The Surat Diamond Bourse is now the world's largest building. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse
The Surat Diamond Bourse is now the world's largest building. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse
The Surat Diamond Bourse is now the world's largest building. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse
The Surat Diamond Bourse is now the world's largest building. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse

India's Surat Diamond Bourse overtakes The Pentagon as world's largest office building


Taniya Dutta
  • English
  • Arabic

A building in India’s diamond city of Surat has surpassed The Pentagon to become the world’s largest office.

Surat in Gujarat state is known as the world’s diamond capital, where 90 per cent of the precious stones are cut.

It will now house the world’s largest office building, the Surat Diamond Bourse, dedicated to the gemstone industry.

The 15-storey building has more than 7.1 million square feet of floor space, outdoing The Pentagon, the headquarters of the US defence department in Arlington Co, Virginia, which has 6.5 million sq ft.

It is 81.9 metres tall and cost 32 billion rupees ($38 million) to build.

The Diamond Bourse was designed by Delhi-based Morphogenesis and is based on the concept of Panchtatva, the five elements of nature – water, fire, air, earth and sky.

“It is the world’s largest building,” Sonali Rastogi, co-founder of Morphogenesis, told The National. "It houses different sizes of offices but are all meant for diamond merchants.

"There are 300 sq ft to 25,000 sq ft offices. It has been built for the diamond merchant community."

The building has a unique design of nine interconnected rectangular structures emanating from a central spine.

It can house more than 4,700 diamond offices and 65,000 industry professionals, including cutters, polishers and traders, the architects said.

The Surat Diamond Bourse from the sky. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse
The Surat Diamond Bourse from the sky. Photo: Surat Diamond Bourse

The building offers dining, retail, wellness and conference services and has marble floors and light-filled atriums connecting all office space.

There are courtyards with seating and water features.

Ms Rastogi said no office takes longer than seven minutes to reach from any of the building’s entry gates.

Construction started in 2019 although not with the intention of creating the world’s largest office building, she said.

“It was a global, two-stage competition that was floated by the committee of the Surat Diamond Board,” she said.

"We won the competition. It took us four and a half years to finish the building.

“When it started, it wasn’t trying to become the largest building. Slowly some of the requirements grew and some things got added to the project and then it turned out to be bigger than the Pentagon.”

The design is based on the concept of Panchtatva or five elements of nature. Photo: Instagram
The design is based on the concept of Panchtatva or five elements of nature. Photo: Instagram

The building was ready on time and diamond companies had bought all available office space before construction was complete, Ms Rastogi said.

It will welcome its first occupants in November and is likely to be officially opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose home state is Gujarat.

“Surat Diamond Bourse showcases the dynamism and growth of Surat's diamond industry,” Mr Modi tweeted on Wednesday.

"It is also a testament to India’s entrepreneurial spirit.

"It will serve as a hub for trade, innovation and collaboration, further boosting our economy and creating employment opportunities."

SPEC SHEET

Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD  dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz

Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core

Memory: 8/12GB RAM

Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB

Platform: Android 12

Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW

Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps

Front camera: 40MP f/2.2

Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare

Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC

I/O: USB-C

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Colours: burgundy, green, phantom black, phantom white, graphite, sky blue, red

Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dual%20synchronous%20electric%20motors%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E660hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E1%2C100Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESingle-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETouring%20range%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E488km-560km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFrom%20Dh850%2C000%20(estimate)%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EOctober%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (11.30pm)

Saturday Freiburg v Borussia Monchengladbach, Eintracht Frankfurt v Borussia Dortmund, Cologne v Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld v Mainz (6.30pm) Bayern Munich v RB Leipzig (9.30pm)

Sunday Werder Bremen v Stuttgart (6.30pm), Schalke v Bayer Leverkusen (9pm)

Monday Hoffenheim v Augsburg (11.30pm)

How much of your income do you need to save?

The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.

In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)

Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.

 

ACC 2019: The winners in full

Best Actress Maha Alemi, Sofia

Best Actor Mohamed Dhrif, Weldi  

Best Screenplay Meryem Benm’Barek, Sofia  

Best Documentary Of Fathers and Sons by Talal Derki

Best Film Yomeddine by Abu Bakr Shawky

Best Director Nadine Labaki, Capernaum
 

FIVE%20TRENDS%20THAT%20WILL%20SHAPE%20UAE%20BANKING
%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20digitisation%20of%20financial%20services%20will%20continue%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Managing%20and%20using%20data%20effectively%20will%20become%20a%20competitive%20advantage%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Digitisation%20will%20require%20continued%20adjustment%20of%20operating%20models%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20Banks%20will%20expand%20their%20role%20in%20the%20customer%20life%20through%20ecosystems%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%E2%80%A2%20The%20structure%20of%20the%20sector%20will%20change%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

The Pope's itinerary

Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport


Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial


Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport

Company profile

Name: Tratok Portal

Founded: 2017

Based: UAE

Sector: Travel & tourism

Size: 36 employees

Funding: Privately funded

The Voice of Hind Rajab

Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees

Director: Kaouther Ben Hania

Rating: 4/5

Frankenstein in Baghdad
Ahmed Saadawi
​​​​​​​Penguin Press

Race card

5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m

GOLF’S RAHMBO

- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)

Updated: July 19, 2023, 11:52 AM