Photos: Andhra Pradesh assembly to be taller than Statue of Unity

VIJAYAWADA: The proposed Andhra Pradesh Assembly building at Amaravati will be taller than the Statue of Unity by 68 metres. This will be the tallest structure in the country, once completed. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had almost finalised the design with minor changes, which will be submitted to the government by UK-based architect firm Norma Fosters.

The new Assembly will be constructed with three floors and a long tower on the top scaling to 250 metres height.
The design is prepared in the upside down view of lily flower, said minister for municipal administration P Narayana. The Minister further said that the government would call for tenders by end of November to be completed in two years from the time of starting the work.
The new Assembly building will also have two galleries, first gallery at 80-metre height to accommodate 300 people and the second gallery at 250-metre height to accommodate 20 people to stand and watch the city. The second gallery will be covered with glasses and will have lifts for the people to go up. This building will withstand cyclones and earthquakes, the minister said.
The minister said that the chief minister had made some minor suggestions to the designs which will be ready in the next couple of days for the CM to take a final call on them. The chief minister had spent several hours with the Norman Fosters team on the designs to make them iconic, bringing global identity for Amaravati.
Besides the new iconic assembly, the chief minister had also cleared the designs of the five buildings of the Secretariat. The chief minister had also directed the AP capital region development authority officials to prepare the draft tender notifications and keep them ready for the next meeting, likely to be held on November 30.