A solid avenue for Indian granite

Due to the still-burgeoning information technology market in India, real estate remains in demand and in development. In the city of Bangalore, many new projects are being constructed to meet the demands of information technology firms, and they are drawing prestigious clients from the sector with advantages in infrastructure as well as aesthetic benefits. One example of this is Prestige Towers on Residency Road in Bangalore, which was designed with a dramatic pattern of granite cladding on the exterior.

The project was developed by Prestige Estates Projects (P) Ltd. of Bangalore, one of the top developers in the region. M/S Thomas Associates, also of Bangalore, served as the architect. The project, which is nearly 250,000 square feet in size, includes retail space at street level, with the upper levels providing office space.

To distinguish the building, M/S Thomas Associates' design includes two varieties of granite along with glass. The lower levels of the building utilize panels of Absolute Black granite, while the higher levels feature Raw Silk granite from India. The stone was supplied by Pokarna Granites Limited of Secunderabad, India.

Both stones were used as horizontal banding on the building, and the Absolute Black granite was also used for some vertical bands as well. But while the black granite was used as a continuous strip, the Raw Silk was used in a more dramatic fashion. The bands of Raw Silk gradually taper off as the building rises, adding visual interest to the project.

Now that the project has been completed, it has already met an initial goal of drawing high-profile tenants from the information technology sector, as IBM has leased a total of 25,000 square feet

of space.