Central Vista Redevelopment Project: New Parliament complex to have four floors; will boast 120 office spaces

Central Vista Redevelopment Project: The new Parliament complex, once ready, will boast as many as 120 office spaces, public galleries with museum-grade features which will be “open-to-all”, six entrances, along with other upgrades. To construct the new Parliament building, the contract has been awarded to Tata Projects. The construction is said to begin in the month of December and is expected to be completed by the year 2022, in time for India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations, according to an IE report. The officials of HCP Design, Planning and Management Private Limited, which has won the Central Vista redesigning contract, the new Parliament complex will have a total of four floors including, lower ground, upper ground, first floor and second floor. Besides, there will also be a reading room for MPs.

According to HCP officials, a final call is yet to be taken on the distribution of offices between the two buildings, but they added that a few crucial ones like committee rooms; major offices of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Rajya Sabha secretariat, Lok Sabha Secretariat; offices of the PM, some MPs; and offices for security personnel and staff, will be housed in the new Parliament. In the present building, some of the offices that will still remain there are additional offices of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Lok Sabha Secretariat; railway and air booking offices as well as offices of estate management.

An HCP official was quoted in the report saying that the galleries and the Constitution Hall will be converted into museum-grade galleries with exhibits displaying the heritage of India. The museum will be open to all. He further said the curation for the public galleries has not started yet.

As per the design by HCP, the new Parliament complex will have a total of six entrances: a ceremonial entrance for the PM and the President; a ceremonial entrance in general; one for the Lok Sabha Speaker, one for Rajya Sabha Chairperson, and MPs; another entrance for MPs; as well as two entrances for the public. The new Lok Sabha hall’s maximum capacity will be 1,272 seats for joint sessions. According to the report, it will come up in 3,015 sq metres area as against the present 1,145 sq metres and 888 number of seats allocated. As against the current 1,232 sq metres area in the old building, the Rajya Sabha will have an area of 3,220 sq metres. The new Rajya Sabha hall will have 384 seats more than the current 245 number of seats.

According to the HCP official, MPs will be seated in two-seater benches. These benches will accommodate three people in case of joint sessions, in a horseshoe pattern in front of the Speaker. Also, provisions will be made in the furniture for smart displays, digital language interpretation or translation systems, biometrics for ease of voting and recording infrastructure to generate real-time metadata as well as programmable microphones. To set the right levels of reverberation sound as well as limit the echo, the hall interiors will be fitted with virtual sound simulations, the official added.