Taj Air Hangar

Night exterior view with a glimpse of the interior.

Project details

• Project Name: Taj Air Hangar
• Client: Taj Air Limited
• Project Type: Industrial architecture
• Principal Designer/s: KPa
• Design Team: Krishnan V, Parvez Charania
• Contractor/s: Kirby building systems, B E Billimoria, Image interiors
• Date of commencement of project: April 2004
• Date of completion of project: February 2005
• Location of site: Santacruz airport, Mumbai
• Site Area: 2700 sq m
• Built-up Area: 2500 sq m
• Cost of Construction/Execution: Rs. 70,000,000

External view of the hangar.

Words from the designer

"Located at the Mumbai Domestic Airport, this hangar was designed for a corporate body.

The challenge was to achieve balance within the given space -- integrating the quintessential utilitarian 'hangar' into a 'stylized' corporate identity."

Corridor connecting the office block to the passenger lounge.

"The basics became all important in this project, considering it was a first of its kind for us.

For Instance -- 'We require an aircraft hangar that meets Wyvern standards' was part of the brief that came from the clients. This task involved researching into the specifics of the international standards of hangar facilities, for which we collected most of the information from avionics library books."

Main doors of the hangar.

Main office corridor.

"We arrived at the first draft of the design, after exploration of various parameters -- (Including but not limited to): aesthetics, economics and industry research.

However, budget constraints and lack of execution technology, as well as various regulations from the Airport Authority of India (AAI) made us start from scratch."

The design

Central staircase connecting the engineering and the admin blocks.

Inside the hangar.

Hangar floor.

The main hangar space allows for 3 Falcons' (8 seater) parking and servicing. The annex block that houses the administration and the maintenance facilities is at the far end of the hangar with a staff entry from the rear.

Staff entry at the rear of the hangar.

Landscaped court from the passenger lounge.

The passenger lounge is housed on one side with an entry into the hangar - for climatic conditions when the passenger has to board the aircraft inside the hangar.

Passenger lounge seating.

Service stairs.

The maintenance block houses stores and workshops. Separate from the main structure, housed at the rear end of the plot, and buffered with a landscaped court, the service block includes the pump room, electrical substation and stores.

Landscape court in the service block.

Credits

• Text and Photographs by KPa
• Compiled and Edited by Varun M Ajani