Rising 301 meters above South Mumbai and overlooking the Arabian Sea, Minerva Tower is touted as India’s tallest, fully completed residential high-rise building. Spanning 91 floors, this dual-tower building is one of the two skyscrapers in India that are above 300 meters in height. Designed by Hafeez Contractor (AHC), the project offers expansive living and performance-driven design at a height previously unseen in Indian architecture.
Minerva Tower is part of a 6.5-acre development designed by AHC under Mumbai’s slum redevelopment and rehabilitation scheme. Under this project, developers plan to provide permanent homes to the residents of these informal settlements in ten new high-rise housing blocks, complete with schools, shops, and community infrastructure to live a better lifestyle, while Minerva Tower, occupying the remaining 1.5 acres, will be for sale.
The tower is planned as a standalone complex with 362 apartments featuring independent vehicular access, a circulation loop, and landscaped areas with pedestrian pathways. Its rectangular plan comprises two mirrored wings, rising above two basement service levels, a ten-level parking podium (2,500 cars), three amenity floors, and residential levels from 13 to 91. The Minerva Tower mainly has three-, four-, and five-bedroom apartments.
The tower has an active podium on Level 11, comprising a pool, multifunction hall, cafeteria, indoor games, jogging track, paddle court, bakery, and crèche, creating a wellness-oriented environment. At 200 metres above the city, the 54th-floor sky amenity level hosts a business center, salon, and golf simulator.
Minerva Tower features a deep balcony designed with Mumbai’s hot summers in mind, while high-performance glazing reduces solar radiation and heat gain. The architectural team has also employed stone-textured finishes, anodized metal elements, wood-plastic composite decking, and corrosion-resistant details to ensure durability in Mumbai’s coastal climate. There are also rooftop solar panels that power common areas and exterior lighting, reducing operational loads by 20 percent.
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Its twin-tower form has been derived to cope with Mumbai’s new building regulations that altered the built-up areas allowed on a plot. The building’s layout was changed in the middle of the project, and floor plans above Level 51 were reconfigured by reducing the lift lobby and balcony size. Furthermore, a thick structural slab was added to safely transfer the load to lower floors while keeping the tower stable.
Minerva Tower demonstrates how architecture can mediate between land scarcity, regulatory constraints, and aspirations for a better quality of urban living. As India’s tallest completed building, it stands as a benchmark for how future Indian cities can accommodate urban growth and demonstrates the potential of unique architecture to absorb regulatory shifts.
