The Ripon Building is the seat and headquarters of the

Greater Chennai Corporation Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is a local government for the City of Chennai in the Chennai Metropolitan Area of Tamil Nadu, India. Inaugurated on 29 September 1688, under a royal charter issued by James II of England, King James II of Eng ...

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

. It is an example of

neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

, a combination of Ionic and Corinthian styles. The Ripon Building is an all-white structure and is located near the

Chennai Central railway station Chennai Central (officially Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. M.G. Ramachandran Central Railway Station, formerly Madras Central) (station code: MAS), is an NSG–1 category Indian railway station in Chennai railway division of Southern Railway zone. ...

History

Commissioned in 1909, the Ripon Building was designed by G.T.S. Harris. The foundation stone was laid by Lord Minto, Viceroy of India, on 11 December 1909. It was built by Loganatha Mudaliar, and took four years to build at a cost of 750,000, including a sum of 550,000 paid to Mudaliar. The Ripon building was named after Lord Ripon, Governor-General of British India and the Father of local self-government. Earl of Minto, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India laid the foundation on 12 December 1909. The Municipal Corporation of Madras, after functioning from several other places including Errabalu Chetty Street, settled at Ripon building in 1913, with P. L. Moore as the President of the Municipal Corporation at the time of the inauguration. The inaugural function was attended by over 3,000 of the city's elites.

Building details

The building is rectangular, long and wide, with a high central tower containing a clock in diameter. The first of its three floors has approximately of space. The walls were constructed with stock bricks, set and plastered with lime mortar and the roof is supported with teak wood joists. The original flooring of the ground floor was Cuddapah Slate that has been replaced with marble. In 1913, one of the building's main attractions, the Westminster Quarter chiming clock, was installed by Oakes and Co. The clock has a mechanical key system, which must be wound daily. There are four bells, which were cast by Gillet and Johnston in 1913.

Annexe building

To the rear of the main building is an annexe building (

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lang ...

: "annex"), inaugurated in September 2015 under the name "Amma Maaligai". All departments of the Chennai Corporation, except the offices of the Mayor and Commissioner, function from the annexe building. The offices of the Mayor and the Commissioner offices are in the main building. The annexe building was constructed at a cost of 230 million and has a built-up area of 150,000 sq. ft. and a parking space for 50 cars and 150 motorcycles. The building, built with aspects of a green building, could accommodate about 1,000 officials. The building also features a 500-seat auditorium, a 100-seat conference hall and 70 toilets with facilities for disabled people. The building has been able to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent by means of a water-cooled air-conditioning system and heat-reflective tiles on the roof. The building has been designed in a post-modern style, with some elements of traditional architecture. Some design elements would suit the colonial-style architecture of the Ripon Buildings.

Restoration

In 2012, a massive renovation was initiated at a cost of 77 million under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), to preserve the building's original grandeur. Under this, an annexe building measuring 12,540 sq m will be constructed alongside the main structure to house all the departments of the corporation, and all structures in the premises that do not blend in with the main structure aesthetically will be demolished in June 2013 when the annexe building is completed. The annex building, with an auditorium to seat 500 persons, will be built in a contemporary and post-modern style, highlighting with elements of regional architecture, to blend with the Indo-Saracenic style of the main building. The main building is also being renovated under the process with the use of lime mortar for plastering. It is the first heritage building in the country to have received funds from JNNURM for renovation.

Gallery

File:Chennai corp.jpg, Entrance View File:Ripon Building Chennai.JPG, Alternate view File:Ripon building, Chennai 2.jpg, The Ripon Building under dark clouds File:Ripon Building panorama.jpg, The building's front façade File:Ripon building (12232197345).jpg, The Ripon Building in 1990 File:Ripon Building panorama 2.jpg, A panoramic view of the Ripon Building File:Ripon Building aerial view.jpg, Aerial view

References