A home with a view!

Among the many amenities people expect while buying an apartment, spacious baconies with a good view of the neighbourhood or of parks or any green cluster has become a must have. People are ready shell out more for a good view.

All they want is good place to have conversations over tea or read. Among the scores of advertisements that appear in newspapers, there are many which talk about apartments with a good view.

These apartments are largely outside the immediate central business district and closer to the limits of the city, where the green quotient is high. 

There are green patches in many areas that are forested even if they just have Asoka trees. People in such areas definitely would like balconies that oversee the greenery. They make a specific request and offer to pay extra for the view.

For your eyes only
A builder from Nagarbhavi said that in projects he had taken up, people expected him to construct the apartments in such a way that a good number of them faced the trees. Says the builder: “To ensure that people enjoy the view from the house, we have to alter the design. Consequently, even the cost goes up, but people are willing to pay more.

In many other cases, people have sought a minimum of three balconies — one for the bedroom, one for the main hall, and one for the kitchen. We cut some space from the main living areas and add space to the balconies.”

“Most of the apartments facing the green part of the neighbourhood get sold immediately. These apartments also receive ample sunlight. Balconies and good lighting are great selling points. Since the area near the Bangalore University, Kengeri is fairly forested, we have been able to offer such facilities,” he adds.

Under-construction appartments near Electronic City, Sarjapur, Marathalli and Whitefield too have good surroundings. Since they are away from the heart of the city, builders are likely to find more open and green spaces. In Electronic City, Anekal, which is at a short distance from the technology cluster, builders are now offering dream apartments and picturesque gated communities. 

New facets of housing
Builders promise exotic gardens with mahogany trees, designer plants and waterfalls. To get an easy view of this aesthetic ambience every morning is a dream. “It may not be America or the rural England, but it’s still a relief to be able to see nature in its many forms when you wake up every day. I am willing to pay the extra cost for this ambience. It is fun reading books in the balcony on an easy chair,” says Ram Sandesh, an engineer waiting for the possession of his new apartment.

The most prized views from balconies around Bangalore are that off UB City, golf course opposite the chief minister’s official residence, the Sankey Tank from Sadashivnagar, the areas adjacent to the intensely green IISC, sections of the Palace Grounds, areas near Bannerghatta National Park and the Roerich Estate, which is heavily forested, the agricultural fields around Kanakapura Road, the forested areas around Hoskote, the vast agricultural Devanahalli, which offers a view of the greens and the Jakkur airfield and others.

Malathi, a resident of Jakkur says, “We live just behind the airfield. We get a good view of the big airfield that has no concrete structures. We also get good light, as the area around our apartment is open.”

Prime locations
While these are on the peripheries, one location highly prized within the city limits are the planned UB City residences. A cluster of 75 apartments is coming up next to UB City and would be 31 storeys high. Each apartment would have spacious balconies, but of course the ones in apartments on higher floors would cost more than the ones in lower floors. 

An apartment complex, on Infantry Cross Road, behind HAL office now has a good view of the Chinnaswamy Stadium as well as Cubbon Park. A top view of the park gives the impression of vastly spread out greenery, which in fact is the only green patch in central Bangalore.

All the major builders now offer a combination of balconies and good lighting apart from the promise of at least a working lawn to keep the premises green. Where gated communities are concerned like Brook Fields in Whitefield, trees are planted on the road sides to ensure greenery within the property. 

There are also apartments which offer palm trees that cost high. A major palm tree housing community is located in Whitefield as one approaches it from the HAL Airport side. This area has many army properties, which are well maintained with spread out gardens and trees.
 The outskirts of Bangalore would be the last green bastion to be developed because the city would be teeming with people in a few years time. Further on, it will have to be only greater Bangalore, which has to offer outdoor views.

It won’t be surprising that in this search for a greener life, Bangalore begins to encroach into nearby towns and villages.