The Tata Group, founded in 1868, is India’s largest private conglomerate, with interests ranging from tea to cars. Part of this empire is Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a provider of software and business process outsourcing services. Its new headquarters are located in a protected parkland that is home to a hundred species, including the banyan, a fig that is the national tree. In deference to this special setting, the components of the corporate campus are kept low. Twelve buildings are connected by raised, shaded passageways that provide relief from the region’s intense heat and monsoons. Spaces are configured around exterior courtyards, where elliptical occuli on the roofs filter daylight and air into the interiors. ‘Breakout’ areas situated off the hallways create areas for employees to rest in while viewing the surrounding verdant landscape.

All materials used are indigenous or manufactured in India. Concrete and stone give a sense of permanence and mass while demonstrating the quality of local crafts. A footbridge at the campus entrance is clad with jaali, traditional stone lattice screens, and the roofs and occuli are covered with tile mosaics. Contemporary reinterpretations of these ancient techniques and customs give the campus a character of its own and reinforce the project’s cultural identity.