Karumuttu Center
Anna Salai, Chennai.
Karumuttu Center is a commercial office building promoted and constructed in 1989. The building was among the first in Chennai to use a glass facade. Curtain wall systems were not very widely used those days, nor was tinted glass affordable.To improvise,gold coloured film was stuck on the glass panels. The glass is really only a facade. From the inside, the space has masonry walls up to the regular window sill level and above the lintel level. Therefore there was no question of it inviting in too much sunlight, and the glass front therefore does not contribute to increasing the air conditioning loads.
The floor plate increases in area as it goes higher, with the largest floor being the topmost. This has given the building an interesting form with the front facade stepping out every two floors. While the ground floor houses airline ticketing outlets and other commercial businesses, the upper levels are mostly occupied by corporate offices. The upper levels are planned so that the floor can be let out as a whole or if necessary even to two or three different occupants. At the time it was built, the demand was for smaller spaces unlike in the late 1990s and early 2000 when practically 'acres' of floor space was required by the new IT companies that were mushrooming so rapidly!
The entire building has been clad in brick coloured cement tiles and along with the reflective gold glass panels, it presents an understated elegance, which is appreciated by many even today.