Mumbai: At 96, Fort's Commissariat Building as good as new

The tiled roof, now resplendent, had faced distress due to leakage. Pics courtesy/Vikas Dilawari

If the recently restored Commissariat Building on South Mumbai's historic DN Road could speak, it would have quite the chronicle to share. It was built in 1925, when Bombay was recovering from another pandemic - the deadly Spanish Flu or Bombay Influenza that killed around 18 million across the Indian Subcontinent, after the first case was detected in the city in June 1918. Since then, Bombay has become Mumbai, and it is now battling a new infectious virus, the Coronavirus. Despite the lockdown, the site underwent extensive restoration work, thanks to its visionary owners, readying it for a grand second innings.

Crest on the facade depicting the year in which the building was established. Pics/Bipin Kokate

"It is painful to see good, old buildings in rundown condition due to lack of maintenance - the Bombay Rent Control Act to blame, and then getting pulled down. Worse, the new built stock is devoid of urban design or planning, and becomes a burden on the century-old fragile infrastructure," rues conservation architect Vikas Dilawari about the backstory that plagues SoBo's heritage streetscape. Thankfully, there are positive changes too.

"The Commissariat building belonged to my family for decades but due to the Rent Control Act and consequently, low rents, we were unable to maintain it. We received a notice from the BMC stating that the building was unsafe. So we decided to restore it foundation upwards, and shift our offices there," shares Farokh Commissariat, adding that since it was a heritage structure and bore their family name, his father, Homi, was very keen that they restore it to its original glory. Farokh's family runs a shipping agency business; his grandfather Framjee Commissariat had bought the James Mackintosh Company Private Limited, which later passed on to his father's uncle Sorabji, and later Homi. Farokh recalls how in the 1970s, when they moved their registered offices from Ballard Estate to this site, their business did well; "My father considers it lucky." Work on this corner structure by Dilawari and team began in 2018, and the project also recently bagged the First Prize at the HUDCO Design Awards 2020-21.

Before: The facade was damaged by rain and had vegetation growth

From a conservation perspective, several sections needed immediate attention: its leaking tiled roof and flat terraces; vegetation on the external façade; the western facade windows had no chajjas (overhanging eaves), the jack arches were damaged by rain water, and interiors had deteriorated. "Being a very tight site with no open space abutting the main arterial road, loading-unloading was difficult for the contractor Premier Construction Co. It was our good fortune that the ground, second and fifth floors belonged to the owner, so we could use the vacant area to store materials," reveals Dilawari. The tenants didn't contribute, as it was totally owner-sponsored. The work was planned in phases; the slow-down during the three monsoons, and lockdown were anxious times since the terrace slab was open. Farrokh recalls, "It was a huge project for us as individuals to restore the building.

After: The building is a clever cover design with the road abutting on three sides. It is an axis with Dr DN Road leading to CSMT and has a facade made of Dhrangadhra stone on two sides. It also has an arcade inspired by buildings on the opposite side that came up after the Fort walls were demolished in the 1860s and set a new trend including uniform arcade heights, building lines and single-user buildings.

Obtaining BMC permissions to repair the building was time consuming, coaxing tenants to cooperate, as well as the building and inhabitants' safety, as work was underway, were major concerns. All the tenants cooperated; the contractor did a fantastic job despite the constraints."

Dilawari says that not only has the site got a new lease of life but its property value has also increased. "Conservation should always be our first choice. It is economical to repair, easier to maintain old time-tested buildings and [retaining the old structures] helps preserve the original charm of a planned urban design scheme."