COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE

IN BOMBAY

SUBMITTED BY:

AKASH SIHAG
JYOTSANA GOTHWAL

CST (Victoria terminus)

Location Mumbai, Maharashtra
Building Historic railway station
and headquarter of central railways.
Construction time 1878- 1888.
Architect- Frederick William Stevens
(1848-1900)

Architectural style
Victorian Gothic Revival architecture
Use of colour and ornamentation from
the Mughal and Hindu architecture.
The skyline, turrets, pointed arches,
and eccentric ground
plan are close
to traditional
Indian palace
architecture.

 The centrally domed office structure has a 330

feet deep platform connected to a 1,200 feet long
train shed.
The terminus dome of dovetailed ribs, built
without centering (framing for an arch), was a
novel achievement of the era.
The dome is a ribbed structure with a colossal
female figure symbolizing
Progress.

 The interior of the building was conceived as a

series of large rooms with high ceilings.
Its C-shaped in plan is symmetrical on an eastwest axis.
All the sides of the building are given
equal value in the design.

 The side wings enclose the courtyard, which

opens on to the street.

The wings are anchored by monumental turrets

at each of their four corners, which balance and
frame the central dome.

 The facades present the appearance of well

proportioned rows of windows and arches.

The ornamentation in the form

of statuary and friezes is yet well
controlled.
The columns of the entrance
gates are crowned by figures of a lion and a tiger.

 The main structure is built from a blend of India

sandstone and limestone.
High-quality Italian marble was used for the key
decorative elements.
The ground floor of the North Wing, now as the
Star Chamber, which is still the booking office, is
embellished with Italian marble, polished Indian
blue stone.

 The stone arches are covered with carved foliage

and grotesques.

Ribbed vault above the

ticket counter

Ticket counter

Dome from inside

Grand staircase

High court, Mumbai

Built between 1871-1879.
Designed and built by Colonel James Augustus
Fuller.

Building is 171 m long and 60 m broad, dominated

by a large central tower 57.3 m high, on either
side of which are lower octagonal spire-capped
towers crowned by figures of Justice and Mercy.

 These octagonal towers

contain private staircases
for judges.

The main staircase on eastern side being

approached by a groin-vaulted corridor in
porbandar stone with a floor of Minton tiles.
The exterior is enriched with dressings of stucco,
porbandar, coorla, and sewri stones, surmounted
by steeply pitched roofs clad in red tiles.

Churchgate Station
Built between 1894-1896.
Designed by-F. W. Stevens.

The terminus has Byzantine character,

with facings of rough-hewn basalt inlaid with
bands of red Bassein sandstone and white stone
dressings.

 Each facade has a gabled centrepiece and

projecting wings enriched with Oriental domes.

The main tower reduces in stages to a crowning

cupola, with the central hall beneath lit by the
huge west window.

VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL

 Building use as historical museum and

exhibition space.
The foundation was laid down in 1906 and
building was inaugurated in 1921.
Architect - Sir William Emerson

 The Memorial is situated on a 64 acres of land

with the building covering 338 ft by 228ft.
The building is 184 ft high upto the base of the
figure of Victory, which is another 16 ft high.

The groups of figures above the north porch

represent Motherhood, Prudence and Learning.
Surrounding the main dome are figures of Art,
Architecture, Justice, Charity etc.

 The main entrance is from Queens way.

In the centre of the pathway leading to the
entrance is a statue of Queen Victoria by Sir
George Frampton.

The British lion

beneath the imperial
sun on the reverse of the bronze throne.

 The gates and surrounding details were designed

by Vincent Esch.
Emerson used Makrana marble from jodhpur.

The corner domes are

Mughal in origin, but
the statuary over the
entrances is Italian.

 The sides are linked by open colonnades, and the

south entrance approached through a archway,
has a statue of Lord Curzon.

Inside the main entrance hall are marble statues

of King George V and Queen Mary.

 The Queens hall is the most impressive internal

space.
At the centre stands a charming statue of young
Victoria on her accession to the throne.
The interior comprises a succession of rooms and
galleries.
In the Royal Gallery are paintings from victorias
life.
Left of the entrance hall is The Portrait Gallery.
Durbar Hall has a black stone throne.

Site plan

Ground floor plan

St. PaulS Cathedral

Built between 1839-1847.
Designed by Major W. N. Forbes.

The Indo-Gothic style is used.

It is 75.3 m long and 24.6 m wide, widening to
34.7 m at the transepts.

 The interior is spanned by an iron trussed roof

adorned with Gothic tracery.
When built, it was one of
the widest spans in
existence.

The absence of a traditional nave and side aisles

was due to the lack of bearing in the poor subsoil.
There are several adaptations to local site
conditions and climate, including the extension of
the lancet windows to the plinth level to improve
ventilation.

REFERENCES
1. Monuments of india vol.- II Philip Davies

2. UNESCO worldheritagesite.com
3. Google earth & 3D warehouse

4. Wikipedia.org
5. Photos flickr.com & Google images