Situated on the elevated site of the ancient village Vatapatraka is a complex of 8-9 buildings with towering structures called the Record Tower or General Record Office. The buildings of the complex were designed by the star architect of the time, Robert Chisholm in 1886-88. It is located alongside Jail & Old Kothi & was specifically designed with towering elements to accentuate the verticality of the administrative center of the city.
The Record Tower :
The complex was designed with Record Tower building in the center with a garden in front. The most impressive and the most majestic building of the complex is perhaps the Record tower itself.
The building has an imposing facade which is symmetrical along the central axis and has a porte cochere in the center. As opposed to its name Record Tower, the building is actually a huge mass of building spread across 200 feet of frontage and rising 3 storeys above the ground with it’s towers going as high as 4 storeys. Actually the building comprises of 4 levels, one of which is a full basement designed with sunken courts to provide proper light and ventilation to the basements. The uppermost i.e. the third floor has two large terraces tucked in between three blocks, and every block except these terraces, including the towers are covered using double pitched-hipped roofs.
The exterior of the building has been painted in brick red with bands of ivory color running across the facade, common to the buildings of that era. The segmental arches crowning the windows as well as the semi-circular arches of the corridors are also painted in this ivory color. While the building itself has been painted in red and ivory, the doors and windows of the building have been painted in a queer shade of blue. The other thing common to the period, seen in the building, is the balustraded parapet defining the flat terraces of the third floor and the port-cochere.
Other than the neatly designed spaces appropriate to the climate of the area, the building was also fitted with hazard prevention systems. It was fitted with an elaborate drainage and pump system to prevent water accumulation in case of flood, as well as a top of the line fire safety and fire alarm system of the time.
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Still used to store the records of the Old Baroda State as well as that of the modern day Baroda, this majestic building still dominates the skyline of the area !
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