The Global Techies Town is a proud property of GM Infinite, a pioneer in developing estate business for the residential sector in Bangalore. GM Infinite is known for its exceptional quality, world-class architecture and in time delivery. Their project GM E-city town which is developed over a 28 acres site providing 2300 dwellings and GM Global Techies Town which is developed over 6 acres to provide about 980 dwellings proved to be an instant hit. GM Infinite bagged a number of awards and recognitions for GM E-city town. After the grand success of these two projects, they planned a much larger and more intriguing scale of the project that aimed to provide quality living standards to the residents in the locality of Electronic city- GM Infinite Elegance Tower.
FHD Group who designed the previous successful projects with GM Infinite were given the charge to design this GM Infinite Global Techies Town over a spread of about 26 acres. FHD Group, a renowned group of designers with expertise in handling large scale projects too. The design development of this project started in 2016 and the construction had begun in March 2017. Regular workshops and meetings mark a successful association between the developer and the designer.
Eternal View of the Global Techies TownThe site for GM Infinite Global Techies Town is located in the Neo Town of Bangalore, not very far from the E-city town and Elegance tower. A highly social and bustling locality with IT companies, educational institutions, shopping malls, and hospitals is the high point of the site. With a total area of about 25.81 acres on slightly hilly terrain, GM Infinite provided a brief to design maximum units of palatial condominiums with high-end amenities and ambiance. Proper natural ventilation and lighting were also expected to be incorporated. The overall airy and spacious appeal was a mandatory point. Also, a smarter and low ticket value solution had to be offered in this regard. The irregular shaped site with a slope of 13 meters from south-west to north-east was the main bottleneck for an efficient design. Yet, careful designing resulted in a high functioning and elegant community living space- just like the client wished for. After studying the site and climatography, the design team planned a full-fledged design approach. The design module had to cater to the natural lighting and ventilation needs, majority number of units should face the greens or open spaces, to achieve a fairly open site coverage and a maximum number of units at the same time and to achieve a well-planned layout of each unit and each block as a whole.
South West view of Global Techies Town
There were two possible locations proposed for providing civic amenities, which is a byelaw in Bangalore. The north-east corner was chosen for the best possible location for CAs according to the profile of the site. The tower could not go far from 90 meters in height. A minimum of 16-meter setback had to be left on all sides and an extra 10% of the land had to be devoted to open spaces.
The tower design evolved after trying and considering a number of approaches. To span, the number of units and those facing the open green, a much denser and non-claustrophobic design was achieved. When open spaces were given priority, the solution had a number of North-South facing units, which is not suggestive as per Vaastu Shastra. Also, low heightened towers directly pointed to increased ground coverage and thereby, lesser open areas. To achieve more East-West facing units while retaining the greens made the design to tilt to an allowable 17 degrees along the shorter sides of the site.
Tower Plan
To fulfill the criteria of height restrictions and FSI, 90 meter high E-shaped towers were suggested to be best to follow. More units were facing the central park and a better facade design could be achieved with this approach. The pockets in between the tower blocks allowed carving out of green spaces to expand the central green zone. The E-shaped blocks lead to the creation of micro-communities within the reach and exposing more units to greenery. Three such towers were planned around the site. Initially, the clubhouse was proposed separately for 3 different towers, scattering them with all the facilities in all the pieces. But later, in order to form a signature building along the road, the clubhouse was decided to be segregated to a single curved building that has the frontage towards the road.
Master Plan
In the design of the unit module, rectangular units were proposed to fit a number of units. This led the shorter side to face the greenery and the longer side facing another unit module, which was not a favorable solution. When the units were aligned so as to make the longer side face the outside, the internal corridor length increased considerably. Finally, a T-shaped module was derived with more rooms drawing natural light and lesser common walls. Furthermore, the internal planning of each unit was so done that there were no windows facing the other unit. The utility, bedrooms, and balcony received the garden facing wall. This directly indicated a private setting with desirable views. The typical tower plan allowed two green patches in the center, more intimate that the common central parks. To take full advantage of this space in creating mini-neighborhood and community spaces, these spaces were carefully distributed with amenities for each tower within the proximity. After zoning the facilities and living spaces, the master plan had oozed green spaces around the three tower blocks, a large central park and chunks of open spaces in the north-east corner of the plot. Apart from providing community spaces for entertainment and well-being in each tower block separately, many statement pieces were introduced around the site to mark a high-end luxurious gated community. A sum of 13% OSR was achieved at the disposal around a built-up area of 51 lakh sqft.
Landscaping View
Specifically, the client GM Infinite wished to provide 2BHK and 3BHK units. Tower 1 consists a total of 1412 units out of which 959 are 2BHK and 453 are 3BHK. Tower 2 houses 130 units with 556 2BHK units and 804 3BHK units. The third tower is made of 1422 units distributed in 959 2BHK units and 463 3BHK units. The units range from an area of 900sqft to 1150sqft which are available at a lower ticket value, 1150sqft to 1500sqft units which range in the medium ticket value and the 1750sqft unit have the highest ticket value.
Mivan, a technology that uses aluminum shutters and formwork to support a fast-paced work and a strong building, was chosen to commence the construction of GM Infinite Elegance Tower. This technology is used to execute the RCC form of construction. Mivan is especially suited for mass housing projects with typical floors repeating as they go up. A high-quality column-less structure decodes itself at a fast pace with the utilization of this process properly. This directly leads to cutting costs and time which are considered boons for real estate developers. The client wanted to make a statement in terms of building the facade of the community. He wished for a dominating, yet elegant, a makeover for the towering estates. American Greek Revival architecture was chosen by FHD Group, the designers, to employ in this project. The overall appeal of this architecture type is guided by high plinths, entablatures & cornices, typical Doric columns, symmetry, and a light color. All the features quite distinctly announce a grand yet decent aura, convenient for the brief that the client offered. The style enhanced the massiveness of the project as a whole and dictated a landmark statement for the city.
American Greek Revival architecture reflecting all over its ambiance
The site was spread around with 100 amenities which came forward as the USP of the whole project. A beautiful articulation of the green and open spaces filled the community with awe-inspiring spacing that would directly lead to a greater well-being and happiness quotient in the inmates. The 13-meter sloping contour volunteered in creating spaces by playing with the levels. It even directed entry and exit from the basement that helped cutting down traffic on the podium level. The landscape design also followed the Greek architectural style. To counter the high towers and the amount of hardscape, a lot of lush plantation, water bodies, and spacious areas were carved out. Each typology of people living in the community had been provided and segregated with spaces to cater to their particular needs. Seven kids zone spread around the site around with spaces for both toddlers and crawlers. The avenue pathway, swimming pool, skating ring, party lawn, open-air theatre, sports including basketball, tennis and mini-soccer and jumbo chess are major features of the landscaped courts. Stepped plaza, jumping fountain and the great lawn can be enjoyed during a long walk, not having the need to go out for little things. Additionally, multi-activity areas and playfields mark a youthful outdoor area for the younger population. Unusual and intriguing areas have been created to interest every age group. Both areas of active and passive recreation are distributed for the towers. The tropical evergreen landscape makes sure the areas remain enjoyable all throughout the year.
Amenities and Landscaping view
Hanging gardens, wigwam swings, blossom gardens, amphitheater, water lounges, elevated tree walkways, lotus ponds, semi-open reading pavilions, hammock spaces, pet park, butterfly garden, and yoga court are the many facilities that are provided as part of the rich landscape. Among the many challenges, the contour had to be taken care of carefully. In terms of practicality, to avoid intensive labor extensions and reduce cost, the levels are designed in such a way that the excavation and filling costs are cut down at most. The movement of the traffic on the site had been segregated to avoid interference of private, recreational and public areas. Retaining the contours and utilizing it efficiently was the way out. The quote ‘Design is a way of life’ is very well suited to this gated dwelling. We all aspire to live within a community and still enjoy our chunk of privacy. The GM Infinite Global Techies Town fulfills the anticipation of luxury and togetherness at the same time. Being a landmark structure of the locale, living in its premises creates a strong standard statement, which is worthy of every penny that is served. In creating an opulent housing solution, the association of GM Infinite and FHD Group create a highlighting element in the Electronic city, Bangalore.