Integrated township for city

SNIPPETS

 The inaugural marks the completion of the residential and commercial blocks of this project. This integrated and ultra modern township features a huge residential complex consisting of 3002 apartments, a high-end shopping mall, a five screen multiplex, a convention centre, a five star hotel and a club house.

Speaking on the occasion, Irfan Razack, CMD, Prestige Group said, “In the past few years, Bangalore has witnessed rapid growth at an unprecedented rate. However, the growth has been concentrated around certain areas leading to congestion and uneven infrastructural development. The need of the hour is for integrated and self-sufficient townships that will help the city expand in a uniform manner and simultaneously aid the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Bangalore.”

Spread over 105 acres of land, this cityscape has been constructed in association with Chaitanya Properties Pvt. Ltd.

The residential precinct, ‘Soul Space’, is placed away from the business precinct, the Commercial Crescent. Separate entrances have been created that ensure easy access to retail conveniences, at the same time maintaining the privacy of the residential section. The cityscape will feature 3002 apartments of two, three and four bedrooms each in 24 high rise towers. It will have a continuous supply of drinking water, 100% power back-up and high speed elevators.

The 67-acre residential precinct will include a 4.56-acre park. The Central Park is positioned pretty much on the lines of New York’s Central Park. The landscaping is being done by an artiste from Singapore. The Shantiniketan complex will house badminton and squash courts, tennis court, table tennis room, health club and sauna, party hall, pool table, lounge library, ATM, coffee shop, jogging track and children’s play area.

The Global Lounge is right next to the Commercial Crescent. The complex will feature a brand new Forum Mall, a multiplex with five screens and a world class convention centre. The lounge is designed to set standards in retail, entertainment and leisure spaces.

The two signature franchise towers consist of 16 levels each, reaffirm Bangalore’s status as one of the foremost economic hubs of the country. The crescent stands 12 levels tall and combined with another 16 level Signature tower, the commercial precinct offers a mind-boggling 3.6 million plus sq. ft. of office and commercial space.

The cityscape is to feature an internationally acclaimed five star hotel which is known for its fine cuisine and elegant interiors, and for setting world class standards in hospitality. It is positioned as an integral part of the cityscape.

DHNS

Scaling new heights

The 121-storey Shanghai tower is China’s next record-setting skyscraper. Many hitherto famed-for skyscraper cities such as Chicago have had to put their plans on hold as a result of the gloom and doom hitting their financial sectors. In China, however, work on the 632-metre (over 2,000 feet) tall Shanghai tower is very much on. This giant will be ready for occupation by the year 2014. San Francisco-based architects Gensler are in charge of the Shanghai tower. Their leading officials have been quoted as saying, “the US high-rise market is pretty much dead. For us, China in the next 10 to 15 years, is going to be a huge market.”  

The US may have been the birthplace of skyscrapers, but now it has only three compared to the six that China has. With its current construction going on at a furious pace, China will soon pass the US as the country with the most buildings among the 100 tallest.

China is leading the skyscraper construction boom in developing countries, which is shifting the centre of gravity from the US and Europe. India too has plans for the construction of ultra-tall buildings. Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia are also in the running. The Gulf has three buildings among the 20 tallest.

Antony Wood, the executive director of the Council on Tall Buildings, at the Illinois Institute of Technology has pointed out that North America’s share of the 100 tallest buildings will fall from 80% in 1990 to just 18% by the year 2012! Of these buildings, 45 will be in Asia and 34 in China alone.

What is noteworthy about this Chinese skyscraper boom is that they are built in obscure locales such as Wenzhou, Wuhan and Jiangyin (just North of Shanghai.) This tower in Jiangyin is a 72-storey building which is over 300 metres (1,000 feet) tall. It is a hotel-and-apartment tower that will be taller than the famous Manhattan landmark, the Chrysler building.

The Shanghai tower will be China’s tallest office tower. It passed the neighbouring Shanghai World Financial Centre in Pudong. Tiangjin is a port and oil-refining centre. It has aspirations of becoming a finance and tech hub. There are four towers of over 75 storeys being built here.

Unlike the West where high-rises are single-use office-towers or apartment towers, in China, the buildings are a mix of hotel and office spaces, with shopping malls at the base and luxury apartments at the top.

Developers are ensuring that the buildings are environmentally friendly. The Shanghai tower will have a double layer glass exterior to insulate it and cut cooling and heating costs.

Mala Ashok