LIC Building
Southern headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India in Chennai
title: "LIC Building" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["office-highrises-in-chennai", "office-buildings-completed-in-1959", "indian-superlatives", "1959-establishments-in-madras-state"] description: "Southern headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India in Chennai" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LIC_Building" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Southern headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India in Chennai ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | LIC Building, Chennai |
| image | LIC building.jpg |
| image_size | 250px |
| caption | LIC Building at Chennai, was the tallest skyscraper in India when it was inaugurated in 1959. |
| location | Anna Salai, Chennai, India |
| address | 102, Anna Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 002, India |
| coordinates | |
| highest_start | 1959 |
| highest_end | 1961 |
| highest_region | India |
| start_date | |
| completion_date | |
| inauguration_date | |
| building_type | Commercial offices |
| roof | 54 m |
| top_floor | 44 m |
| floor_count | 15 |
| architectural_style | Modernism (RCC-framed construction) |
| cost | 87 lakh |
| 330 crore (2016 prices) | |
| floor_area | 11700 m2 |
| architect | H. J. Brown and L. C. Moulin (1953-1957) |
| L. M. Chitale (1958) | |
| developer | Coromandel Engineering Limited (Murugappa Group) |
| owner | Life Insurance Corporation of India |
| references | |
| :: |
| name = LIC Building, Chennai | native_name = | image = LIC building.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = LIC Building at Chennai, was the tallest skyscraper in India when it was inaugurated in 1959. | alternate_names = | location = Anna Salai, Chennai, India | address = 102, Anna Salai, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600 002, India | coordinates = | highest_prev = | highest_next = | highest_start = 1959 | highest_end = 1961 | highest_region = India | highest_reflabel = | start_date = | completion_date = | inauguration_date = | building_type = Commercial offices | antenna_spire = | roof = 54 m | top_floor = 44 m | floor_count = 15 | elevator_count = | architectural_style = Modernism (RCC-framed construction) | cost = 87 lakh 330 crore (2016 prices) | floor_area = 11700 m2 | architect = H. J. Brown and L. C. Moulin (1953-1957) L. M. Chitale (1958) | structural_engineer = | main_contractor = | developer = Coromandel Engineering Limited (Murugappa Group) | owner = Life Insurance Corporation of India | management = | references =
LIC Building is a 15-storied building in Chennai, India, serving as the southern headquarters of the Life Insurance Corporation of India. It is the first skyscraper built in India and an important landmark in the city. Located on the arterial Anna Salai (formerly Mount Road), the building is 54 m tall. Initially built with 12 floors, the LIC Building was the tallest building in India when it was completed in 1959{{Cite news | last = Srivathsan | first = A. | title = Reaching the sky | location = Chennai | date = 14 July 2007 | url = http://www.hindu.com/pp/2007/07/14/stories/2007071450191100.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070918053410/http://www.hindu.com/pp/2007/07/14/stories/2007071450191100.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 18 September 2007 | newspaper = The Hindu | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}} and was surpassed by Mumbai's first skyscraper, the Usha Kiran Building, in 1961, which is about 80 m high.{{Cite web | title = Drawings of Usha Kiran | work = skyscraperpage.com | url = http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?buildingID=8141 | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}} The building marked the transition from lime-and-brick construction to concrete columns in the region.{{Cite news | last = Kannan | first = Shanthi | title = GREEN buildings | location = Chennai | date = 19 March 2005 | url = http://www.hindu.com/pp/2005/03/19/stories/2005031900110100.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050507154431/http://www.hindu.com/pp/2005/03/19/stories/2005031900110100.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 7 May 2005 | newspaper = The Hindu | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}} The building is also known for using pile foundation technique for the first time in the region. It was the tallest building in Chennai for over 35 years before being surpassed by the Hyatt Regency Building (erstwhile Magunta Oberoi) on Anna Salai and the Arihant Majestic Towers in Koyambedu, both in the mid-1990s.
History
Before the construction of the LIC building, the Madras Publishing House, a printing and publishing organization, occupied the place and establishments such as Murray & Company auctioneers and Pioneer Laundry service (started in 1918) stood on the same plot.{{Cite news | last = Sriram | first = V. | title = In LIC Building's shadow | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | date = 6 June 2012 | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/in-lic-buildings-shadow/article3496023.ece | access-date = 29 Sep 2017}} In 1943, the Raja of Bobbili took over the plot, and in 1951 he sold it as real estate to the United India Insurance Company. M. Ct. M. Chidambaram Chettyar, the founder of Indian Overseas Bank and the United India Insurance, decided to construct an 18-storey building for his group's headquarters, and conceived the building in 1952 as the head office of United India Life Assurance and New Guardian Life Insurance. As technology to build tall buildings was not available in India back then, the London-based architects H. J. Brown and L. C. Moulin was assigned to design the building.{{Cite news | last = Ramanathan | first = Lakshmy | title = LIC of lore, now fifty, loses lustre | location = Chennai | date = 24 August 2008 | url = http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-08-24/chennai/27916114_1_lic-tallest-building-development-officer | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120918111430/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-08-24/chennai/27916114_1_lic-tallest-building-development-officer | url-status = dead | archive-date = 18 September 2012 | newspaper = The Times of India | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}} The building was built on the lines of the UN Secretariat building in New York City. Although the construction was commenced in 1953, the architects withdrew in 1957; the rest of the construction was overseen by L. M. Chitale, a city-based architect. The building was constructed by the Murugappa Group's Coromandel Engineering. However, Chidambaram died in an air-crash in Singapore on 13 March 1954, when the building was still under construction. Much of the raw materials for the building were brought from England. When insurance was nationalised in 1956, the government took over the building's construction, and the height of the building was reduced to 12 floors. The construction was completed in the year 1959, and the building was unveiled on 23 August the same year by the then-Union Finance Minister Morarji Desai.{{Cite news | title = LIC building turns 50 | location = Chennai | date = 23 August 2008 | url = http://hindu.com/2008/08/23/stories/2008082351240200.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080826030030/http://www.hindu.com/2008/08/23/stories/2008082351240200.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 26 August 2008 | newspaper = The Hindu | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}} The completed office building was to become the zonal and Madras divisional office of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and not that of the United India Life Insurance due to the nationalisation of the insurance service, and all the assets were made over to LIC.
Two additional floors were added following a refurbishment of the building after a fire accident damaged the building in 1975.
Design and structure
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/LIC_Bldg_Chennai_02_07.JPG" caption="A view of the building from the southwestern side"] ::
Built on a 55-ground plot, the building was of enclosed construction with glass facings at front and rear. The building consists of 15 floors—13 levels with 2 basement floors. The building is of RCC-framed construction designed for central air conditioning, designed in the shape of well-proportioned box with strip glass façade. The air conditioning plant is in the sub-basement floor. The top floor of the building reaches a height of 44 meters, and the total height of the building is 177 feet. The building occupies 52,800 sq ft.{{Cite news | title = When India's 'tallest building' was born amid cloudy skies | newspaper = The Hindu (originally published 24 August 1959) | location = Chennai | date = 25 August 2017 | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/when-indias-tallest-building-was-born-amid-cloudy-skies/article19558662.ece | access-date = 1 October 2017}} The total floor area of the building is 1,26,000 sq ft. The building stands on 521 pneumatic caisson piles that run to a depth of 35 ft below the ground. The building was built at a cost of 8.7 million in 1959. The building consumed about 26,000 sq ft of special glass that was treated with infra-red rays, stove enameled, and made water resistant with synthetic enamel paint. About 1,000 tons of steel and 3,000 tons of cement were used in the construction of the building. The building could provide modern office accommodation for over 1,500 persons, and was built with five automatic lifts.
The building is the first structure in Chennai to have electric elevator and 400-tonne centrifugal air-conditioning plant.{{Cite news | last = Narayanan | first = Ayush | title = The Mount Road that was | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | pages = 5 (MetroPlus) | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 2 July 2019 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/the-architectural-gems-of-mount-road-and-the-history-behind-them/article28250379.ece | access-date = 21 July 2019}}
;Fire-fighting design As fire fighting arrangement, the building has one 15-cm diameter riser feeding first-aid hose reels as well as fire extinguishers. For feeding the hose reels, there are two overhead tanks. Connected to the air-conditioning plant is two large vertical shafts located at one end of the building going up to the roof—one meant for the supply of conditioned air and the other for return air. These shafts are closed at the top except for a small vent. All the floors have false ceilings made of Sitatex boards on wooden frames. The space above the false ceilings is utilised as plenum with three horizontal ducts running through the length of the building acting as supply air ducts. The central duct is of galvanised iron sheets. The side walls, above which the glass facings are fitted, has several openings on the window sills, through grills which communicate with the side ducts in the floor just below. These openings are also for the supply of conditioned air. The plenum as well as supply air ducts connected with vertical shafts are provided with inspection doors made of timber which open out directly to the staircase landings on each floor. At each end, a staircase is provided. The lift shafts are adjoining the vertical air shafts at one end.
;Energy-saving design The building has concrete walls on the eastern and western sides, preventing sun rays from penetrating the building during sunrise and sunset and keeping the temperature inside the building stable, and glass windows on the southern and northern sides. Owing to this design, the glass windows provide enough lighting without heating up the building.
Incidents
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/LIC_Building_Anna_Salai_Chennai.jpg" caption="View from the northern side"] ::
Four fire incidents have been reported in the building's history in 1964, 1975, 2016, and 2023.{{Cite news | title = Billboard atop LIC building on Anna Salai catches fire | location = Chennai | date = 2 April 2023 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/billboard-atop-lic-building-on-anna-salai-catches-on-fire/article66691931.ece | newspaper = The Hindu | access-date = 3 April 2023}}
On 11 July 1975, a major fire incident occurred in the building.{{Cite web | title = Monograph on Fire Hazard: Fire Hazards in Metro Cities of India | work = Fire Hazards in Metro Cities of India | publisher = ENVIS Centre on Human Settlements | url = http://www.spaenvis.nic.in/pdfs/monographs/fire-hazard.pdf | access-date = 8 Oct 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110928183807/http://www.spaenvis.nic.in/pdfs/monographs/fire-hazard.pdf | archive-date = 28 September 2011 | url-status = dead | title = LIC Building Fire, Chennai | publisher = Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Service | url = http://www.tnfrs.tn.nic.in/major-incid.htm#lic-bldg | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}}
On 15 June 2009, the building received a bomb threat in the evening, which later turned to be a hoax.{{Cite news | title = Bomb hoax at LIC building | location = Chennai | date = 16 June 2009 | url = http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/16/stories/2009061658760300.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090619072318/http://www.hindu.com/2009/06/16/stories/2009061658760300.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 19 June 2009 | newspaper = The Hindu | access-date = 8 Apr 2012}}
In June 2012, a crack developed on the eleventh floor of the building, which has been attributed to Metro Rail work. It is said that the building experienced a tremor on 25 June 2012, which the occupants suspect is due to the usage of vibratory hammer used by CMRL for tunneling. However, CMRL denies the charge.{{Cite news | last = Srinivasan | first = Meera | title = LIC says building felt tremor last month | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | date = 20 July 2012 | url = http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/article3658965.ece | access-date = 9 Aug 2012}}
On 2 April 2023, a billboard atop the building caught fire at around 6:00 pm local time, perhaps as a result of an electrical short-circuit in the billboard's LED lights. The fire was doused in 20 minutes and there was no casualty.{{Cite news | last = | first = | title = Fire breaks out at landmark LIC building in Chennai, casualties | newspaper = The Hindustan Times | location = Chennai | date = 3 April 2023 | url = https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/fire-breaks-out-at-landmark-lic-building-in-chennai-no-causalities-video-101680482976495.html | access-date = 3 Apr 2023}}
In popular culture
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/LIC_Chennai.JPG" caption="The LIC building at night"] ::
Along with the Chennai Central Railway Station and the Anna Flyover, LIC Building is one of the most prominent landmarks in the city that is often featured in movies and other pop culture in the region.{{Cite news | last = Balasubramanyan | first = C. P. | title = LIC: A tall landmark in Chennai | newspaper = Deccan Chronicle | location = Chennai | date = 23 December 2013 | url = https://www.deccanchronicle.com/131223/news-current-affairs/article/tall-landmark-chennai | access-date = 29 September 2017}}{{Cite news | last = Balaji | first = R. | title = LIC to build on real estate | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | date = 26 January 2005 | url = http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2005/01/26/stories/2005012601121900.htm | access-date = 8 Oct 2011}}
Since the time the building was built, the maximum permissible building height in Chennai was limited to 40 m until 1998, when it was increased to 60 m. Being the first skyscraper of Chennai and the tallest of a few skyscrapers built in the city until that time, the building was regionally considered synonymous for height that it gave birth to the local catch-phrase "as tall as the LIC".{{Cite news | last = Parthasarathy | first = Anusha | title = Tunes from an old city | newspaper = The Hindu | location = Chennai | publisher = Kasturi & Sons | date = 16 February 2011 | url = https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/Tunes-from-an-old-city/article15445478.ece | access-date = 29 November 2018}}
References
References
- "LIC Building". Emporis.com.
- "History". Coromandel Engineering.
- "Emporis building ID 104430". [[Emporis]].
- "1951 A.D. to 2000 A.D.". Chennaibest.com.
- Muthiah, S.. (2014). "Madras Rediscovered". EastWest.
- "A disastrous fire broke out on July 11, 1975". THE HINDU.
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