Application: Rooftop extension

01 Aug 2019 CW Staff

Owner: IIT Madras

Location: Chennai

Structure: Rooftop extension on six (hostel) buildings

Area: 10,140 sq m

Project requirement: IIT Madras houses over 12,000 inhabitants. To increase the number of student occupants, the management decided to build on top of its existing boys’ hostels, which are 55-year-old RCC buildings. The management preferred to use a light-gauge framing system.

Timeline: Tata BlueScope Steel completed the project in the mandated 100 days.

Challenges: “To meet the challenging timeline, we speeded up the design of the structural members and material supply, and ensured adequate resources on hand, including a skilled construction and installation team,” says Piyush Nahar, General Manager, Marketing, Tata BlueScope Steel. “Safety concerns included the risk of working at a considerable height, and removing the existing parapet and RCC solar pedestal. We installed a 3-m safety net to curtail accidents, installed scaffolding from the ground to the third floor and carefully planned the removal of the solar panels to ensure minimum damage to the existing roof structure. Working without disturbing operations was another challenge. We are happy to report that we caused no upheaval to the curriculum of students.”

Products used: Smartbuild (light-gauge framing system) with Lysaght Trimdek from Tata BlueScope Steel.

Building Material

11 Dec 2025

Suraj Estate Wins Euromoney Award for India’s Best Residential Developer

"Suraj Estate Developers Limited has received the Euromoney Real Estate Award 2025 for ‘India’s Best Residential Developer’, positioning the company among globally benchmarked leaders in the sector. The recognition reflects its four-decade legacy in delivering high-quality residential and redevelopment-led projects across South Central Mumbai. The Euromoney Real Estate Awards, presented by the London-based Euromoney magazine, are widely regarded as one of the most credible global assessments of performance in real estate, banking and finance. Winners are selected through surveys of inte..

Lloyds Metals, Tata Steel Sign MoU to Explore Strategic Collaboration

"Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited has signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Tata Steel Limited to evaluate potential areas of strategic cooperation across mining, logistics, pelletisation and steelmaking. The MoU was signed by B Prabhakaran, Managing Director of Lloyds Metals, and Mr T V Narendran, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Steel. The partnership framework aims to leverage the natural operational synergies between both companies and assess opportunities in greenfield steel projects, iron ore mining, slurry pipeline infrastructure, pellet manufacturing in iron ore–ric..

IndiaAI, Gujarat Govt Host Regional Conclave Ahead of 2026 AI Summit

The IndiaAI Mission under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, along with the Government of Gujarat and IIT Gandhinagar, convened a Regional Pre-Summit Event at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar. The initiative is part of the build-up to the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for 15–20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. The conclave brought together senior policymakers, technology leaders, researchers and industry practitioners to examine how AI can accelerate economic, digital and social transformation across sectors. The programme focused on the overarching th..