LAHORE, Oct 20: Work on the renovation and upgradation of Shahdin Manzil started here on Friday.

The work is being carried out under a renovation plan approved a few months ago by the provincial government under its Tajdeed-i-Lahore initiative. The project is being financed by the UAE-based commercial bank which owns the architectural monument.

According to sources in the Tajdeed-i-Lahore Committee, the 87-year-old building is proposed to be developed as a commercial banking and office premises. An entire floor is to be dedicated to the state-of-the-art virtual library housing resources for IT research scholars and students. The plan involves development of the site without adding any new area. A rooftop parking facility is also proposed. The building’s history has been researched and meticulously documented.

According to the consultant architects, while the verandah and the outer columns are mostly intact despite, the inner facade has been reduced to a row of ugly roller shutters and the original details all but lost. The heavy teak doors and intricate plaster details have disappeared.

The structure lying beyond the facade is proposed to be dismantled and replaced with a system that can not only anchor and brace the old facade but also bear the additional weight of cars, elevators and other architectural elements.

Behind the lime-plastered facade and the heavy wooden entrance doors there would be an ultra-modern interior of glass and gleaming stainless steel. “A key element of the Shahdin Manzil, as most of the colonial buildings, is the classical proportioning system of Golden Mean where each element from the overall height of the building to the smallest window-pane has to be a specific size”, a report prepared by the consultants said.

“Revival of a premises like Shahdin Manzil, is like using new words with the old grammatical rules. The old spirit has been carried to the new design. While the material and building techniques have changed, the scheme is the same. Instead of wood and stone, the new details are in stainless steel and glass”, the report said. — SAJID IQBAL