Reimagining the Public Utility Building
What if Bengaluru had a space where the city could see itself?
Experience Bengaluru is a proposal to transform the unused 24th floor of the Public Utility Building into a public-facing urban experience centre — an immersive vantage point that brings together history, infrastructure, culture, innovation, and community.
Located at the heart of the city, the Public Utility Building stands 106m tall — higher than Vidhana Soudha and embedded within a dense civic, cultural and transit network. Yet its uppermost floor remains underutilised.
This project reimagines that space as a dynamic urban observatory and archive.
Project
Experience Bengaluru @ Public Utility Building
Year
2023
What We Did
Concept and Programme Development, Stakeholder Identification and Co-ordination
Status
Pitch Project
Why this Building?
The Public Utility Building (PUB), located on MG Road in the heart of Bengaluru, is one of the city’s most recognisable post-Independence commercial landmarks. Completed in the early 1970s, it was developed by the state to house public sector offices, utilities, and commercial establishments — embodying a period when Bengaluru was emerging as a modern administrative and business centre.
Rising approximately 106 metres, the building was among the tallest structures in the city at the time and introduced a new vertical skyline to an otherwise low-rise, tree-lined Bengaluru. Its central location — between Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, Parade Ground, and the MG Road commercial spine — positioned it within the city’s civic and cultural core.
The 24th floor once housed the iconic Topkapi Restaurant, a popular gathering space in the 1970s and 1980s that offered panoramic views of the “Garden City.” Over time, however, upper floors became underutilised, even as the surrounding city densified dramatically.
Today, the Public Utility Building stands as both a physical marker of Bengaluru’s transition into a modern metropolis and a reminder of the city’s evolving relationship with public space, infrastructure, and skyline identity.
The Idea
Experience Bengaluru is conceived as:
- A gallery space for permanent and rotating exhibitions
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A multi-media storytelling environment
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A community gathering space
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A sky deck with telescopic viewing offering up to ~320° views of the city
The aim is not just to display Bengaluru — but to interpret it.
Visitors move between interactive maps, curated city narratives, archival materials and immersive installations before stepping toward panoramic windows that frame Cubbon Park, Ulsoor Lake, Vidhana Soudha and the city’s evolving skyline.
