38

Architectureupdate August 2009

The Bangalore International Airport

The BangaloreBounty

Pic

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Lens’ Eye

India's Silicon Valley, the Garden

City, the city of paradox or a melt-

ing pot of new ideas - that's essen-

tially everything Bangalore rechris-

tened Bengaluru - is all about. In

tandem to the bombardment of

industrialisation and commercial

growth, high-rises, massive resi-

dential and mixed-use projects

are seeing the light of the day here.

The boom in the new concepts

finds place due to the plethora of

materials available, consummate

force and the willingness of Ban-

galoreans to plunge into experi-

mentation with different architects.

After indiscriminate use of glass

and alucobond, newer materials

like sandstone and granite are

finding favour. With demand for

green buildings going up, Banga-

lore has emerged as a city that

thinks and hence encourages sus-

tainable architecture.

TThhee BBeennggaalluurruu IInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall

AAiirrppoorrtt

The entire country is talking about

the year-old riveting international

airport that India's Silicon Valley has

finally got after a wait of 15 years.

Located at Devanahalli on an area

of 4,000 acres, this airport has

been administered by the Banga-

lore International Airport Ltd (BIAL).

Designed by Kaufmann and Van

der Meer Planer AG of Switzer-

land this is the first airport in India

to operate under a truly open-

access model. The future expan-

sion will include extending the

apron from the current 42 aircraft

parking stands to 68. Additional-

ly, the current terminal building

will be expanded to accommo-

date the increase in passenger

traffic. The construction of the

second terminal and runway - a

mirror image of the airport infra-

structure that one sees today will

follow eventually.

A 321-room five star hotel

designed by architects RSP India

and owned and operated jointly by

Oberoi Hotels and Larsen &

Toubro under the Trident Hilton

brand, is tentatively scheduled for

an opening by end-2010 opposite

the main terminal building.

Ar Apurva

Bose Dutta

writes on how

a bountiful of

real estate

projects in

Bangalore are

fast nearing

completion in

spite of the

slowdown

Architectureupdate August 2009 39

40

Architectureupdate August 2009

The Freedom Park project is being designed by Mathew & Ghosh

Lens’ Eye

RReessiiddeennttiiaall pprroojjeeccttss

With an unrestrained number of apartments

coming up in this cosmopolitan corral, Banga-

lore is absorbing the highest residential space in

the country after Mumbai. North Bangalore is

seeing a number of villa developments between

Rs 1.2 - 2.5 crore. In South Bangalore, DLF is

proposing an 85-acre residential project with

3,000 apartments, 1,200 row houses and

around 300 independent houses.

The Master Plan 2015 shows a more balanced

growth in terms of residential developments,

which presently are quite skewed and concen-

trated towards the southern and northern part of

city. Mumbai-based developer Tata Housing

Development Co Ltd has announced the devel-

opment of a 105 m residential building, Aquila

Heights, which will be the tallest residential build-

ing in Bangalore once built. Designed by Singa-

pore-based architects Ong and Ong Ltd, this

project will be completed by 2010.

BMRDA (Bangalore Metropolitan Region Devel-

opment Authority) is coming up with five inte-

grated townships around Bangalore. Develop-

ers like the Prestige Group, Metrocorp Develop-

ers, LG Developers, Alpine Housing, Indus

Homes , Skyline Construction, Daya MK Devel-

oper, and Mantri Realty Ltd are among those

pitching in their projects.

The development of these residential properties

shows a great deal of planning and high quality

architecture, refined urbanism, good infrastruc-

ture and latest technologies. The new concept

of living in the Garden City is that of customised

villas with beautiful gardens spruced up with

amenities like clubhouse, swimming pool, and

supermarket.

Some high-end projects aimed at NRIs in Ban-

galore include Puravankara Fountain Square,

Prestige Ozone, and Orchid Green. The Confi-

dent Group has launched some projects - Con-

fident Orion, Confident Rigel and Confident

Octans. Concorde currently has Rs 750 crore

worth of projects in Bangalore due for comple-

tion some of them being Midway City, Manhat-

tans and Sylvan View.

The Prestige Group is coming up with Prestige

Shantiniketan by the end of 2009. Designed by

RSP and considered as India's biggest town-

ship ever it covers an area of 105 acres. It will

feature residential complexes, commercial

areas which would include a five-screen mul-

41

Architectureupdate August 2009

Lens’ Eyetiplex, a convention centre, Radisson Hotel

and World Trade Centre.

Total Environment has recently completed a

project - Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head -

located off the Sarjapur Road. Windmills of Your

Mind is presently under construction which will

offer the best of amenities in customised villas

and apartments. The Magic Faraway Tree at

Kanakapura Road will be completed in 2011.

Vancouver-based Royal Indian Raj International

Corporation (RIRIC) is investing $2.9 billion in a

single real estate project named Royal Garden

City in Bangalore over a period of 10 years. The

project will include a Jack Nicklaus Signature

18-hole championship golf course, tennis

courts, five-star hotel, supermarket, winery, pub

and microbrewery, among other luxuries. It is

touted to be Asia's largest new city development

till date.

Serviced apartments are also emerging as

cost-effective alternatives. According to real

estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield,

Bangalore currently has approximately 15 pro-

fessionally managed serviced apartments

including Homestead, Chalet, Sterling Suits,

and Halcyon, which are spread over high inter-

est residential areas.

Godrej Woodsman Estate on Bellary Road has

been planned on 15 acres of verdant space. A

project by Godrej Properties, this has a total of

seven towers with a total of 874 units. A central

podium will house facilities such as swimming

pools, club house, amphitheatre, gardens,

relaxation and exercise plazas. Designed by

Thomas Associates, the buildings will have

architectural features like terrace gardens,

trellis, arches etc. and will get completed by

October 2009.

Bangalore 47, a residential tower on the Resi-

dency Road is envisaged to be the tallest resi-

dential building in India outside of Mumbai, with

a height of 165 m and built-up area of around

2,87,000 sq ft. To be completed in 2011, the

apartment will start from the 17th floor leaving

the lower floors for parking, health club, fine din-

ing restaurant and a 20 ft high sports floor.

The first of the mixed-use developments to be

set up in the country, Brigade Gateway, Yesh-

wantpur, by Venkataramanan Associates is

scheduled for completion by end-2009. Incor-

porating residential, office, retail and leisure

spaces as well as hospital, hotel, school, club

house and probably the largest parking space in

the country with over 5,000 car parks, the office

block will be a 30 feet tower called the North Star.

An integrated township called Cg Garden Villas

over 300 acres being developed by the city-

based real estate consultancy firm Propmart in

association with Citi Green Farms will come up

over the next two years at Chikkaballapura, 55

km from Bangalore. A total number of 3,000

independent villas will be built in the project. Citi

Green Farms is also developing an 18-hole golf

course in Chikkaballapura. Billed as among the

best in Asia, it is being designed by US architect

Ronald Fream.

TTrraannssppoorrtt ddeevveellooppmmeennttss

Pre-empting the growth of the knowledge capi-

The Shantiniketan project

The Forum Value Mall

The ITC office

42

Architectureupdate August 2009

A glimpse of the work spaces at ITC

Lens’ Eye

tal by 2015, a comprehensive traffic and trans-

portation plan has been chalked out by the gov-

ernment. The plan includes projects to be

implemented in three phases - the first phase by

2012, phase-II by 2018 and phase-III by 2025.

The plan comprises construction of bus termi-

nals, inter-city bus terminals, pedestrian paths,

dedicated freight corridors, freight complexes,

multi-storied parking lots, improvement of city

roads, introduction of low floor modern buses,

development of an integrated transport system

linking bus services with metro, monorail and

Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and introduc-

tion of high speed rail link to the suburbs. The

four sites around the city - NGEF, near Electron-

ic City, Peenya and Bytarayanapura - have been

identified for setting up intercity bus terminals.

MMeettrroo

The Bengaluru Metro - Namma Metro is the

proposed MRTS for this fastest growing city of

Asia. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd

(BMRCL) responsible for it visualises it as a 33

km elevated and underground rail network with

32 stations for Phase-I of the project. Phase-1

commenced in 2007 and is scheduled to be

completed by 2011. Phase-2 is being planned.

Tenders have also been floated for the construc-

tion of four elevated Metro stations at Swami

Vivekananda Road, Ulsoor, CMH Road and

Baiyappanahalli.

TThhee EExxpprreesssswwaayy ttoo EElleeccttrroonniicc CCiittyy

To facilitate quick travel time, the city is soon

going to have its own elevated express toll way

for IT professionals. Connecting Bangalore to

the Electronic City, the expressway is sup-

posed to come up on the Bangalore-Hosur

section of NH-7. This 9-km stretch is a Public-

Private-Partnership between the National

Highways Authority of India and builders

Soma-Nagarjuna-Maytas.

TTrruummppeett IInntteerrcchhaannggee PPrroojjeecctt

The project for construction of the Trumpet Inter-

change on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT)

basis had been conceived to facilitate access to

BIAL. Awarded to Larsen & Toubro (Engineering

and Contracts Division) for completion, the

Phase-1 was completed before the new airport

opening date since this was the only defined

approach to the airport. The design and consul-

tancy for the project has been provided by Span

Consultants, Bangalore. The length of Trumpet

Interchange is 10.42 km having three rail over

bridges (ROB) and flyover. Reinforced Earth (RE)

43

Architectureupdate August 2009

Lens’ Eyetechnology with GI strips was adopted along the

entire length of the ramps.

Plans are afoot to construct an elevated

expressway linking south and north Bangalore

and another elevated road to link east Banga-

lore with the north-south elevated corridor. The

two elevated corridors will meet at Vellara Junc-

tion. The government has approved undertak-

ing of six laning of NH-4 between Pune and Ban-

galore comprising 5,700 km of Golden Quadri-

lateral and 800 km of other sections having traf-

fic more than 25,000 PCU by December 2012.

The Chennai-Bangalore industrial corridor is

being developed as an Industrial Corridor of

Excellence on the lines of the Delhi-Mumbai

industrial corridor.

CCoorrppoorraattee ccoonnssttrruuccttiioonn

Being an IT and biotech hub, the city is witness-

ing a gamut of construction related to these seg-

ments. It will soon house Helix, a 106-acre

biotechnology park, meant for biotech compa-

nies, research entities, start-ups with an incuba-

tion centre and common facility, besides the

Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnol-

ogy, and the Centre for Human Genomics with

their hostels.

The second campus for Infosys is coming up in

300 acres at Sarjapur. The Karnataka Govern-

ment has also recently proposed a 100-storied

trade centre on the lines of New York's erst-

while WTC, which will turn out to be India's

tallest tower. The tower will offer office space,

observation decks, restaurants, clubs, public

parks, jogging tracks, multi-level shopping and

parking areas.

IITTCC IInnffootteecchh PPaarrkk

Bangalore-based architect Krishnarao Jaisim

(Jaisim Fountainhead) has made strikingly

minimal use of glass and steel in the campus

for ITC Infotech, which is supporting a continu-

ous flow of construction. These buildings have

unusual new touches; walls made of hollow

terracotta blocks, flat stone tables and

acoustic-friendly ceilings that are fashioned out

of earthen pots. The giant century-old chimney,

ancient trees and even an old fire station have

been left standing.

BBiiddaaddii KKnnoowwlleeddggee CCiittyy

A 9,000-acre knowledge city between Banga-

lore and Mysore at Bidadi is being executed by

DLF Limitless Company Pvt Ltd. This will be con-

nected to BIAL by an eight-lane highway. The

self-sustaining township designed by Calthorpe

Associates, California, will be developed on the

ideology of walk-to-work. Apart from high qual-

ity office and residential developments, the

township would also comprise high quality

entertainment options including shopping

malls, multiplexes, hotels and serviced apart-

ments.

VVrriinnddaavvaann TTeecchh VViillllaaggee

The first IT-specific Special Economic Zone

(SEZ) in Karnataka, located on the Outer Ring

Road is under development. Comprising nine

million sq ft of development spread over 105

acres of land, phase-1 of the project is com-

pletely operational, whereas phase-2 is under

development. Being a mixed-use development

it entails IT-specific commercial office space,

hotels, serviced apartments, residential and

retail facilities.

HHoossppiittaalliittyy aanndd rreeccrreeaattiioonnaall ddeevveellooppmmeennttss

Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces recently launched

its new premium city hotel Vivanta by Taj. Locat-

ed at the entry point of the International Tech

Park, its unique façade shows a variation in

colour, texture and tone with time.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

has announced its decision to develop Aloft

hotels across India. Out of the brand's first

two hotels, one is coming up at Bangalore,

Whitefield. Scheduled to open in 2010 with

facilities designed in conjunction with world-

renowned David Rockwell and the Rockwell

Group, Aloft Bangalore will include 170

rooms, a large restaurant and more than

8,500 sq ft meeting space.

The Westin Bangalore Manyata Tech Park Hotel

scheduled to open in 2012 will have 264 over-

sized guest rooms or 36 beautiful suites. Shera-

ton Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway will be

opening in 2010. The Bangalore Marriott Golf

The Brigade Gateway

44

Architectureupdate August 2009

Lens’ EyeResort & Convention Centre at Nandi Hills will be

opened in 2012 as part of a 300-acre mixed-

use project. Approximately 225 single family

homes, a first class 18-hole golf course are

some of the tentative amenities.

Malls have found a firm foothold in Bangalore.

Prestige in partnership with Vijay Mallya has

opened India's first luxury retail shopping mall,

UB City: the Collection. In a design of Venetian

ambience covering 1,30,000 sq ft the mall is

waiting for an official launch though the soft

launch took place in May 2008. Designed by

Bental Associates, it will also house the Prestige

Oakwood Premier Residences, service apart-

ments and office spaces.

The recently-opened Forum Value Mall houses

the best known factory outlets under one roof.

Designed by Venkataramanan Associates the

mall conveys a futuristic look aided by wide

open interiors, spacious footprint for each brand

with a high visibility store-front.

Bangalore's biggest mall, the Sobha Global

Mall is going to be opened in 2009. Built on an

area of 16 acres by architects Menon+ Jeffery

of Cape Town, it will encapsulate a 13-screen

multiplex, 300-room hotel tower and parking

for 3,400 cars.

Nitesh Estates is coming up with a mall on an

area of 5.3 acres in Indira Nagar. Designed by

Seattle-based Callison, this will open in 2011.

The other upcoming malls include Signature

Mall (old Madras road), Innovation Mall

(Banerghatta road), Arch Mall (Yelahanka), Kir-

loskar Mall (Bellary Road) and Sigma Grand Mall

(Outer Ring Road).

The much publicised Innovative Film City by the

Innovative Group is ready with its attractions. It is

envisaged to have a 21-screen multiplex, villas,

and exclusive helipad.

Freedom Park, an urban park restored from the

abandoned Old Central Jail, was inaugurated in

March. Designed by Mathew & Ghosh, the park

is an ode to freedom fighters. The second phase

is scheduled to be completed in a year's time.

Another creation of the same architects, the

Max Mueller Bhavan was inaugurated in March

2009. Encapsulating impressions of German

efficiencies in an Indian context for an Institute of

Cultural Exchange, the Goethe Institue, the

building comes forth as a building talking of sim-

plicity and spaces.

Bangalore is being perceived as a promoter

of green buildings. Many big estate develop-

ers are concentrating on the green aspect.

After rainwater harvesting and plantation of

trees being made compulsory, theme parks

displaying different models of rainwater

harvesting were inaugurated in November

2008 at Jayanagar, Cubbon Park and

Lalbagh. Apart from this, the lakes around

the city have been taken up for development

in a phased manner.

Biodiversity Conservation India Limited, an alter-

nate technology enterprise, has launched BCIL

Collective, which is a green project programme

on a residential complex. The complex which

will be completed in the last quarter of 2009 has

been designed to save 35,000 litres of water per

home per year by focussing on rainwater har-

vesting and recycling within residential complex.

With these constructions and developments

fast nearing completion, Bangalore is all set to

emerge as the new capital of development for

India. A symbol of contemporary architecture

and gateway to a bright future, it is indeed India’s

Silicon Valley.

(Bangalore-based Dutta is an architect pursuing

architectural journalism. She can be contacted

at apurvabose@yahoo.com)

The Raindrops residential structure