Western Railway has revived the old charm of the heritage Headquarter Building at Churchgate by undertaking various restoration works. To add more beauty & aesthetics to this magnificent edifice, the façade of the iconic heritage building has been provided with illumination work, besides restoration of heritage aspects of the entrance foyer. Alok Kansal – General Manager, Western Railway inaugurated the beautifully restored heritage foyer & the illumination on the façade, on Friday, 28th May, 2021.
The Headquarter Building of Western Railway at Churchgate is classified as a Grade I Heritage structure. Western Railway has taken all efforts to restore its old glory by undertaking various renovations in the entrance foyer. All efforts & care have been taken to restore the original architecture & masonry work of the structure. The work of restoration comprised of thorough cleaning of arches and removal of coats of paint. The arch stones constructed using Porbandar stone, Malad Stone, Sand stone & Basalt were then given proper pointing. The decorative cornices were revived, disintegrated pillar stones repaired, wooden rafters of roof ceiling were scrapped & painted, heritage moldings have been rehabilitated, the wooden wall paneling work has been restored to its original shape and size and the marble flooring has also been given facelift with grinding & polishing. The restoration work has been undertaken at a cost of Rs.15 lakhs and was completed almost within three months. The foyer has been lit with soft ambience lighting giving it an old-world charm.
Giving further details, the CPRO informed that the façade of the building has also been enhanced with RGBW based multi-colour LED luminaires. The illumination work will grace the headquarter building with different themes at befitting occasions. The beautiful lighting shall lift the morale and provide cheer to the city as it fights back during such testing times & will help to uplift the spirit. The illumination work of the façade will result in savings of approx. Rs. 10 lakhs per annum on account of lesser energy consumption as more distributed lighting is used and it being a permanent arrangement. The salient features of the façade illumination includes a remote control based lighting wherein the LED luminaires can be programmed as per the requirement of the occasion using a smartphone app as well as Windows based software for creating color scenes / programs.
Western Railway Headquarter Building is a graceful, aesthetic and splendid monument with a blend of Venetian Gothic and Indo-Sarcenic styles of architecture. The renowned architect Frederick William Stevens designed this edifice. The construction of the building commenced in 1894 & was completed in 1899, built at a cost of Rs. 7.5 lakhs. Standing imposingly at the heart of the city, the building accommodates the administrative offices of Western Railway, the erstwhile BB & CI Railway.