The Forest Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Sanjay Puri Architects presents The Forest, a high density development project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Due to prevailing rules governing built-up areas, this project required a vertical tower since the ratio of built-up area permissible is 9 times the plot area.
The vertical circulation core is planned on the southern side to mitigate heat gain and simultaneously provide privacy to the existing residential 15 storey buildings on the southern side. The offices are all oriented towards the north and north-west, with the best views of the Congo River, while also reducing heat gain by allowing natural indirect light into the office spaces.
Situated in the pretext of the Congo River, the building shape provides peripheral glazing surfaces orienting towards the river. Capturing maximum river views at the shortest distance, the balconies are aligned and projected radially from the offices.
The concept thread is drawn from the African forest, creating a structure that replicates a dense tree via parabolic balconies that embark upon the building façade. The angled balconies overlap at subsequent floors, providing double and single height balcony spaces for every office. The building shape, with its projecting decks, allows integration of open spaces with enclosed ones. The form generated by the blend of building shape and balconies creates a parametric envelope of repetitive cascading elements to develop a unique identity.
Technical sheet
Location: Democratic Republic Of The Congo, Africa
Client: Modern Construction SARL
Completion Date: 9/2025
Built Area: 42107.85 sqm
Architects: Sanjay Puri Architects
Lead Architect: Arch.Sanjay Puri
Design Team: Arch. Dimple Mehta, Arch.Muskaan Garg
About Sanjay Puri Architects
Led by founding partners Sanjay Puri and Nina Puri, Sanjay Puri Architects has been listed in Archdaily’s list of Top 100 architects worldwide and in the WA UK top 100 architectural firms, as well as the Architizer New York’s top130 architecture firms in the world. With a current firm strength of 90, the essence of the firm’s design philosophy revolves around evolving design solutions that are contextual and sustainable, and creating spaces that explore spatial perceptions with new design directions.
A registered member of the RIBA, UK, Society of American Registered Architects (SARA, New York), Indian Institute of Architecture (IIA), and the Indian Institute of Interior Designers(IIID), as well as a part of the Heritage Conservation Committee, New Delhi, Sanjay Puri has been on the juries of the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona, Singapore, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Lisbon, and was the first Indian architect to do so. He also served as a judge for The Architectural Review Awards, UK, Dezeen Awards, UK, The Plan Awards, Italy, and Inde Awards, Australia, and has been invited as a speaker to several international & national conventions.
Sanjay Puri Architects has won over 360 awards, including 270 International design awards such as the CDA 2023 Paris Best Residential Project Worldwide, The LOOP Design Awards Best Large Architectural Firm, The Best Housing Project Worldwide in the World Architecture Festival, Lisbon 2022, and The LEAF Awards London, Best Interior Project 2021.
The firm has won architectural projects in Australia, Spain, Montenegro, UAE, Oman, and the United States (Dallas), and is currently involved in the design of projects in 36 Indian cities.
