i+o builds sustainable in-flight catering facility in Delhi

Delhi - Jul 16, 2010

i+o Industrieplanung + Organisation GmbH & Co. KG is currently building a new in-flight catering facility for Oberoi Flight Services at Indira Gandhi International airport (IGI). Oberoi Flight Services is among the four largest flight catering companies in India. The ultra modern building is going to set new standards with regard to sustainability and energy efficiency. Furthermore, the building will be well adapted to Delhi‘s climate conditions. The facility is supposed to start already operating in February 2011.

In building the new flight kitchen, i+o is not only responsible for the concept of the building complex and the sustainable in-house technology, but also for the entire building process. A little more than six months only are planned for the building of the in-flight catering facility. The reason for the tight schedule is the expansion of IGI airport; at the beginning of July terminal 3 was opened. The third largest passenger terminal worldwide is to process about 40 million passengers a year. The considerable expansion of the airport’s capacities required Oberoi Flight Services to build a new catering facility. About 15,000 meals daily are supposed to be produced in the new flight kitchen.

Due to years of experience in realising in-flight catering systems, i+o is once again able to set standards with the in-flight catering facility in Delhi – especially with regard to sustainability. “The technical requirements of in-flight catering are constantly changing. This leads to new challenges. As far as the facility at IGI airport is concerned, the main challenge are the climatic conditions, as in summer, temperatures easily exceed 40 degrees Celsius“, explains Tan, Hang Seong, Managing Director of i+o’s office in Singapore and project leader in Delhi. In Delhi, he is responsible for the entire process, which – among other things – includes the goods flow in the food and non-food sector.

According to “form and function in concert“, the building complex is designed to perfectly meet the requirements of an ultra modern, sustainable and efficient catering facility. E.g. the building material is derived from local stone quarries. On the roof of the future main building, India’s largest photovoltaic facility is going to be built in an area of 4,000 square metres. The facility is not only going to produce a high percentage of the required electricity, but also going to provide sun protection to the main building and – at the same time – cooling it. Hanging plants on the south side will provide further shadow and cooling. A concrete wall of about 60 centimetres at the west side of the building offers further protection against the heat, as it saves the heat during the day and releases it again at night.

Another innovation of the sustainable concept is the creation of a garden on top of the main building. Local spices are supposed to be grown there, which can then be directly used for the preparation of the meals. The garden is part of a green area of about 2,100 square metres, which additionally is going to cool the building. The garden is watered by a sprinkler system, which is fed by a subterranean reservoir disposing of the capacity to hold 2-days of consumption. The reservoir collects rain water as well as waste water from the dish washing facility and turns the water into usable water by filtering it. The thus created circulation saves precious water.

The new catering facility comprises a production building and a support building. The latter houses the staff restaurant and the administration. The employees will exclusively enter the main building by using a bridge in the 2nd floor. This procedure increases security and hygiene, as the only entrance to the catering are can be easily controlled. What is special about the architecture of the two buildings is the modular way in which they are being built. E.g. there are four stairways in the main building that are constructed in an identical way, including elevator and supplier holes. Rooms and hallways on the single floors are also designed in a uniform way.

Torsten Brendel, General Manager of i+o’s office in Dubai and responsible for waste disposal and the washing facility in Delhi, explains the reasons for the special way of building the facility: “One reason is that it increases safety in dangerous situations – for example in the case of fire – as the employees can orient themselves and find the exits more easily. Another reason is that the construction period is very short, as the modular way of building increases the pace of building significantly. This leaves more time for concept and fine planning of the facility, which requires a lot of special expertise”.

In-flight catering is an important part in the portfolio of the Heidelberg-based consultancy. i+o has played an important part in planning and realizing more than 15 project developments worldwide. The facility of LSG Sky Chefs at Frankfurt airport and the new in-flight catering facility of Emirates Flight Catering in Dubai – a subsidiary of Emirates – were among these projects. In terms of quantity, the in-flight catering facility in Dubai is currently the world’s largest of its kind.