarat
Cost of Project: 3200 crores INR Approx.
Built-up area: 66,000 sq. m
(In case of Public Building minimum built-up area should be 1000 sq. meter)

Description of Project:
Surat Diamond Bourse consolidates India’s 67,000 diamond professionals within the world’s largest single-office building. With a built-up area of 7.1 million sq. ft. occupying a 35.3-acre site, SDB exemplifies high-density office architecture and transcends global sustainability benchmarks. It is a seed building for the Diamond Research and Mercantile (DREAM) City, an upcoming business district, leading to an unprecedented socio-economic development in the region. Built entirely by the diamond community for the community as a cooperative, the building is a testament to shared vision and collective agency. Focussing on environmental sustainability, it consumes 50% less energy than the highest green benchmarks and features one of the world’s largest radiant cooling systems. For its sustainable development efforts, the project has achieved IGBC’s GREEN New Building Platinum Rating.
Independent and consolidated functioning for 4,500 offices ranging from 28 sqm to as large as 7,000 sqm, makes it a city within a city. Its wide-ranging amenities include a sprawling 10,000 sqm food zone, a retail plaza, and over 8,000 sqm of gym, spa, conference areas, banking, customs, and banquet facilities.

Material of Construction Details:
Modular structural grids align efficient parking layouts.
Two basements are designed to avoid the need for pile foundations, which would be typical in this area, thereby bringing costs down.
Flood mitigation was one of the primary site constraints because the site lies roughly a metre below the highway road. The plinth was raised, and a trench was created around its periphery to harvest rainwater.
The construction uses conventional RCC combined with post-tensioned (PT) slabs for the nine towers.
Locally sourced materials were incorporated with a minimal waste-to-landfill approach. Lakha red granite and Gwalior white sandstone used in the construction are procured within a 300 km radius.
Stone-working communities from the Deccan Plateau were employed at all stages, from quarrying to dressing and application.
The building also features one of the largest installations of radiant cooling (approximately 20 kms of running length of radiant pipes per floor; the cumulative length is approx. 300 kms.), where 40% of the built-up volume is cooled by an energy-efficient system that uses chilled circulated water on the floors and ceilings.

Special Features:
Designing the world’s largest commercial building required achieving exceptional efficiency in every aspect. The primary challenge was facilitating easy and efficient daily navigation for over 67,000 professionals through the high-security premises, making circulation and sustainable development defining parameters of its monumental design. The design optimizes travel distances, ensuring that the farthest office module is reachable within 5 minutes. This addresses the challenge of navigating large volumes of people within trading-time constraints, with walkable corridors across 15 floors. The central spine, flaring into vertical fins to funnel prevailing winds using the Venturi effect, ensures that 100% of the building’s circulation spaces, which make up 30% of the built-up area, are naturally ventilated. Staggered atria interrupt the spine vertically, allowing hot air buildup to escape through the stack effect while incorporating landscaped elements that create green lungs, fostering a pleasant internal microclimate without mechanical cooling. The office towers are oriented north-south with narrow floor plates, blocking the harsh western sun and ensuring 75% of the workspaces receive diffused light throughout the day. This design strategy significantly reduces dependence on artificial lighting and enables the common areas to operate on solar power year-round. The building features interconnected courtyards that create a variety of views and support functions like food courts, recreational spaces, and interaction areas. Passive landscaping strategies help control the local microclimate, reducing radiant heat by over 10°C. Lakha red granite and Gwalior white sandstone used in the construction are procured within a 300 km radius, promoting a minimal waste-to-landfill approach. Stone-working communities from the Deccan Plateau were employed at all stages, from quarrying to dressing and application. The radiant cooling system, spanning 300 km—approximately 10 times the coastline of Surat (~35 km) and one of the largest in the world—significantly reduces operational maintenance and dependency on mechanical cooling. Modular structural grids streamline parking layouts and save 25% of the construction area. The design focuses on elevating users’ spatial and transitional experiences. The central spine serves as an interactive hub with breakout spaces, green atriums, and dense vegetation for improved indoor air quality. These measures have resulted in a 15% saving in Capex, a 50% saving in Op-ex, and a 50% reduction in energy consumption compared to the highest green rating standards, with a building performance of approximately 45 kWh/sq.m./yr.