INNOVATION HUB

CONCEPT
GREEN ARCHITECTURE

PERIODE
2021

LOCATE
CHENNAI SEZ CENTER

Competition Brief – Designing Innovation Hubs

Challenge
Create a commercial campus that functions as both a workplace and a community hub, inspiring innovation and cultivating a healthy company culture.
The program includes offices, canteen and amenities, a customer experience centre, product development centre (innovation hub), service buildings, parking facilities, and security blocks.

Design Goals
The master plan embraces a modern, urban work environment guided by green building principles. Targeting LEED Gold or IGBC certification, the design optimizes energy use, minimizes waste, and reduces long-term maintenance costs. International benchmarks for landscape design and planning ensure a campus that fosters community and interaction.

Our Design Solution – Connect • Collaborate • Conserve

Large corporate campuses often struggle to balance human connection with resource stewardship. Our concept addresses both through the 3 Cs:

  1. Connect – Zoning links departments and public spaces to encourage inter-department interaction.
  2. Collaborate – Intimate collaboration zones and informal gathering areas are woven throughout offices, lobbies, stairways, and corridors, sparking spontaneous dialogue.
  3. Conserve – Sustainable architecture and landscape strategies reduce energy loads, reuse resources, and support biodiversity.

Sustainable Architecture

  • Low-impact materials: fly-ash bricks for walls and engineered timber for openings and floor slabs.
  • Passive design: naturally ventilated spaces and abundant greenery for cooling.
  • Renewable energy: rooftop solar and wind power to reduce dependence on city utilities.

Campus Planning

Two development centers and their surface/basement parking flank the property, converging at a central Amenities Hub.
This hub—containing dining, recreation, and meeting spaces—minimizes walking distances and encourages unplanned encounters across departments.
An outdoor waterway with semi-shaded seating and fully enclosed pavilions further supports informal collaboration.

Landscape & Water Management

  • The site’s natural gradient filters all grey water through bamboo groves, which is then reused for landscaping and restrooms.
  • Quiet zones host community vegetable and fruit gardens, supplying the common kitchens.
  • An aquaponics system can provide fresh fish and nutrient-rich fertilizer, reinforcing the campus’s self-sufficiency.

Outcome
The proposed campus is a living ecosystem—a place where employees can connect, collaborate, and conserve, ensuring an equitable and innovative future while setting a benchmark for sustainable workplace design.