ADAPTIVE REUSE:

The Alembic Factory, Vadodara, Gujarat

What is Adaptive Reuse?
• Adaptive reuse is an ingenious idea of
repurposing or refurbishing buildings
that have become obsolete for their
original function.
• An old building is tweaked and
redesigned to suit a newer role while
still retaining most of its features,
structure, or accompaniments.
• Adaptive Reuse is the perfect
sustainable way to breathe a new life
into an old structure.
• An architecture revival of classical
architecture tweaking it to some
modern usage is the smarter way to
embellish architecture.
What is Adaptive Reuse?
• Adaptive reuse is an ingenious idea of repurposing or refurbishing buildings that have become
obsolete for their original function.
• An old building is tweaked and redesigned to suit a newer role while still retaining most of its
features, structure, or accompaniments.
• Adaptive Reuse is the perfect sustainable way to breathe a new life into an old structure.
• An architecture revival of classical architecture tweaking it to some modern usage is the
smarter way to embellish architecture.

Why Adaptive reuse?

• The cost of tearing down a building, the monetary cost as well as the environment cost can be huge!
• However, Adaptive Reuse Architecture, breathes new life into a structure, giving it a new purpose and
occupants, saves the people and the city a lot of time, money, and environmental footprint.
• This is, however, mostly restricted to Heritage structures or expensive old buildings which are now
abandoned in India.
• In an attempt to retain the architectural history of the city, adaptive reuse fuses the old building with a
new function and preserves the city’s identity.
Why Adaptive reuse?

• Reuse of industrial buildings can be an alternative to save operational and expensive

commercial costs in a building.
• It can prevent many old age buildings to demolish or decay and participate in the revival of
urban regeneration.
• The source of land which is scarce in various cities in larger parts of the world can be saved
through adaptive reuse of buildings.

Adaptive Reuse Architecture is the near-to perfect way possible to transform Classical
Architectural buildings into modern contemporary usage. Thus, we would like to
showcase one of the best examples for Architectural Conservation in India- the
Alembic Industries, Vadodara.
History behind Alembic:
• In the early 1900s, TK Gajjar, chemist and
professor, scientist Koti Bhasker and
entrepreneur Bhailal D Amin had laid the
foundation of this distillery.
• This distillery then went on to become the
country’s oldest pharmaceutical company
witnessing its exponential growth through the
first and second world wars.
• It travelled through its ventures from making
glassware, ayurvedic products, chemicals, to
setting up a phosgene plant.
• It was once India’s first plant to manufacture
polypropylene staple fiber and then to its
rechristening of ACWCL moniker in 1999 to
Alembic Limited.
• Alembic Group has been a corporate promoter
of Indian art since the 1950s.
How alembic was selected for industrial adaptive reuse?
• Established in 1907, Alembic Industries is one site of
approximately 92 acres of land in Vadodara, Gujarat.
• It was better known for growing products
manufactured over these years range from glassware
to tinctures, spirits, dry ice, ethyl chloride.
• However over this span of 110 years, parts of
components have been rendered useless due to the
ever Industrial production technology.
• This urged the clients to call for a new master plan for
the entire campus which into Inclusive of a few office
buildings, manufacturing units, retail units and
recreational facilities.
• The master-planning of the campus is being carried
out by BDP.Khandekar, an architectural practice from
the Netherlands.
• Also due to technological advancements the industry
campus houses a lot of obsolete machinery which
when looked at in portrays a chronological timeline of
Alembic Industries.
• This notion led the clients to feel the requirement of
an Industry campus to display the whole history of the
industry.
 Spatial Planning:
• The master plan marks the building in highlight as
which includes a museum, artist studios and
exhibition will encompass a restaurant, a gym and
a few retail outlets.
• The space within is meant to serve the Alembic
Museum, art studios, display and exhibition space
with ancillary spaces for a library, AV room, and a
cafe.
• Karan Grover and Associates carried the
architectural re-adaptation for the Alembic
Museum, and My Space Studio of the
recreational hub.
• The functional spaces were distributed into
various blocks for the adaptive reuse of the
building highlighted as follows:
• Block1 and Block 2 was chosen to be the Alembic
Museum.Block 3 for Exhibition Zone both
permanent and temporary display.Block 4 and
Block 5 for Space Studios.
 Materials and elements:
• Masonry with lime plaster to match the earlier used techniques
and building material reuse. The materials’ choice
• Our architectural purpose was to approach this is a sculpture is to is highly sensitive
maintain the true spirit of the building in terms of materials and while redesigning a
the physical quality of the space. building of adaptive
• The only new architectural elements are new partition walls in use. Generally, the
between studio spaces. preferred materials
are similar to the
• Arches are the main character of the existing building here.
materials used earlier
• The revival of many of the arches by opening them which were to retrieve the
blocked due to certain industrial usage marks the feature of building material cost
industrial adaptive reuse. too. This also justifies
• The thickness of the main load-bearing walls averages at 0.45m the adaptive reuse of
and provides the interior with excellent insulation. The finish of the building from its
the walls was still at the concept finalization phase. core.
• The peel-off plaster is used to showcase the modern yet classic
industrial built space.
PLANNING:
PLANNING:
 Roof as the main element:
• The design of the roof is one of its kind elements in this industrial Fortunate for us many of
building. the trusses are in great
condition. Only a handful of
• Some features originally depicted which still catches the eye of a the trusses will require
user. That’s the beauty of classical architecture and where trash strengthening. The existing
becomes a treasure. exterior roof material is of
Mangalore tiles. These
• The trusses are riveted as opposed to being welded and are still in terracotta tiles are battered
great condition. and will have to be removed.
New Mangalore tiles will be
• Out of which very few require strengthening. The tweaking of installed with added
some Mangalore tiles has to be done which are the existing roof insulation above the top-
material. chord of the truss. We are
very keen to leave the
• These terracotta tiles are battered and will have to be removed. purlins and rafters exposed
New Mangalore tiles will be installed with added insulation above to express the quality of the
the top-chord of the truss. structure that it once was.
The re-development of the
• Purlins and rafters of the existing trusses will remain exposed to industrial area will see
provide a raw industrial look. major interventions in other
parts of the campus.
Gallery:
R.KEERTHANA
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