It's almost like a film sequence. The gate to the mega building opens and camera shows a flock of pigeons fluttering about. Some have grains in their beaks and some are ready to take off, if they haven't already. Others are just happy cooing away. It's a vast space, a kind of a front yard that you have to cross before stepping into the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) building - a magnificent one at that.

When you're making your way to the relatively newly-built reception (inaugurated in 2005), you look at the reasonably well-kept façade. You keep moving along getting impressed by the eye-catching designs and patterns on the exterior of the edifice and pretty-looking green, rectangular windows. The woodwork is impressive too. However, what can't be missed are the ground floor's clean-as-a-whistle windowpanes, but those on the second and third floors have gathered specks of dust. On the whole, the KPT offices are nicely maintained.

You enter the reception hall and find out that the security is tight. Understandable. Then you move ahead and witness a flurry of activity. On the left side there's a section referred to as the annexe, not initially a part of the KPT structure, whereas on its right side is the original portion, most of which appears to be in the pinkish-yellow colour whereas a chunk of it is painted white. You would have ideally liked the entire piece of architecture in one colour. But if wishes were horses...

The Port Trust building was designed by George Wittet who was the consulting architect of Bombay (now Mumbai). At the time of its construction (1915-16) it was considered, along with the Science College Bombay, the most important building in the subcontinent. Wittet was also the architect of the Prince of Wales Museum or the Gateway of India (1908). While those pieces were of the Anglo-Mughal variety, Wittet made the Port Trust workplace with a 'rusticated arcaded ground floor and repetitive window bays on the upper storeys.' It is said the building was designed in a 'general Renaissance' style but some features representing Georgian architecture could also be witnessed in the making of the ground floor.

One other interesting nugget of information is that during the First World War (actually from 1916 to 1919) the Port Trust offices were converted into a 500-bed hospital. Given the enormity of its size, it would have proved quite helpful. But not much is known about that aspect of its existence.

These days the janitorial services have been outsourced by the KPT authorities, a method which seems to be working

fine.

But do those who visit this historic place on a daily basis realise that they work in a building that's part of our national heritage? After all they say no one is a hero to his own valet.

Architect Arif Hasan says “In 1780 the Mirs had established a site here and called it the Chabootra. It was an open shed. It was the Mirs' custom house. Here, whatever stuff that would come into the region would be evaluated and then taxed, because it existed along the coastline jetty, which is also why the Brits had named the locality Native Jetty (Naiti Jeti, its distorted Urdu version).

“After that I believe the Brits had constructed another custom house, which they demolished and subsequently built the KPT building. It's made in the European pseudo-Renaissance style. It has wooden flooring and has a sloping roof made of teak.

“I think there were a few problems when it was being restored not too long ago. I don't have the details. All I can say is that whatever changes have been brought about in the structure should have been done in a systematic manner. I hear that bathrooms were created in a way that didn't befit its architectural beauty,” says Mr Hasan.

Sindh Department of Antiquities Secretary Kaleem Lashari says “A couple of years back, they tried to freshen the surface of the western wing of the building by plastering it. I don't think it has come off well. Then they tried to put Jodhpuri stone into it to retain its original pinkish colour. But the problem is that if you are adding a certain feature to a building of historical import, it should be done in a proper way.

“As far as its significance goes, it's built in a semi-circular fashion, because at the time of its construction classical grandeur was being reenacted here, and semi-circular designs were a part of it,” says Mr Lashari.

“Old buildings should be protected and preserved not to fossilise the city, but because they depict the city's history, which in turns impart to it its unique identity. And not just architectures, but localities (mohallas) need to be preserved so that you know how people lived and behaved in a certain period in history,” says Arif Hasan.

The vastness of the KPT building is awe-inspiring. So too its architecture, particularly when viewed as an overhead shot from the road network that crisscrosses the area. It's a new, forward-looking Karachi. But the harbour is as old as time. And the combo of a well-protected past and a well-thought-out future is always worth cherishing.