The conservation work for Panjab University’s Gandhi Bhawan will soon get off the ground as a tender for the first phase of the project, which has been in development for the last few years, was recently released.
The first phase of the project will see the restoration of the building’s accompanying reflecting pool, following which the focus will shift onto the outer panels and roof of the building.
The Conservation Management Plan for the iconic building was prepared by Panjab University. The varsity had been the recipient of the Getty Foundation’s 2015 Keeping it Modern grant.
The US-based foundation has provided a ₹1.4-crore grant to the department of Gandhian and Peace Studies for the conservation project. Manish Sharma, head of the department, said, “The work on the first phase of restoration will begin soon and we expect it to be completed before the next monsoon season.”
The conservation plan was arrived upon after extensive background research, testing of materials, and technical analysis by a team of experts and organisations including the DRONAH and IIT Madras.
Restoration of the reflective pool
The restoration work of the building’s reflective pool will start with careful removal of floor tiles, which would be assigned numbers based on positions. The process will be followed up with the cleaning of individual tiles, which will later be reused to level the pool’s concrete bed.
The water proofing project, meanwhile, will involve the filling of any cracks in the pool base and masonry joints with an elastomeric material and applying a waterproofing coat on the entire surface.
Restoration of external panels
The work on the exterior cladding panels will be carried out in the second phase. Site inspections were conducted between December 2020 and September 2021 for a visual assessment and drawings were prepared. The defects in the panels were thus identified.
In addition to the removal and refixing of the dislodged panels, the refixing of previously removed panels will also be carried out.
The third and last phase of the project will see the restoration of the building’s roof.
Inaugurated in 1962 by Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the first president of independent India, the Gandhi Bhawan is a heritage building of architectural and cultural significance. The building is also a quintessential example of the modern buildings that came up during rapid expansion carried out in India in the 1950s and 60s.
