Surat bourse pips Pentagon as the world's largest office building; see details

India's gem capital Surat in Gujarat now has a remarkable building to house its mammoth industry. The recently-constructed Surat Diamond Bourse in the city, is billed as a “one-stop destination” for more than 65,000 diamond professionals, including cutters, polishers, and traders.

With over 7.1 million square feet of floor space, it is believed to surpass the Pentagon as the world’s largest office building, according to a report in the CNN. With its impressive 15-story complex spanning over 35 acres, the bourse features a unique design of nine interconnected rectangular structures emanating from a central "spine".

After four years of construction work, which was partly impacted by Covid-related delays, the project is set to welcome its first occupants in November. Reportedly, the official opening will take place later this year under the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bourse has more than 4,700 office spaces, which can also serve as small diamond-cutting and polishing workshops. The development also includes 131 elevators, as well as dining, retail, wellness, and conference facilities for the workers.

The CEO of the project, Mahesh Gadhavi, pointed the advantages of the Surat Diamond Bourse, emphasising how it will save thousands of people from daily travel to Mumbai by train for business purposes, the CNN report said. He described the move to relocate businesses to Surat as a "better option".

The construction of the Surat Diamond Bourse was masterminded by Indian architecture firm Morphogenesis. As per the report, the size of the project was determined by demand, with all offices being purchased by diamond companies before construction commenced.

Sonali Rastogi, the co-founder of Morphogenesis, told the outlet that the design is aimed to ensure equal accessibility for all occupants, with no office taking longer than seven minutes to reach from any entry gate.

According to the official website of Surat Diamond Bourse, it is aimed at promoting imports, exports and trading of diamonds, gems and jewellery from India. It aims to provide state-of-the-art infrastructure to the organisations engaged in manufacturing and trading of diamonds. Furthermore, it intends to promote, advance, protect and develop trade, commerce and industry relating to gems and jewellery including cutting, polishing and processing.

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