page_title: LIC Building
section_title: Design and structure
hierarchical_section_title: LIC Building / Design and structure
caption_attribution_description: LIC Building, Anna Salai, Chennai
context_page_description: LIC Building is a 15-storied building in Chennai, India, serving as the southern regional headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India. It is the first skyscraper built in Chennai and a famous landmark in the city. Located on the arterial Anna Salai, the building is 177 ft tall. LIC Building was the tallest building in India when it was inaugurated in 1959 and was surpassed by Mumbai's first skyscraper, the Usha Kiran Building, in 1961, which is about 80 m high. The building marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns in the region. The building is known for using pile foundation technique for the first time in the region. It was the tallest building in Chennai for over 35 years before being surpassed by the Hyatt Regency Building in Anna Salai and the Arihant Majestic Towers in Koyambedu, both in the mid-1990s.
context_section_description: Built on a 55-ground plot, the building was of enclosed construction with glass facings at front and rear. The building consists of 15 floors—13 levels with 2 basement floors. The buildingq is of RCC-framed construction designed for central air conditioning, designed in the shape of well-proportioned box with strip glass façade. The air conditioning plant is in the sub-basement floor. The top floor of the building reaches a height of 44 meters, and the total height of the building is 177 feet. The building occupies 52,800 sq ft. The total floor area of the building is 1,26,000 sq ft. The building stands on 521 pneumatic caisson piles that run to a depth of 35 ft below the ground. The building was built at a cost of ₹ 8.7 million in 1959. The building consumed about 26,000 sq ft of special glass that was treated with infra-red rays, stove enameled, and made water resistant with synthetic enamel paint. About 1,000 tons of steel and 3,000 tons of cement were used in the construction of the building. The building could provide modern office accommodation for over 1,500 persons, and was built with five automatic lifts.
  Fire-fighting design
  As fire fighting arrangement, the building has one 15-cm diameter riser feeding first-aid hose reels as well as fire extinguishers. For feeding the hose reels, there are two overhead tanks. Connected to the air-conditioning plant is two large vertical shafts located at one end of the building going up to the roof—one meant for the supply of conditioned air and the other for return air. These shafts are closed at the top except for a small vent. All the floors have false ceilings made of Sitatex boards on wooden frames. The space above the false ceilings is utilised as plenum with three horizontal ducts running through the length of the building acting as supply air ducts. The central duct is of galvanised iron sheets. The side walls, above which the glass facings are fitted, has several openings on the window sills, through grills which communicate with the side ducts in the floor just below. These openings are also for the supply of conditioned air. The plenum as well as supply air ducts connected with vertical shafts are provided with inspection doors made of timber which open out directly to the staircase landings on each floor. At each end, a staircase is provided. The lift shafts are adjoining the vertical air shafts at one end.
  Energy-saving design
  The building has concrete walls on the eastern and western sides, preventing sun rays from penetrating the building during sunrise and sunset and keeping the temperature inside the building stable, and glass windows on the southern and northern sides. Owing to this design, the glass windows provide enough lighting without heating up the building.
caption: A view of the building from the southwestern side
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