The construction of two new metro lines in Nagpur, Maharashtra has far reaching impact on the evolution of India’s 13th largest city. More than a public transport infrastructure, the future metro is a catalyst for a new generation of buildings where high-density mixed use programmes are fused with transportation nodes. The project for Zero Mile Tower is the quintessential integrated transit-oriented development.
Situated 300m from the Zero Mile Monument, the Zero Mile Tower is an aerial metro station embedded in a high-rise mixed-use development. Set directly over the station platforms, the luxury office tower emerges above a thin horizontal podium housing metro facility and retail gallery. The iconic tower is conceived as an urban marker playing on its unique location as the historic point zero of India. The form of the tower adopts the elongated plan of the platforms (x-axis) rising to a height of 80m (z-axis). The rectangular prism is then punctured in the east-west direction (y-axis) creating a spectacular framed void that functions as a sky terrace floating 20m up in the air.
At ground level, the architecture of the podium is kept deliberately low-scale mirroring the scale of buildings of the surrounding streets. A thin mass whose curved facade follows the bend of the road is elevated above the sidewalk revealing two flights of stairs that guide the commuter towards a light-filled interior plaza. From here the visitor can access the metro entrance, office lobby or meander through the shopping gallery.