The Kathmandu Metropolitan City has said that construction of the “tallest building” in the country at Old Bus Park in the Capital is set to start from Sunday. But it is not yet clear whether the building will undergo major design changes or will be shorter than what was earlier planned. 

The 29-storey Kathmandu View Tower is said to be the tallest building in Nepal once completed, but due to changes in regulations for building construction after the earthquake last year mean that the original approved design violates the new rule. 

The foundation stone for the building was laid in November last year.

Settlement Development, Urban Planning and Building Construction Criteria 2015 set by the government has changed provisions for minimum setback area, ground coverage and floor area ratio for high-rise buildings. 

According to the new standards, the ratio of the height of a high-rise building to its setback area has been fixed at 4:1. Likewise, the building is allowed to cover a maximum of 60 percent ground of the plot it is being built on while the regulation for floor area ratio has not been explicitly mentioned and left for local bodies to decide.

Due to the unexpected changes, only the blueprints for a 12-storey building have been approved at first. 

But engineers at the KMC say remaining storeys can be added in future after confusions over new regulations are cleared or by “slightly altering the original design”, as the building will be completed in two phases.

Rudra Singh Tamang, chief and executive officer of the KMC, said that the Kathmandu View Tower will be constructed as per original designs. 

“The tower complies with most of the new regulations and there are conflicts in just few areas like ground coverage,” he said. “We have, nevertheless, written to the Ministry of Urban Development to reconsider some of its construction provisions and they are not suitable for the kind of tower we are building,” he added.

The 29-storey structure is being built by Jaleshwor Swachchhanda Bkoi Builders Pvt Ltd under public-private-partnership model. 

Spread over 1.17 hectares (23 ropani), the building is expected to be completed in five years after which the builder will operate the facility for 25 years before handing it back to the metropolis. The total construction cost has been estimated at Rs7 billion.

Apart from being a view tower, the building will also have parking facilities as it will stand where the Old Bus Park currently lies. 

According to the KMC, public buses will be parked on the ground floor while the first and the second floors will be used as parking lots for light vehicles. 

The remaining floors will be used as a commercial complex housing and will have cinema halls, swimming pools and restaurants.

KMC Chief Tamang said the metropolis plans to use the building as its central office after it is handed back to it 30 years later.