Township in a Metropolis

Radius Developers is an outcome of the succession plan at the Wadhwa Group, a 47 year old real estate development & construction Company.Sheetal Taskar, Vice President - Architecture, at the Radius Developers, briefed Realty Plus about Anantya, an upcoming integrated township in Chembur suburbs of Mumbai.   Architecturally, Anantaya is a special project for Sheetal as till now, the company had been mostly developing small plots of land for residential projects and then to get 40 acres of land in the central suburbs of Mumbai was dream come true for her. She said, “Most of the townships being constructed are located on the outskirts of Mumbai.  The best part about this land is the location and demography. The plot is on a mountainous site and is conveniently connected to other parts of the city.  In terms of buyer’s that range from middle to high income group, they are attracted by the ease of commuting to workplace that the project offers and the greenery & the view from the hilly terrain of the site.” Architect Hafeez Contractor has been part of the designing of this project and as Sheetal explains, the master plan has been developed in a way to take care of the requirements of all age groups -from kids and toddlers, teenagers and young couples to senior residents. “The buildings are built along natural contours and interspersed with 10 acres of green expanses with Wi-Fi enabled spots created especially keeping in mind the young generation. Similarly, for senior residents we have planned amenities like temples, meditation areas and landscaped gardens for walking. Within the complex, an array of everyday conveniences will be provided such as a hospital, retail arcades, education and sports &entertainment avenues.Today, people prefer residential developments that offer all the lifestyle amenities and that is what formed the basic idea behind the design of this project.”   Design & Technology The entire land parcel is being constructed in phases and each phase will be developed as a self-sufficient complex in itself. The first phase under construction consists of eight residential towers of 34 stories. “One of the major challenges of planning and construction was the mountainous feature of the site. While we wanted to maintain the beauty of mountains, the safety of vehicular traffic and pedestrians was also important. The company has involved international consultants for proper planning and research and Larsen & Toubro is doing the construction.” The company utilized the latest available technology to map the site and contours, plan the internal roads, slope gradient etc. “Our internal team along with the experts studied the contours, used advanced software and other technical instruments to plan the buildings, access roads, infrastructure and layout of services and utilities,” added Sheetal. Changing Buyer’s Preferences Sheetal briefed, “The target audience for Anantaya project is the middle-income and the high income segment. They are tech savvy, aware of the global design trends and want facilities to provide good lifestyle to them & their families. Nowadays, the buyers are ready to compromise on the apartment ticket size and are ready to pay extra for the amenities. Keeping these trends in mind, we have designed the housing units in configuration of studio apartments, a compact 1-BHK, 2-BHK, a flexi- 2-BHK and 3-BHK apartments.” The role of developers in-house design team While, the contribution of international master planners and the consultants adds value to the project, the role of developer’s internal architectural team is also significant. “The external consultants provide an overall design and the in-house design team has to make sure that the developer’s vision of the project is communicated correctly to the international designers. During design stage, we coordinate with the outside designers on detailing of the designs that would be more suitable as per the Indian lifestyle. During construction and implementation phase, we take care of the unforeseen site problems and design adjustments to address the same. So the in-house architectural team has a lot riding on their shoulders from ensuring that the design & planning of the international designer is executed properly, the developer’s apparition are fulfilled to meeting the expectations of the home buyer,” concluded Sheetal.   The distinct feature of Anantaya – the mixed use township from Radius Developers is its location in midst of the city, unlike such gated communities being developed on the outskirts. The project approximate completion date is year 2020.