Project Summary


Situated in the prime location of Sarabhai, K10 Grand is a pioneer office building that is defining new standards of commercial spaces in Vadodara, Gujarat, India. The area has seen rapid growth of commercial buildings due to its closeness to the local airport and train station. K10 retained VYOM as the structural consultant on the project and tasked them to design a building that meets and exceeds the highest expectations of Vadodara’s business elite. This INR 1.2 billion project consists of a basement and 12 floors, totaling an area of 200,000 square feet. Most buildings in the area are mixed use, with office spaces above other businesses. However, K10 wanted to bring something new to the area, so K10 Grand will only be used for offices. The project team wanted to create a building with three towers and a core structure in the middle. The structure bulges outward for the bottom six floors and then tapers upward for the top six floors. Also, the architect and developer insisted on having a column-free space in the entrance foyer. The center core needed to house all utilities, and it was difficult to have an earthquake-resistant design because the shape of the building was attracting more lateral forces. Finally, the foundation of the building was a combined and raft foundation, making it necessary to carefully evaluate the structure before construction.


The project team used STAAD to design the space. When designing the building, the original plan was to create four separate buildings: three towers and one core structure. However, when VYOM began analyzing the design in STAAD, the project team realized that this initial design proposal was not economical. Instead, the team used STAAD to create a new, optimized design to be more cost efficient. The project team decided to connect all the buildings together, saving money and time. It was critical for the team to make this change before the construction phase. VYOM then decided to use straight columns for the first nine floors and inclined columns from the ninth to twelfth floors to support the uniquely shaped building. To create the highest possible ceilings, VYOM chose to use post-tensioned beams. These beams, coupled with shear walls and columns, were arranged so that they can resist 70% of the lateral force. To provide column free space in the foyer, VYOM used 20-foot cantilever beams and slabs for the rest of the floors in the building.


VYOM completed the entire building design with drawings in one month. The project team saved significant design time by using STAAD for nearly 70 design iterations within the month. All these iterations and design changes adhered to IS code. The design met all the requirements of the architect and developer, with construction now in progress. The highly anticipated building looks identical to the 3D model, and the commercial spaces are without any obstructions. The space will include a rooftop deck, shared conference spaces, a lounge, gym, and coffee shop, making it a well-balanced workplace of the future.


STAAD helped VYOM create a more economical design and showed the project team where to put the support columns, shear walls, and post-tensioned beams to create a structurally sound building. The application helped save significant time during the analysis and design stage by allowing for nearly 70 design iterations in just one month. The application also allowed everything to adhere to IS code in a user-friendly environment.

 Project Playbook: STAAD

  • The entire building design with drawings were completed within one month with STAAD.
  • STAAD saved significant time during the design stage, allowing for nearly 70 design iterations to be performed for both design approaches and the final design.