Floored by porcelain!

As in everything else, the new age is witnessing a revolution in floor tiles too. While ceramic tiles still
hold a big share in the market, it's time for the novel porcelain to take over. RANJANI GOVIND
writes.

Blue and cool...

IMPORTED PORCELAIN floor tiling! It beckons you to step in and tempts you to stand bare-foot! All
a result of technology taking a quick step.

A material that had some modest use hardly a few decades back is now a part of sophisticated
living. That's the story of plush porcelain.

Sample this: A hot cuppa or a delicious meal in dainty porcelain cutlery or some fresh flowers
tucked into a porcelain vase to brighten up your drawing room is what one would have thought of
its use earlier. But, as we all know, porcelain is music to the ears too, with its inherent melody of
soft notes `jaltarang' rippling across when tapped softly on the bowl with water. Now, highly
adaptive porcelain tiles enter the floors of opulent homes, offices and luxurious shopping malls.

And why not? These totally imported, stain-resistant and hard-wearing tiles, called `the gres
porcelain tiles' is a rage in the market with people preferring to lap it up for its new-age benefits
that offer enhanced appeal. The highly mechanised manufacturing process brings out the precision
cut in tiles and scores over the traditional diamond blade doing the job, say the dealers in the
market.

Says architect T. Chandran of CTC Designers, "the advanced porcelain process technique has
invisible edges, and once fixed with spacer joints (grooves or edges to be filled with colour matching
pigment), it looks like a well laid-out Korean lawn grass without the ugly stripes of edgy lines shown
in between. In spite of their conventional bevelled edge, they are a treat to the eyes because of
their appealing well-trimmed joints that clasp with precision on fixing. This is where the stand-out
finish plays to the advantage of quality seekers."
 Natural sheen... imported porcelain floor tiles are a treat to the eyes.

Niranjan, a software employee, who has just completed his 2,300 sq ft. plush house in Valmiki
Nagar says, "My confusion was whether to go in for the Indian ceramic tiling or the latest porcelain,
as both offered the advantages of concealed edges that keeps the dust away. I decided on porcelain
as it offered a lot of other easy-maintenance-features. I'm happy as they are indeed easy to clean
and has a natural sheen."

"Porcelain can withstand high traffic. They have an inbuilt abrasion-resistance and do not get worn
out with time, as opposed to glazed ceramics," says K. Srinivasan of B. M. Ceramics at R. A. Puram,
one of the leading importers of tiles and sanitary ware. "The range is truly mind-boggling" says Mr.
Srinivasan, talking of the avant-garde tiles imported from Italy. "Each variety in the market boasts
of a range of built-in-advantages with respect to size, colour and design. Compared to the variety
offered in the East, the European countries offer some visually capturing shades in rustic, slate and
matt finish in several sizes to meet the décor requirements in line with international standards."

"Its anti-corrosive, low water absorption features are enough for builders to recommend it to eager
customers doing up their home says Pavan Reddy of Eastlyn Developers. "It is stain proof too and
the choice available in colour and design for Indian customers, whether mild or garish, acts as an
additional boon in the imported wonder," says Mr. Reddy.

Even while the international norms specify a 3.5 to 6 per cent water absorption for tiles, here is
Italy offering an unbelievable 0.05 per cent, and with no archetype designs but varying ones that
create no confusion while laying, says Mr. Srinivasan.

"Price, perhaps, is yet another surprise interspersed as one of the features! Although imported, they
are modestly priced and may just be about 30 per cent costlier compared to the conventional
ceramic tiles.

Imported porcelain tiles would range from Rs. 60 to Rs. 85 per sq. ft.
Perhaps it's just a matter of time before our Indian giants such as Kajaria, Somany and Johnson
come out with their versions of the same porcelain marvel. But their rectified-edge ceramic tiles for
the floor are equally in demand say retailers, for, the edges are given a face-lift, although they do
not have the inherent advantages of the humble porcelain.

Let's talk design

R. VIVEKANANDAN

No aspect of our life is complete without the ubiquitous touch of a designer. Demands rise as
sensibilities refine. But the grammar of designing goes beyond just the assemblage of furniture and
artefacts...

DESIGN PERMEATES our lives. Whether it's the exquisite couture you wear to parties, the sleek
multi-purpose cabinet in the living room or the unassuming terracotta lampshade in the lobby, the
designer's touch has become somewhat ubiquitous. And that's precisely why it's time to talk design
in a serious way.

Gone are the days when homes simply meant putting together things at the owner's whim. With
interior design penetrating the mass psyche like never before, sensibilities are refining and demands
rising. But growing awareness also means increasing misconceptions. First things first. What's
interior design? Is it the assemblage and display of various furnishing materials? Or is it decorating
the given space with materials and colours of our choice? So many questions flash across our
minds.

Well, to make a long definition short, interior design is about sensitive understanding of the
surroundings, analysing the needs of the user of the given space, thorough thought about varied
elements of the interior and ultimately about the grammar of aesthetics.

Merely assembling and displaying of varied interior elements like furniture, furnishings, artefacts
and light fittings carried away by their beauty or price tag, does not make good designing. If mere
aesthetic judgement comes into play without any serious thought to the user's needs and demands
of the given space, then we might as well use the word `decorate' instead of `design.'
The soul of interiors is about the three Ws - where, who and why. A search for the answers to these
questions - without pretensions - will lead to an understanding of how designers come up with
seemingly effortless, yet beautiful interior spaces. Further, it will also help you comprehend and
appreciate the nuances of the design in a much better way.

Let's analyse the first W - where. "Where" is about a contextual approach with respect to the
building (architecture), street, neighbourhood and region. The economic influence of the region,
climatic factors that influence certain design aspects and material availability and its suitability
pertaining to that particular space and region are taken into consideration.

"Who" explores the cultural background of the user, his/her economic status, literacy level and
sense of style.

"Why" gives a complete checklist of both the physiological and psychological need of the space and
the user.

It involves methodology to convert all the needs into various design elements with an open mind.
And also a logical sequence of the development of design in the given space.

In the coming weeks, the column will traverse varied interior spaces and take you through the finer
aspects of design. Residential spaces, commercial establishments, showrooms and even restaurants
will be covered. Let's refresh our sensibilities and find out how spaces can be used more creatively
with specific functional and aesthetic requirements in mind!

Glass and steel, not just in kitchens

Divya Ramamurthi

Steel and glass are the new-age entrants in plush buildings, lending a modernist feel to interiors,
Divya Ramamurthi writes.
 STYLE SHOWS: The Malaysian Airlines building on Cathedral Road.

`STEEL' YOURSELF for your new interiors. This metal along with glass is definitely in vogue for the
modernist feel it lends to the buildings. Interior designers say that more than 50 per cent of their
customers are replacing wood with these newer materials because of their versatility.

"Both materials are durable and hassle-free. The modern look they give the building is definitely an
asset," says Vaishali Sridhar, an interior designer. "They last for a long time and there is no
maintenance involved".

The change in use of materials is perceptible in commercial and residential complexes of Chennai.
The Park in Nungambakkam relies mostly on these two elements for its interiors. The Ramco
building in Adyar has a glass façade and so does the Malaysian Airlines building on Radhakrishnan
Salai.

Most architects are putting down the use of new materials to the fall-out of the liberalisation policy;
a more keenly developed aesthetic sense and the easy availability of newer materials. "Earlier, it
was a struggle to get customers to spend any money on their interiors. People concentrated only on
the functionality of the building and not its beauty," says Sahriar Dehghan, interior designer for
Passargad. The functionality of the wooden panelling that divided the cubicles in corporate offices is
being replaced by frosted glass. "It gives the office a sense of openness, while at the same time
ensuring privacy to every individual," says Mohammed Yusuf, partner, Futura Designs.
 A newly constructed building on Cathedral Road. — Pics by V. Ganesan

Even residences are beginning to use newer materials in a limited way to accessorise the interiors.
Chennaiites are spending up to 20 per cent of their total building costs on their interiors.

However, with steel prices going up, metallic finished laminates are being used extensively in
residences, says Ms. Sridhar. The laminates cut the cost by large margins but retain the aesthetic
appeal. They are being used for cupboards, doorknobs and kitchen racks. "They give the interiors a
very modern look.''

Along with steel, glass is also being used in the interiors. Recently, Ms. Sridhar did a house in which
she used bevelled glass as panelling to the courtyard and later used frosted glass for the
bathrooms. Brighter colours are also being used to go with the steel and glass finish. Dark blues and
yellow, similar to the ones that appeared in the Bollywood hit Dil Chaata Hai and bright oranges are
the colours of the season, say architects. Textured designs for the children's room and the sit-outs
are also being preferred.

However, architects say several factors come into play in deciding the design solutions and the
materials to be used. The space itself — its dimensions and the purpose for which it will be utilised
will determine the materials to be used in design.

Nay, house garden isn't a dream!

K. Raghuraman

Water is going to be a difficult proposition this summer. But remember your garden could well help
you out the next summer.
 For a breath of fresh air...

YOU ARE inching your way through the city traffic. The corner of your eye catches that tuft of green
hovering above a compound wall and a dash of colour visible through the grill gate. And you feel
relaxed, at least that little bit to take you up to the office with your nerves intact.

You glance out of your office window, find the Venetian blinds interrupting your view, raise them up
and look at a well laid-out garden with rolling meadows, bordered in by shrubs, with your eye
settling down on that circle of yellow flowers. Guess you don't know the name — these flowers are
alamandas/lantanas, a plant that takes to Chennai's weather conditions naturally and is in bloom
just almost throughout the year.

Just sit back and think. What would it be like to wake up to a green expanse, at least a patch of
green? How fulfilling would it be to place before the deities freshly picked hibiscus in many a hue
rather than refrigerated strung flowers delivered last evening? How wonderful it would be for your
one-year-old to learn how to walk on velvety Korean grass rather than the dull mosaic flooring?

Your corporate brain takes over at this point. Come on, this is Chennai, where living space costs a
fortune. A house garden in Chennai, surely that's a daydream.

No, a home garden is not a dream. It's practical. It's necessary and you reap much, much more
than what you sow. Your garden is as much a part of your house as, say, your living room. When
you calculate over reams and reams of paper the best home loan bargain, why not factor in your
garden too. Just as you seem to begin seeing green, it dawns on you: "I live in Chennai," where
every drop of water counts, more so this coming summer. Yes, water is going to be a difficult
proposition this summer. But remember your garden could well help you out the next summer. Our
city has done well to take to rainwater harvesting in a big way, and a garden that hugs in your
house will help percolation process, will make doubly sure that the ground water your bore well
pumps out is replenished and will make certain the building foundation is not damaged by retaining
moisture around the building. All this and more will come your way for, let's say, the amount of
water your washing machine needs for a load. Judicious planting, a small investment in irrigation
systems and studied selection of plants may even allow you to water your garden every alternate
day.

In today's changing environment, gardens don't happen over cuttings exchanged at the local
teashop. It's an art; some even call it a fine art.

It means design, planning, optimum utilisation of space, supervised execution, scientifically backed
maintenance techniques and that is just for starters. We will be looking at all this and more —
home, commercial, urban, lindustrial, community and road landscaping, and on another plane,
landscaping techniques such as hard landscaping that deals with elements such as water bodies,
planter boxes, pavements, pathways and the like; soft landscaping which is the actual greening
process, irrigation, outdoor lighting, outdoor furniture, landscape maintenance, regulated use of
pesticide and nutrients and topiary. All this and more will be elaborated in this column in the coming
weeks.

The author is a Chennai-based Landscape Architect and Environmental Planner.

The author is a Chennai-based Landscape Architect and Environmental Planner.

When to involve the interior designer

R. VIVEKANANDAN

Dreaming of good interiors should start with planning the nitty-gritty at the right stage. You should
involve the interior designer even before construction is begun.

Creative composition... A showroom that discreetly incorporates all the elements of

design.

WHAT'S it that makes good interiors? Well... it's the harmonious whole that comes from putting
together varied elements of design. But wait. First things first. Which is the right stage to think
about interior design? Is it at the PRE-construction, UNDER-construction or POST-construction
phase?

Let's discuss briefly the nitty-gritty of the three stages before embarking on the exciting area of
design elements. Interior design at the PRE-construction stage implies that the designer gets to
visualise the space even before the commencement of civil construction. This not only helps the
designer accommodate the client's needs, it also helps in establishing the right harmony between
architecture and interior.

Interior design in the context of UNDER-construction means stifling the freedom of the designer.
The structure is already up. The walls are raised and the window and door openings are finalised.
Then where's the question of the designer having a say on matters of volume and basic circulation?
So much depends on the client's cooperation to execute civil modifications.

POST: On to the trickiest stage. The architectural work is through. Finishing touches have also been
given to plastering, flooring, window grills, electrical work and painting. Here, the designer has to
understand the existing conditions and devise the interior accordingly. Creativity is undoubtedly a
complex issue in this context. The impact lies in the designer's smart manipulation of existing
features and the client's willingness to effect changes. Yes... though the latter two stages do not
offer the designer much flexibility, they are bound to be a challenge and may even throw up some
surprise elements that even dictate a fresh direction to design.

An idea of these three phases is sure to make you element-savvy. Lighting, furniture and
upholstery, display and colour... these are the some of the basic elements of any interior. It's when
all these elements synchronise that good interiors take shape. Remember, interior too, like music, is
about creative compositions. If varied elements are not chosen with care, it could result in a
discordant note.

Lighting. Well, that's the most potent element in any interior. It can turn dull spaces lively and vice
versa. So understanding of lighting - both natural and artificial is imperative. Natural lighting
seeping in through windows and other wall openings come at varied intensities during different
times of the day. Artificial lighting, categorised as general, directional or focus, adds depth and
glamour to the spaces. It's necessary to get a feel of the position and function of lighting, besides
the electrical/ electronic gadgets, panel boards, switches and plug points.

Furniture has a bearing on the horizontal and vertical plane of space. The finer aspects of using
fixed (wardrobe, counters etc), semi-fixed (cot, sofa, dining table) and floating (chairs, coffee table)
types of furniture have to be considered.

Upholstery, curtains and blinds. Taste and textures plays a vital role in these features of design.
Curtains and blinds are not just beauty quotients. They also decide matters of privacy and lighting.

On to displays. Paintings, sculpture and pottery speak volumes of the owner's tastes. Bad displays
could ruin even a fine collection.

Coming to colour. It's an abstract and challenging element of design. Colour works not just on a
physical level - its effect is on the psyche as well. It has the power to change the mood and give the
space a certain personality! It can highlight or overshadow other elements, so it has to be used
judiciously. Otherwise, it could bring about a jarring note in the interior.

Lights, furniture, colour... Come on, it's curtains down now! Till we meet again.

As living spaces mirror your mind, your lifestyle should find some honest expressions.

Sustainability should be the priority while designing your interiors.

HONESTY, not pretence, must be the watchword in designing interiors. Here's how to search for
answers within...
Time to get down to specifics. Is the psyche behind design preferences REAL? Now, that's the
question.

The quintessence of good design is truth. Only designs steeped in REAL concerns will have enduring
appeal. Push pretensions to the backburner and begin by questioning yourself. Is my sense of
choice true? Is it what I really feel? Is it acquired? Or affected?

After all, living spaces mirror your mind. Your thoughts, tastes, moods and lifestyle find expressions
in them. So naturally, honesty must be the watchword.

Take a trip down design lane, and it's clear that varied influences figure. Firstly, India's rich legacy
of royalty. Secondly, the British hangover. And of course, the diverse ethnic traditions.
Nevertheless, mainstream tastes had nothing to do with the first two. The farmer, the trader or the
pundit had a practical approach to doing up their homes - primarily with easily available, indigenous
materials. And tastes were dictated by their immediate socio-cultural milieu. Call it ethnic, kitschy
or even insipid, their living spaces still had a soul. And soul is about truth. Local craftsmen and
artisans who handled "design" adopted a down-to-earth approach with sustainability topping their
priorities.

Gradually, with travel, exposure and cross-cultural winds blowing the design scene, it was this
ethnicity or Indian-ness that became a casualty. As pants replaced dhotis, cars rolled in pushing
bullock carts into oblivion and sleek recliners substituted thinnais, it was time to rethink design.

As awareness and aspiration grew in leaps and bounds, dishonesty too doubled. To many today,
interior is a statement of social status. It's hardly about following one's instinct and likes or
addressing specific requirements. Instead, it's about impressing others! Instant gratification is what
matters and not necessity, suitability, sustainability or maturity.

Ok. Let's shove sarcasm aside. Back to the REAL question. How does one develop the sense of
aesthetics and design? Well... just turn inwards. It's your space after all. It's you who is going to
inhabit it for years to come. Neighbour's envy fades away with time. What endures is your
individuality. So start from there. The "Me" element in design. If you've taken a fancy for Sunil's
furniture or Anil's lightings, think about its suitability in your space.

Every interior has a personality. Sunil's or Anil's may simply not match yours. Rethink. Till we catch
up in a fortnight!
How much water should buildings consume?

Judicious use of water in construction... that's the challenge for Chennai's builders who have to
maintain quality standards even while being mindful of the water scarcity in the city. K.
RAMACHANDRAN taps experts' views.
Pic. by S. Thanthoni

WATER CHALLENGE: Construction sites on Poonamallee High Road.

CHENNAI IS facing its worst water crisis in two decades. But the construction activity, especially for
residential and commerial buildings, continues without let, thaks to the low interest regime.
However, crucial technical questions have cropped up among serious observers of urban trends:
Can the construction industry look at using the available water more judiciously? Or from another
angle, can lesser water be used for construction work, without sacrificing structural or design
specifications?

Everyone agrees construction is a water-intensive industry and the water shortage has indeed
affected the sector. A structural engineering professor, A.R. Santhakumar notes that almost all
stages in construction work require water — for foundation,brick-soaking, masonry, curing,
concreting, whitewashing, painting and mosaic flooring. "Water required for construction, especially
for concrete mixing or curing has to be pure (which is difficult and costly to get). If contaminated
water is used, the life of the structure comes down from about 60 years to about 20 years. But
some careless builders do not realise this and hence the quality comes down," he adds.

In normal construction, the water demand is roughly 10 to 20 per cent of the volume of brick and
concrete used. But this can be reduced by modern techniques and increased use of steel. However,
too much water is also technically bad for concrete. Water for construction should be used as a
resource. In fact, by carefully reducing the quantity of water, it is possible to improve the quality of
construction, says Dr. Santhakumar.

However, world over, municipal councils, as part of drought management measures, have set in
motion steps to reduce water in construction. Building guides, available on construction engineering,
repeatedly note that excess water in concrete mix or generally in cement can lead to random
cracks.

Effectively, they suggest that the construction industry uses more water than required. Waste run-
off is high. Re-use and re-cycling of water in construction sites, though not practised much, are
repeatedly highlighted by builder guidebooks.
Technically it is also possible to use models such as `membrane curing' where chemical or poly-film
screens are used on concrete during curing. The thin screen ensures that the moisture or water in
the concrete laid does not evaporate but is retained within during the "strength attainment
process".

Another structural engineering expert, M. Sekar of Anna University, however, sees little scope for
water reduction in construction techniques, except by traditional methods. Curing process is used
for strengthening the concrete and the more water used means more strength. "But we need not
pour too much water. Gunny bags which are permanently damp with adequate water is enough for
curing the concrete laid for the first seven to 10 days, to attain strength. Sprinkler techniques (akin
to those used in irrigation) can also be used by builders."

How else can water use be reduced? There are a number of technical ways of ensuring low water
usage according to K.P. Raghavan, vice-president and head — buildings and factories sector, Larsen
& Toubro Limited, ECC Division.

* Use of curing compounds that form a protective layer on the concrete surface and protect water
from getting evaporated during curing;

Pic. by N. Sridharan

WATER CHALLENGE: East Coast Road near Thiruvanmiyur.

* Use of polythene sheets to cover the freshly laid concrete will considerably reduce the water
requirement for curing;

* Pre-cast construction methodology where structural members are cast off-the-site in production
environment can also help in reducing water use.

In a production environment, water is efficiently used through steam and hot water curing.
Construction experts say the use of chemical admixtures (plasticisers) improves the workability of
the concrete even with reduced water content. So, there is a net reduction in water consumption.
Other means for reducing water in the construction sector is the use of `dry partition works' instead
of block or brick masonry and the use of metal cladding for partitions.

Apart from reiterating that less water is better for maintaining the concrete quality, Dr.
Santhakumar recommends a more steel-intensive construction, instead of mosaic tiles and the use
of ceramic ready-fix tiles.

He suggests an increase in the use of ready-made steel beams and columns and membrane curing
on concrete, and panels for walls, instead of conventional brickwork. Avoid the use of expensive
painting and finishes, he notes.

Parched sites

WATER SHORTAGE in Chennai is leading to delays in work and is increasing the unit cost of
construction, as it is required to be transported from far away places to the ties, says K.P.
Raghavan, vice-president and head — buildings and factories sector, Larsen & Toubro Limited, ECC
Division.

Explaining how the sector is very demanding in terms of water use, he notes that the construction
of a 100,000 sq. ft. multi-storey structure can require about 10 million litres of water for production,
curing and site development activity.

A double lane flyover can consume 70 million litres of water on the same scale.

Limited space, maximum function

M. MURALI

With limitations of space in small urban houses, what is the option for a buyer who wants to have
different rooms for different purposes?

A designer house... judicious use of space

IN URBAN settings, thanks to planning restrictions, space is often limited in apartments and small
residential properties. This presents its own set of challenges for owners, design professionals and
builders.

One important reason people want larger homes is that they would like to have separate rooms for
different purposes. But if you look carefully at how you really use space in your house, you will find
that much of it goes unused.

A house need not be too big if it is composed of adaptable spaces, each designed to cater for
various functions every day.

The theme of a new small urban home shall be "a house with inter-connected living, dining, cooking
and sleeping functions, which are physically and visibly open to each other; which are shared by
family and friends."

Generally, the living or the drawing room is conceived as a large open hall, with many formal sofas.
More often than not, it will have large windows, which will be closed with thick, heavy screens, not
allowing light and air to come in. There will be huge shelves filled with assorted `art' objects,
unused encyclopaedias and bound books.

These superfluous large areas can be replaced by tangible and more meaningful aspects of design
that are about beauty and self-expression. We can create a light and well-ventilated informal living
space where it is comfortable to watch the TV in a relaxed manner (without having to worry about
dirtying the formal sofas), a place to enjoy interaction with family and friends, a place for children
to do home work, a place to browse the computer, a place to play chess or scrabble.

All these can be achieved by re-thinking the whole concept of living room design and the use of
furniture. A series of alcoves or smaller spaces, each offering a shelter around an activity, and
surrounding a central sitting area may be a good model instead of the seating arrangement around
periphery walls and the need to focus from there towards the `idiot' box.

The concept of creating a `multi-functional dining room and kitchen' can enhance the family's
togetherness. The modern dining can have a low diwan, a computer table for children to do home
work and browse under the supervision of the mother, a television which can be watched from the
dining room as well as from the kitchen, a prayer shelf, a dining table, and chairs so designed and
located to allow for eating and homework and to act as an informal `friends-meet' corner.

`Open kitchen' is also a welcome concept.

The home office attached to the master bedroom or the guest bedroom; or the home office and the
children's study room combined with family dining spaces can also be tried out to save space and
allow for better family interaction.

The bathroom has undergone its own evolution — from water closet to luxury sites. New age homes
are associated with at least one bathroom attached to every bedroom. Yet, bathrooms are one of
the most expensive areas in the house per square foot. If you eliminate unnecessary bathrooms,
you will save money and space.

While storage in many houses takes the form of a closet or a cabinet, in a small house it is a
strategic defence against clutter.

"Do not keep anything in the house that is not useful or beautiful," is the principle behind storage in
small houses.
Drawers in window seats and benches are a more practical solution than a lift-up lid, which is
difficult to raise when cushions are set on top.

As against the earlier system of construction, the modern techniques using a column and beam
structure enables thinner walls and an opportunity to explore newer materials that not only serves
the purpose of space separators, but also adds aesthetic appeal.

Space could additionally be generated by utilising unexplored areas such as the attics and the space
below the stairs.

In smaller plots, vertical space could be generated by having higher ceilings, giving a sense of large
voluminous space. Using lighter colours in an imaginative way can also enhance the living spaces.

A clear and planned design of every element in the house could fill the void between a `concrete
mass' and a comfortable living space.

An AMC for your bathroom!

Shanthi Kannan

TO solve one's bathroom worries, Parryware, the sanitaryware brand owned by EID Parry India Ltd,
has launched a Customer Care Centre that offers total customer solutions. It offers a one-stop-shop
for all bathroom requirements.

The services offered by these centres range from resolution of customer complaints about the
company's products and installation support for the company's product range to bathroom design
and annual maintenance of bathrooms. The centres respond to calls in 48 hours.

K.A. Muthuvel, Manager-Customer Care, Parryware, says the centre provides two types of solutions
— annual maintenance contract (AMC) and renovation of bathroom. For those not opting for the
AMC, the centre will charge a minimum of Rs. 50 a visit.

In the case of AMC, the charges are Rs. 300 a year. Under the contract, the workforce from
Parryware does not charge anything for attending the work; however they charge for replacement
of parts such as taps, closets and seat covers, provided they are available with them. If products
have to be bought from other companies, they will request the customer to buy for them to
complete the job.

The AMC has been divided into two parts: preventive maintenance and breakdown maintenance.
Under both the types, the annual charge is Rs. 300 a year.

The workforce will visit the customer four times a year in both the cases. While under preventive
maintenance, the centre will give suggestions in case of defects, in the case of breakdown
maintenance, the workforce will visit the place and replace the products for a price, according to Mr.
Muthuvel.

The total renovation programme aims at offering a hassle-free and time-bound solution, and the
cost varies between Rs. 5,000 and 10,000, says Mr. Muthuvel. This would cover changing of tiles,
closets and concealed piping.

The centre also undertakes specific jobs such as changing of tiles or taps as per the customer's
requirements. In the case of changing the tiles, the costs are calculated on a sqft basis. The centre's
team comprises factory-trained plumbers, civil designers and supervisors equipped with the latest
tool kits and original spares. The centre also offers customised designing of bathrooms and
renovation services. The customer has the option to choose from the Parryware design manual or to
go in for customised design. The centre also installs Parryware products for customers who
purchase/upgrade any add-on products such as washbasin, pedestal, bidets and so on.

The Parryware Customer Care Centre can be contacted at 9628 900 900.

Constructing on second floor

Question: I have a plot of 3000 sqft (60'x50') with a 15' wide lane in front. There is a park
opposite our house. I have constructed two residential units (ground floor + first floor) with a plinth
area of 900 sqft each. I would like to know whether it is permissible to construct another unit of 900
sqft on the second floor. One side of the plot measuring 18' wide is vacant for car parking and
gardening purposes.

N.R. Krishnaswami, Indira Nagar

Our panelist, M. Murali, architect, replies:

Since you have an access road width of 15'0", you cannot build a second floor on your plot. The
rules stipulate that you need a minimum of 40' 0" to build a second and third floor. You could rather
try building horizontally as you seem to have built only 900 sqft at the ground level; you can reach
up to a maximum of 1800 sqft of built-up area, assuming setbacks of 5'0" on the front and sides
and a 10' 0" setback at the rear. As for the car parking requirement, the rules say, you need a car
park for every 805 sqft residential unit. So you already have two units of 900 sqft each. Hence two
car parks are required. In case you are planning to build any further, you would need to provide a
car park for every 805 sqft or part thereof.

Stepping beyond form and function

R. Vivekanandan

Don't get floored by the barrage of variety available in flooring today... for, your choice should be
based on specific needs that your interior demands.
FLOORING has evolved incredibly since those cement-finish days when form and function were
nothing more than just basic. If you ever wondered why the cement flooring couldn't be left as it
were or deliberated about the specific features of floor finish materials, here are some answers.

Be it a show room or a living room, each has a precise demand in terms of flooring. For instance,
while designing a showroom, pedestrian traffic will play a vital part in defining the floor type.
Similarly, for bathrooms that the elderly might frequent, it is advisable to go for anti-skid flooring.
And for labs or processing plants, flooring that is acid/chemical resistant is the answer. Smooth
surfaces could give walking comfort, especially in areas where you might have to walk barefoot.

The building materials market is today barrage d by choices, thanks to the rapidly changing tastes
of the consumer. Now, it's not just the local manufacturers who offer exciting choices. There's
plenty on offer through imports as well. With consumers approaching design with open minds and
designers ready to experiment, can there be any leash on creativity? But wait... a lot of thought has
to go into the selection of the right flooring material, given the wide assortment in terms of colour,
finish, size, thickness etc. that's available in the market.

To understand the nuances of these, one has to have an idea of the range that's broadly classified
as:

Polished surface: Marble, granite, mosaic, kotah, Shahabad, vitrified etc.

Natural surface: Granolithic, slates, terracotta, red oxide, stone, mud, brick etc.

Ceramic surface: Tile surface with smooth, textured or rugged finishes.

Special surface: Toughened glass, wood, laminated, vinyl, metal, chemical resistant, carpet, glass
mosaic, flamed stone etc.

Before making your choice, it's important to consider some fundamental aspects - the purpose of
the space, circulation pattern, type of users, size and shape of the room, furniture arrangement,
wet and dry area, natural and artificial lighting conditions, scale and proportion, basic theme, style
and concept of the interior.

The next step is to analyse the complete character of the materials available - porosity, thickness,
scratch-resistance, sizes, colours and patters that create specific moods, fixing method, time and of
course the cost. It doesn't stop here. One has to go beyond and look deeply at the strengths and
weaknesses of the materials as well.

This sequence of logical reasoning will result in ideal flooring solutions for particular spaces. Mindset
relating to sentiments, status symbol, personal taste or others' opinion might interfere with good
design. Remember, fine flooring is not just about aesthetics; it's about function as well.

Invite the goddesses home!

D. Murali

Want to transform your home into a splendid retreat that celebrates your passions, ambitions and
soothes your soul? Your home is your temple writes A. Bronwyn Llewellyn in her book Goddess at
Home.
AFTER basic needs are met, and there is a roof on top of the head, people begin other projects,
such as making a home for gods and goddesses. But places of worship have their own problems, as
we know only too well.

How about bringing the divine forces into your house? Your home is your temple, writes A. Bronwyn
Llewellyn in her book, Goddess at Home, published by Rockport (www.rockpub.com) . Your home is
the one special place where you can truly be who you are. That's right, you agree, because it is at
home you shed your masks, unless they are too tight to remove.

To create a unique living space, that reflects your true self, the author has a suggestion: Call upon
the seven Greek goddesses for guidance. Take their help, she exhorts, and you can transform your
home into a splendid retreat that celebrates your passions, nourishes your ambitions, fulfils your
dreams, and soothes your soul.

The book of divine interiors inspired by Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Hera, Hestia and
Persephone is a way of putting heavenly forces to work for your advantage. And there are infinite
ways the author promises.

You might argue that your friends are more used to seeing divinity in other forms. So what? The
goddesses can add depth and meaning to your surroundings, even if you are the only one who can
decipher the significance hidden there. For instance, you can keep a small figure of an owl in your
office or light a candle to Hestia; or, a sheaf of wheat could be a homage to the great Demeter's gift
of bountiful crops, while adorning your kitchen. After you finish seeing the paintings of goddesses
that adorn the book, you can get down to business. First, bring Aphrodite into your bedroom.

Aphrodite bedroom is a sensual cocoon, and it is part boudoir, part sanctuary. More specifically, a
sensuous dressing table.

Layer pink hues for drama and depth. Indulge your toes with a soft carpet. Golden accessories hint
at loves riches. Here is a quote of Elsie De Wolfe to help you get into the mood: I believe that
everything in ones house should be comfortable, but one's bedroom must be more than
comfortable: it must be intimate. This goddess can also get into your bath. How? Give a prominent
place to a piece of sculpture, photograph, or other artwork that celebrates the beauty of the human
body. And, did I tell you about the colourfully tiled shower, big enough for two. Alas, we would need
that much water too!

Move on to the den, your own niche in the house. Artemis belongs there. Add a vase of tangled
twigs, unrefined containers of rough clay, woven reeds, or drilled stones. If you can manage a
hand-crafted chair or table and weigh down a stack of magazines with a beautiful stone, your
friends may not miss the Flintstones on the TV.

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, civilisation and the arts, is for the office. Whether your home office
is in a separate building or a nook under the staircase, you can bring Athena's sensibilities to bear,
because, she has the imagination to make the most of whatever opportunity presents itself.
Remember that Athena appreciates good craftsmanship. Don't forget to put a dictionary on the
bookstand, not because you are dumb, but because this goddess is always interested in words.

Let's go to the kitchen to accommodate Demeter, the goddess of harvest and fertility. Romans knew
her as Ceres, a name that echoes in today's cereal. Fill a window with glass shelves and potted
flowers, instead of shades or curtains. Or use a sunny spot for a small indoor herb garden.

More tips: If your kitchen is dark, brighten it with light-coloured tiles, paint, or fabrics. Hide an
uninteresting floor with colourful cotton rugs or natural jute mats.

Hera is the goddess of marriage and escort her to the dining room.

Reshape a square doorway into an arch. Drink beverages from small tea bowls. There are lots of
ideas to appetise readers. But there are two more goddesses to go, I mean, come.

Hestia, the goddess of hearth and home, is allotted the living room. She never drew attention to
herself, so choose colours that are soothing and sofa that is inviting. Greys and browns are calming.

Last, the goddess for the godly places: Persephone, the goddess of life renewal, and transformation,
for spiritual places. The shrine can be a window, a shelf, or a niche in the wall. The thumb-rule is
this: whatever and wherever it is, it should be a place that brings you calm, a place where
peacefulness can be celebrated or sadness can be assuaged.

Customising your apartments

M. MURALI
APARTMENTS are an ideal solution to today's land scarcity and sky-high prices in urban areas. But
do they cater to special individual needs?

Apartment design has witnessed a change from having been typical contractor or `builder'-friendly
models to client-friendly architect-designed spaces.

There are many ways to start a`flat' or an apartment complex project. A builder can buy a land,
build at his own cost, probably with the help of an architect and sell the `flats'. A landowner can
approach a builder for a joint venture or it could be the other way around. In some cases, it could
be a group of people approaching an architect for their apartment complex. But in most cases,
either the land or the finance is a constraint. Hence the poor structures that are not future-
compliant.

To ensure that these `apartment concepts' do not result in just another living space, we could look
at many ways to improve the spatial aspect and character of the building. A little expert touch of
colour, some greenery and providing for a few special areas could make the difference.

Most apartments are designed, keeping vastu in mind; so we more often than not see a repetition
of room arrangements in accordance with the site and space requirements. To break away from
that, we could try introducing some interesting elements and colours, say, large French windows or
well-designed flooring. Ample flooding of daylight inside the apartment does have a huge impact.
Client interaction alsocomes in handy when the internal walls are being built. One may want a large
living room, another a large study room. All these requirements can be accommodated when the
buyer interacts at this stage. Even a couple of feet of extra space could make that space more
liveable. The toilet position and other areas where water or sanitation lines are to be provided are a
little difficult to modify or a slab has to be sunk for that purpose. Even having a 3'0"-wide loft,
rather than a conventional 2'0" one, would ensure that you can store that large travel suitcase as
well.
But your usage would not be restricted to just the apartment space you have bought or got built. So
the whole of the exterior, the land and the terrace areas are going to be an excellent recreation
zone.

Greenery could be provided at all possible places. From the `plants box' near the balconies to the
ground floor entry landscapes, every possible place can be made rich with a touch of greenery.

We can also create some external gathering spaces near the entry area. Low platforms or `thinais'
can be built, which are ideal for an evening chat, while the children play in a landscaped area. The
terrace can be used as a jogging area; even a small gymnasium can be built there. Terrace parties
too are in vogue today.

Unlike private residences, apartments are huge buildings. So care has to be taken while designing
the exterior as well. Many elements like the balconies and sunshades are just stuck-on elements,
which could be eliminated by a few recessions and binding of elements with the architect's touch.

The buyer or the owner knows better what they want; he can always explain his requirement to the
site engineer. But some features like the colour choice, material selection, tiles and flooring are
really an expert's work that cannot be done by the buyer. You could always be involved in the
selection and buying process for all materials, but let the designer compose the whole selection, as
he would have a better visualisation and understanding of materials and colours.

So, all these efforts put in by the buyer can help to create a special apartment suiting his
requirements, which he would be proud to own for years.

Buy your car, but wait for parking!

D. MURALI

`Be on the move' seems to be today's mantra, whether in thinking or on the road! For, when living
spaces are diminishing, we aren't shocked about parking spaces being on the wane. In fact, are we
into some no-space-for-parking phobia?
HIGH on the worry list of many city-residents is parking, that is, after more pressing issues such as
water supply, road safety and school admission. Normally, it is said, you check if your vehicle has
air and fuel before venturing out, but more important, you ask yourself if at destination you would
have parking facility. If, for example, you are driving to Luz or T-Nagar, be prepared to park your
car or scooter far from the shop or office you like to visit. Thus, a topic for study, if you're research-
minded, is to assess the impact of parking problems on the bottomline of commercial
establishments. Moral, therefore, is not to think of setting shop unless you are sure your customers
can keep their vehicles safely, because they've not started commercial production of collapsible cars
that can be folded like an umbrella. With no space, customers won't come; even if they did, by the
time they return, a cop would have put a lock on the wheel rim, a routine sight near Nilgiris on
Radhakrishnan Salai.

Street houses have no parking unless they made provision for the same with great forethought
when constructing decades ago. And we are not talking of big bungalows where one can see two
porticos and big lawns. Narrow streets give little leeway for manoeuvring vehicles, so it is not
unusual to find car owners having difficulty in getting their wheeled wonder out of the gate. A car
with a long nose meeting the road at ninety degrees, with compound walls hiding the vision on both
sides, would first be blocking the road before the driver gets to see what's coming to the right and
left. Another case was where the dimensions of the portico were made to Maruti 800 standard;
when the owner decided to buy an Esteem, gates had to be kept half open with a long chain to lock,
you-know-why. Won't it be thoughtful, therefore, to take your building plan when going to the car
dealer?

Many old apartments have provision only for two-wheelers that can almost clog the whole passage
if you are among the last ones to return to the block. You can't fault those builders because that
was a time when cars were too expensive to be thought of as utilities; they used to be called
`pleasure'.

As eco-awareness grows, we may see a growth in cycle population. A frequent sight as you enter
apartment blocks is the piling up of cycles under the staircase. If that is where electrical mains are
installed, and wires are hanging, there could be potential risk when kids pull out their bikes in great
hurry. Please check. Where flats have parking provision, don't expect slots for two cars and two
bikes for each flat. Since economics is an uneven leveller, those possessing a small car and a big
one keep praying that the other residents don't become affluent enough to add to parking
competition.

One can blame the increase in car ownership to `India shining' or cheap car loans, but the ultimate
result is not only seen on clogged roads but also at home.

A friend who lives in a block that has a long passage for parking tells me how the residents park
their cars outside; at night their watchman doubles as valet to neatly arrange the cars like library
books. In the morning, he pulls them out, and cleans too for a monthly fee. Nice case of
cooperation, else you would find somebody honking within the compound like nuts.

Magnetic alarms and meter matters

D. Murali

Perpetual security nightmares, taps going dry, tankers speeding by and meters running high... are
we left high and dry, wonder the respondents of this column.
RESPONDING to `Locked, only in fear', carried in these columns, N. Narayanan of Kotturpuram
writes that there is nothing available in the world to prevent armed dacoity or thefts. He goes on to
list precautions such as: For all external doors, provide all drops inside the house as you provide
externally, and check if they are locked from inside before going to sleep; when you go out locking
the house, lock the bedrooms individually, then the thief is at a loss to know which room to enter;
and install magnetic door alarms available in the market for about Rs.120 a piece. I am only
praying, burglars don't read all this stuff and become wise. "Still if it happens, take an attitude." I
ask my correspondent whether it would help to leave the lights on when going out of town, so at
night the thief thinks there is somebody inside! His view is that if locks can be seen outside, why
waste electricity by leaving the house illuminated; only, he may not need his torch in such a case. A
better idea would be to leave the front hall open to allow a `reliable' servant maid to come and
clean the floors only, at different times; then the thief is confused.

On the earlier piece, `Going flat out for water', Mr K. Rajamani of West Mambalam feels that the
arrangement to distribute water through tankers is "suitable only for the able-bodied residing in
ground-floor of apartments and individual houses. (Somebody should perhaps tell the insurance
companies to offer a cover for water-filling accidents.) Also, since there are no fixed timings for the
arrival of tankers, the aged cannot obtain the help of their servants."

Mr. R.Karthik acknowledges that his people experimented with all the ideas: "Finally, we spent Rs.
7,200 for installing five water meters for the five flats in our building and succeeded in buying peace
for the time-being. We have made it a point to route all the water-sources available to us - such as,
metro, bore and tanker - through the meters." That should have solved the problem? Almost,
because "still some are not fully satisfied, saying that they should not be charged for metro and
bore well water. These two sources, if and when available, help us in bringing down the rate per
litre and there is general satisfaction among residents."

He says meters are becoming popular in many flats. On meters, Mr. Narayanan has an interesting
observation after trying out the idea in his flats with 24 residents: "Now each flat resident pays
what he consumes based on meter consumption, varying from Rs. 400 to Rs 2,800. And water
consumption has come down heavily because it bites everyone's purse glaringly."
Mr. K.Balaji writes in to say he is taking the initiative to highlight the water problem on the
apartment's notice board, so that the inmates feel the pinch of the crisis.

Mr. Vincent of Anna Nagar rues that bore wells are getting competitively deeper.

"The other funny thing is that even people you know are self sufficient stand in line and get two or
three buckets. They say drinking purposes but I can't imagine why you'd drink that much water."

How about a green interior?

K. RAGHURAMAN

Summer's round the corner and landscaping within the apartment could be a cool option for the
affordable going in for spacious flats. The added feature, of in-house aesthetics, of course, is having
your neighbour feel breezy or go green... with envy!

IN the last few weeks, we looked at some aspects of exterior landscaping of apartment complexes,
especially in the higher-end segment. We still need to look at a few more factors such as driveways,
parking lots, lawn areas, gazebos and the like. However, this week we will move into the interior of
an apartment to discuss possibilities of landscaping within the apartment before we revert back to
the outside environs.

Even in a flat, an exclusive garden is yours, provided you have the space and budgetary provision.

Generally landscaping an apartment is possible when more than one unit is combined, when the
entire top floor is designed as a penthouse, or the living area is upwards of 2,500 sq ft. This is so
because in a flat of smaller dimension, the study, informal living room or the additional bedroom
may have to go to provide space for the garden eating into living spaces.
To those who have a landscaped complex and would like to reason out the necessity of landscaping
the interiors, the scoring point of course is aesthetics. For starters, just add a plant to your drawing
room and see the difference it makes and a garden is bound to add to the beauty of the apartment.
Also it dramatically improves the micro-climate of the apartment. Temperatures are definitely a
degree or two below the normal. The presence of green reduces the glare too and you end up being
a wonderful neighbour to the person who occupies the flat just below your garden space, for, he
might not have to switch on his air conditioner even at the height of summer.

A preference, if not a requirement, is that the apartment be situated in the topmost floor. This is
because adequate daylong sunlight is needed, especially if you are thinking in terms of using grass.
An open-to-the sky slot for an apartment garden is of course the landscape architect's dream.
However, gardens in areas bathed partially in sunlight or those totally in the shade are possible. We
will look at these options a little later.

Before we go any further, a few words of caution. Water proofing of the garden floor should be
exceptional. It is best to involve a professional agency for this. There is no point cutting the corners
in the budgetary provision for this because poor waterproofing is nothing but trouble for you and
your neighbours. If waterproofing is inadequate, then water penetrates through the filtering media
and stagnates on the roof. No RCC structure is designed to take this and wet patches begin to
appear as a prelude to water dripping through the floor. Repair work is very costly and a huge
problem. Also planter boxes and the parapet must be water proofed thoroughly.

Again, care will have to be taken to ensure that the garden floor and planter boxes are so designed
to co-ordinate with existing drainage plans. Drainage plan, which includes drain slopes, should be
`exemplary'. When drilling exit points, care should be taken not to go too deep as you may find
yourself in the wardrobe of the floor below.

When designing an apartment garden it is imperative to intimate the builder at a very early stage.
This is because the load factor is very significant and the structural plan must incorporate this.
While individual houses can take the weight of a terrace garden without much of a problem,
apartments generally are not designed for the same.

Another point to note

is that low weight media has to be used as base. This would include coir fibre and vermiculate which
is mixed with red earth and the proportion is very crucial.

And all this pushes up the cost. Soft landscaping - which includes the green belt only - will be about
200 per cent costlier than exterior landscaping. Interior gardens can happen in a courtyard as one
unit, or be spread over more units, sometimes acting as walkways. We will take a close look at
these options with examples in the coming weeks.

In a dream or dilemma?

D. MURALI

House or flat? Zeroing in on your pick is not before you find yourself in a maze of choices available
today. The dilemma confronting you should, nevertheless, not refrain you from getting on with your
own survey before embarking on your dream dwelling.
IT happened, they say. A man was feeling very sick and went to a newly automated hospital in the
neighbourhood. There were two doors, `men' and `women'. He took the first, but found himself in a
hall that again had two doors, marked `above 40' and `40 and below'. Being in the Thirties, he took
the second, growing sicker by the minute and praying for quick remedy, but it was again another
hall with two doors that met him. The doors now read, `serious' and `ordinary'. He already feared
the worst, so he stumbled through the first. Again there was a hall with two doors - one marked
`believers of god', and the other `non-believers.' He was already invoking all deities, so with no
hesitation, he entered the first door, but found himself on the road!

The choices that confront a property seeker are no different from the dilemma that Hamlet had to
face. Landlord, tenant relations spanning twenty, thirty years are not uncommon, where even after
the tenant bought a property of his own, house-owner was keen to have continuing relations, and
so the tenant stayed back. Outnumbering such happy tales are those where the owner had to resort
to all means to have the tenant vacate his premises, but that would be a different story.

Thus, after you clear the initial choice or rent or buy, and opt for the second, there are again two
options, house or flat. There are strong opinions on both sides. Some are so prejudiced against flats
that you may wonder if they underwent some childhood trauma years ago. But flats are a reality
while houses are often a dream that may materialise in direct proportion to the distance you are
willing to travel away from the city.

Flat, you opt for, but the new question is, old or new. New ones are usually more expensive, less
maintenance hungry, and more appealing to the eye; and you can plug the opposites for the old.

Key considerations are whether your bank would be willing to finance for an old house; check also
cost escalation due to stamp duty differential.

Assuming your budget allows you to think of an old flat of say 15 years, and the bank is ready to
fund, you need to go over to the place to find if it would stand. It is usually said that if it has stood
`n' number of years, it would continue to do so, obeying Newton's Law. Yet, look for cracks, and
check if you find things falling off here and there.
Talk to the builder, ask him about his other projects, visit the occupants, find out why the seller is
disposing of his property, see if there is any potential for nuisance in surrounding property, check
out the water, interact with friends in the locality, work out the economics by factoring in the
guideline value, assess how long it would take for you to commute, enquire about the availability of
utilities such as gas and transport, and so on, each of which would throw newer alternatives. Gut
feel is also important, so calmly check how the place `vibes'.

With the primary real estate market witnessing a boom, the second-hand market is not lagging far
behind. Shanthi Kannan takes a look at what attracts consumers to second-hand flats

Second-hand flats are a good investment proposition. -- Pic. By V. Ganesan

THE Chennai real estate market has been witnessing rising demand in the last one year for both
new and second-hand flats. Second-hand flats are of two categories. Type A: A used flat comes for
sale after a few years.

Type B: A promoter himself registers his flat in his name and offers it as a second sale.

Today, over 30 per cent of the second-hand flat market comes under Type B. This is mainly done to
create an artificial hike in the price, estate agents note.

Type A attracts two kinds of buyers: those who want to acquire a flat as an investment proposition,
and those who want to stay in the same location where they have been living as a tenant but are
unable to afford a new flat.

Price conscious

Be it A or B category, the main factors that drive people to buy a second-hand flat are price and
location. ``I can zero in on a specific location, and within my budget, I can get a decent second-
hand flat,'' says Ganesh Mahadevan of Touchtel, who has recently purchased a second-hand flat in
Mandaveli. A new flat in areas such as R.A. Puram, Mylapore, T. Nagar, Mandaveli, Adyar or Kilpauk
would cost not less than Rs. 2,500 per sqft. But second-hand flats in these areas cost between Rs.
1,600 and Rs. 2,300 per sqft depending upon the age and quality of the flat, says Dinesh Hemdev
of Hemdev's Real Estate and Rentals. When a resident gets accustomed to a location and the prices
of new flats there are not affordable, he settles for a second-hand one, says Mr. Hemdev.

K. Ajay, who purchased a used flat in R.A. Puram, says that investment in a flat that is under
construction means blocking the money for a certain period of time. Added to that one also pays the
rent for his house. To avoid this, he bought the flat, in which he had been living and started paying
the EMI instead of rent.

There are also other factors that attract a buyer to a used flat. The stamp duty was reduced to 8
per cent recently, enabling many consumers to go in for a second-hand flat, says V. Ramakrishnan,
who recently bought a used flat in T. Nagar. ``Buying a new flat in T. Nagar is not affordable. The
rate in T. Nagar today is Rs. 2,200 - 2,400, depending on the builder. A consumer should also
consider the credibility of the builder,'' he says.

High guideline values

Though the decrease in stamp duty will help the second-hand flat market grow fast in the medium
term, the biggest stumbling block for growth is the high guideline values prevalent in some areas of
the city, says Ramesh Nair, senior manger (Corporate Solutions), Jones Lang LaSalle, international
property consultants. Second-hand apartments typically attract investors who look at immediate
rental returns. The end-user market for older apartments is typically in well-established residential
areas, as not many apartment complexes are coming up there unlike in upcoming areas, where
there are a number of options to choose from, he says.

``If a buyer goes to a reputed builder for a new flat, then the rate is fixed. But he is assured of the
quality and legality of the flat. With high prices becoming a negative factor, consumers go in for a
second-hand flat from a reputed builder,'' says RL. Mahendra, vice-president (Sales), Hanu Reddy
Realty India Pvt Ltd. The second-hand flat market is generally `a consumer-dominated market'
because he will have the choice of bargaining. With priority given to an ultra-modern home, one
without a lift or a covered car park is unthinkable, he observes.

Generally, there is a demand for second-hand flats that are less than five years old, especially
because builders say the estimated life of their buildings is about 50 years. The trend is that after
10 years, even in a good construction, a flat or building will start developing problems. Hence,
second-hand flats sales depend on the age of the flat. If it is less than five years old, the flat has a
premium, says Mr. Mahendra.

There is always a demand for flats measuring between 1,200 and 1,500 sqft in any area. Mr.
Mahendra says if there is an advertisement for sale of a flat in locations such as Mylapore, T. Nagar,
Adyar and Nugambakkam, he receives more than 100 reference calls. Such is the demand.

Additional expenditure

What about the question of added expenditure of refurbishing a used flat? The builders estimate
that the woodwork for a three-bedroom apartment will cost not less than Rs. 1 lakh and up to Rs.
70,000 for a two-bedroom flat. If the flooring has to be re-done, as in most cases because of the
preference for ceramic tiles or marbles, it would cost between Rs. 30 to Rs. 90 per sqft. So, if one
buys a used flat, he will have to incur an additional minimum cost of up to Rs. 2 lakhs.

Yes, one has to do lot of legwork before buying a second-hand flat. Have an idea about your
requirements and specifications of the flat. If you want to go through a broker, identify a reputed
one. Or, go through the classified sections of daily newspapers, browse the Internet (web sites such
as Indiaproperties.com) and contact housing finance companies, which provide details of good used
flats.

The second sale market is closely linked to the primary market. When there is a boom in the
primary market, there is also a boom in the second-hand market. And Chennai is now witnessing a
surge in demand in both.
Check-list for buyers

WANT to buy a second-hand flat? Here are a few tips for you:

As banks have reservations on approval of mortgage for second-hand units, get all details of
mortgage in advance.

Ensure the property meets your expectations in all respects — size, price, layout, orientation, view,
floor height, vasthu, furniture and electrical appliances and car park.

Whether you choose to go in for owner-listed flats or agency-listed flats, you should:

a. check out the layout and facilities.

b. check whether there is any illegal construction and change of layout.

c. look into legal aspects such as title deed (land document) and sanction plan.

d. make sure the property is for residential use.

e. check whether the previous owner had paid the property tax and related tax till the date of
transfer.

f. check whether the responsibility of bearing the cost of building renovation is listed in the Deed of
Mutual Covenant.

g. find out whether the property is bound by any unpaid loans and mortgage.

h. compare the value of the property with other similar properties in the market. It is easier to
estimate the value.

To find out about the quality of the structure, get the opinion of any private structural engineer for
certification.

You should be able to differentiate between the two types of property ownership - Joint Tenancy
(the property is shared by two owners. If one of them passes away, the other owner will
automatically have ownership of the property) and Tenants-in-Common (Property ownership is
shared by two or more owners in proportional shares of ownership. If one passes away, his or her
proposition of ownership will be inherited by his or her successor instead of being shared by the
other owners).

The buyer should know about the documentation involved in the transaction.

These include:

1. Provisional agreement for sale and purchase signed by the purchaser and vendor to agree on the
sale and purchase of the property concerned at a set price with certain terms.

2. Sales and purchase agreement deed signed by both purchaser and vendor.

3. Mortgage deed signed by the buyer to agree on the mortgage of the property concerned for
exchange of loan.
S.K

Unlock the door to creativity

R. Vivekanandan

Doors are more than just entry and exit points in interior spaces. Let's open the door to some
creative options...

A courtyard with a louvered door, on one side, providing privacy and security, and a
folding door on the other side allowing openness. (Right) A sleek door witha touch of
modernity.

THE door that provides access to flat A is ornamental. It's different from the streamlined one to flat
B or the monotone one to flat C. The contrasts in design are striking, despite the fact that they all
belong to the same housing complex. Yes, doors may be the entry and exit points in interior spaces,
but they have distinctive features that set each apart. Now, let's throw open the door to specifics.

First things first. What's the purpose of the door? It's primarily the two Ps - protection and privacy.
To what extent? Defining this would help to determine other significant features. From metal spike-
finished to soundproof ones, details could be added depending on the extent of protection and
privacy needed.

Whether it is to give dignity to access by using huge embellished doors at temples or lure customers
or create an illusion of space by fitting glazed/glass doors at showrooms or preserve heritage with
ethnicity-inspired designs as in traditional homes in Kerala or simply signal the status of the owner
with heavy, exquisitely crafted doors as in Chettinad households... doors mean different things to
different people, though the bottomline is the same — protection.

For a clearer understanding of doors, it's imperative to touch upon the types:

`Openable' doors: These come with hinges on one side, so it is suitable for the corners to enable
better circulation and efficiency of the space. It's ideal to let the open door rest on the wall.
Sliding doors: This is appropriate for small spaces. With shutters that slide on tracks (with wheels
or ball-bearings), this type is not as comfortable as the regular `openable' variety for frequent use.
Sometimes, automatic sliding system is also installed with scanner in showrooms and at airports.

Folding doors: If you need to throw open the space or divide it, then folding door is the answer. A
conference-hall can be split into two or more independent spaces or a living/dining room can be
extended into a balcony or courtyard by opening a folding door.

Swing doors: These can be opened on either side by push or pull with the help of floor spring
system or spring hinge. This type is very useful for the pantry, kitchen, service and public spaces.

Now onto the special types:

Fire-proof doors: Usually recommended for places where there's a risk of fire.

Frosted/etched/stained glass: Used in spaces where one gets the desired translucent effect.
Using such varieties for wardrobe/bathroom give a stylish look to interiors.

Louvered: Adjustable louvers are ideal for tropical climes as they allow the breeze to waft in.

Ethnic: Done up with traditional workmanship, these doors reflect the crafts heritage of specific
ethnic regions.

The choice of materials and finishes for doors and door-frames is wide. Wood or flush door with
varnish/polymer-coat/melamine/enamel, steel with enamel/powder coat, aluminium with powder
coat/natural finish or PVC with powder coat/natural finish. A combination of different materials and
finishes could also be worked out to compliment the decor.

Yes, that brings us to another important aspect — matching your door design to the overall theme
of the interior. Imagine having an authentic Chettinad door for a space that smacks of
contemporary minimalism! It's ok if you unbolt the door of creativity, only be sure you don't go on
an overdrive.

So-many' solutions!

Ranjani Govind

Choosing tiles is made `simple'. Walk into Somany Floor and Wall Tiles' mock-apartment for a feast
of tiles, and a relaxed pick.

A permanent tile display gallery at Anna Nagar.

EVER visited a large tile-and-sanitary-ware shop that left you drowned in the heap of tiles? Did the
assortment, finishes and colours leave you just gaping but didn't really help you go ahead with your
pick? This is precisely the point where customers need guidance to get by, as the multiple floor-
and-wall-enhancers available in the market leave you confused. An envisioning of the laid out tiles
is vital for a buyer. Helping you visualise better are contemporary concepts and business strategies
that make choosing tiles a pleasure drive, than an arduous journey.

Somany Floor and Wall Tiles have hit upon the novel idea of a permanent display gallery for their
complete range of tiling. Called `Simply Tiles' the new 2,500 sq ft `mock-apartment' by Somany in
Anna Nagar (Tel: 23724564) is an endeavour to provide a single platform to customers who could
spend enough time to get in and `look, feel and appreciate' the aesthetic range of the medley.

A. J. Sushmita, manager, says the display would be changed twice a year, for bringing in a visual
appeal.

Drawing room, dining, kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and balcony space have been tiled, and the
inclusion of essential furniture too lends a true ambience to each room. The kitchen cabinets and
the platform on display, would, for instance, augment the look of the laid-out tiles and give one a
better idea about the available space. Or the Eton glass basins amidst the matching floor-and-wall-
tiles in the done-up bathrooms would assist customers in gathering some design schemes..

The living room and the extra spaces like the supposed study-area also have been tiled with a
teasing variety of both the Indian and the imported makes marketed by Somany. Each room has
several additional panels arranged in a corner with matching designs and borders, and the entire
so-called house has 180 extra panels conquered by Somany's ceramic and porcelain pieces, vitrified
and rectified, in a swarm of finishes like wood, stone, rustic, brick, terra cotta, granite, rock...
blending in designer concepts to boot!

Says Abhishek Somany, Executive Director of Somany, "The growing range and variety of Somany
was in itself a spatial-display-impediment for dealers, for, any dealer would want to edge-in space
for as many varieties as possible. With interest rates for housing loans plummeting, and the housing
industry picking up, the tile industry too has heavy competition. So, it was the repeated requests
from several dealers that prompted us to go in for a display centre and showcase the entire gamut
available with us for both end of the spectrums, the lower-middle range, and the upper-classy. And
qualified architects here would extend professional advice too".

However, Mr. Somany said that the `total solutions' available here is for people to benefit from
choosing after surveying the co-ordinated requirements. Sale of tiles would still be from the dealers
only.

The display centre in Chennai is the fourth in their chain after Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Bangalore.
Soon the company plans to open up such centres in Calcutta, Coimbatore, Gurgaon, Delhi,
Hyderabad and Ludhiana.

Falling flat on MAINTENANCE

Running the affairs of an apartment complex is no easy job, what with residents refusing to
cooperate on paying their maintenance dues. D. Murali takes a look at the problems faced by
residents in the upkeep of apartment complexes.
INVESTMENT in a house or flat is a capital expenditure. Yet, it sets off a series of revenue spends
that usually go under the name 'maintenance'. While most of us do detailed planning and also
debate a thousand times before buying a roof upon our heads, one thing that goes out of the
window is a careful consideration of the recurring outlay.

In general, maintenance expenses are inversely proportional to the quality of materials used in
construction and directly proportional to the age of the building. Older it gets, more is the outflow
for repairs and upkeep, as perhaps with any other capital equipment or human body. Again,
maintenance expenses are directly proportional to the size of the initial investment.

There are no benchmarks. If a barebones flat costs you Rs. 10 lakhs, a monthly expenditure of Rs.
300 may seem reasonable. By this yardstick, if you are planning to buy a flat for half a crore, and
the block you are eyeing enjoys cutting-edge facilities such as gym, swimming pool, Internet den
and so on, don't expect your monthly maintenance bill to be only Rs. 1,500, but considerably more.
Thus, mathematically speaking, we may evolve an equation: m = f (q, a, s), where `m' is the
maintenance cost; `q' is construction quality; `a' is age and `s' stands for services. But human
conglomerations, as epitomised by flats, are not dictated by sheer math, but chemistry. That makes
maintenance a tricky issue, as evidenced by the many reactions of the city's residents.

Two types of residents

"There are two types of people in flats," Mr. Balaji says. "Type 1 inmates knock, knock on day one
of the month and give their due share of maintenance." They must be the favourites of the
association conveners, but there is a flip side: "Most of these people feel their job is over with
paying maintenance and don't involve in the block's problems." What is the other type? "You have
to keep running behind them and remind them that there is something called maintenance amount
that has to be given every month to meet the recurring expenditure. They make life miserable since
you need to keep doing this every month though they continue to enjoy all the facilities without a
pinch of strain, either physically or financially. They wouldn't involve in any common activities."

What a fuss!

Ms. Kannan, an ex-treasurer of a flat association, writes: "It is ironic that even well to-do people in
posh flats make a fuss over paying monthly maintenance charges. For instance, a young man in a
responsible post would excuse himself saying that he has left his chequebook in office. A senior
citizen, whose children are in the U.S., would suggest that the maintenance personnel be paid
salary after the 10th of every month." Two possible solutions, she suggests are: to rotate the
responsibility of collecting the maintenance charges and to collect a lump sum amount towards
maintenance for a specific period before the occupants occupy their homes.

Likewise, Mr. Narayanan writes about ground-floor residents arguing that lift expenses should not
be apportioned to them though "they regularly go to the terrace for drying clothes or organising
parties when all their guests too utilise the lifts." Mr. Mahalingam narrates the instance of how a
resident refused to pay his share of external painting, saying that the association could leave that
part outside his flat unpainted. "Can a more ridiculous argument be imagined?" he asks.

Vested interests

Being apathetic to association's working can lead to a stale body that goes on and on, and
governance of the apartment block to become weedy. Mr. Ramanathan writes: "Lack of interest on
the part of majority of flat owners paved the way for the same set of office-bearers continuing.
Apart from monthly maintenance, huge collections are made for exterior whitewashing, road re-
laying and so on. But vested interests fritter away the collection, engaging contractors known to
them." Does a remedy lie in approaching the consumer forum? But would that break the harmony
amongst residents?

Commercial outfits

Many blocks have business establishments in the ground floor and residential apartments in the
upper floors. Mr. Ramaswamy writes of a commercial garment outfit in his block . "They have not
paid the maintenance charges or other expenses like rainwater harvesting, borewell repair and so
on for quite some time." What is the legal remedy, he wonders? "Is a commercial establishment
allowed to operate in a purely residential complex?"

Emotive issue

Maintenance debate results in everybody reinventing the wheel. Mr. Srinivasan, who lives an
apartment complex of 400 flats, where the monthly maintenance expenditure comes to Rs. 3-3.5
lakhs, says "The association is taking over maintenance from the builders this month. Monthly
maintenance is being worked out now and as predicted there is a furore on its modalities. Three
options have emerged during the initial discussions in the association: Rate based on sq ft basis;
flat rate for each apartment, and a base flat rate with a nominal increase for apartments with higher
built-up area. There appears to be no consensus and there are innumerable arguments for and
against each of the above options."

Mumbai lessons

Can we take a leaf from Mumbai's book? Mr. Mahalingam writes, "Associations over there are forced
to function under rules framed by the Registrar of Cooperative Societies. Infraction of regulations is
viewed seriously and the Registrar initiates punitive action against the errant." Mr. Narayanan
states: "In Mumbai, before residents vacate a flat, they have to get clearance from the apartment
society."

Rules awaited

The more one digs into realities, the greater would be the realisation that there is almost a civil war
type of situation within the premises of many apartment blocks.

But it is not that the State legislature is unaware of the problem.

"The Tamil Nadu Apartment Ownership Act, 1994" came into force from April 7, 1997. Only, it is yet
to be made operational. It is imperative, therefore, for the Government to get its act together on
the matter, before flat governance goes flat.

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A technology lift

Divya Ramamurthi

Catching up with higher planes of technology, elevators have built-in savvy features that give you a
smooth ride up and down along with spatial comfort.

An elevator without counterweight. Courtesy: Kone Elevators

THE days of waiting for an elevator in your apartment, your hands weighed down by large shopping
bags, have almost gone. Most flats now install machine-room-less elevators to increase usable
space within. In contrast to the traditional elevators, these machines do not need any space, either
on the top or by the side of the elevator for the machine room. Instead, a slim, disc-shaped
machine fits inside a standard elevator hoist-way, fixed to a guide rail moves the elevator up and
down. Most leading elevator companies have their own version of the machine-room less elevator.

Kone brought out Kone Monospace, Otis India came out with 'Gen2' and Johnson lifts also made it a
regular feature in all their elevators. These elevators provide flexibility to architects in designing,
says V. Jagannathan, general manager (marketing), Johnson Lifts. The company has installed more
than 15 machine-room-less elevators in the city.

A.Sankarakrishnan, managing director, Kone India, says these elevators help maximise the
rentable, productive space in buildings. This space can translate into an extra parking space or two
in the basement, or even an extra floor for the builder. As the elevator operates without gears, it
offers a silent, smooth and precise operation and adds value to the building, he adds. Kone India,
has, in fact, installed 64 of these elevators in the Delhi Metro Railway Stations.

Of course, these machine-room-less elevators are more expensive than the hydraulic lifts that range
from Rs.3 lakhs to Rs.30 lakhs. In fact, these elevators can be up to 20 per cent more expensive,
depending on their capacity, motor power and size.
Mr. Sankarakrishnan says that it makes up for it in its comfort. In around four years time, he adds
that the elevator will pay for itself. "If you add the savings made by conservation of space, lower
consumption of steel and cable and by its lower fuel consumption, then the system would have paid
itself off in a few years time."

A drawback with these machine-room less elevators in hot and humid cities like Chennai and
Hyderabad is that the service mechanics find it very difficult to do repairs within the small dingy
shafts, says Mr. Jaganathan. To get around it, he adds that Johnson Lifts has modified the elevator
to provide access to engine and cables from the outside. "It is made to suit local conditions."

The Kone Group has now improved their machine-room-less elevator to work without a counter
weight — Kone Maxispace. The result is the lightweight elevator that can accommodate more
people, in fact, a third more than traditional elevators for the same space, says Mr.
Sankarakrishnan. The product was launched in Chennai in March. "If an elevator could earlier
accommodate four people within the same space constraints, the Kone Maxispace elevator can
accommodate seven people," says A. Sankarakrishnan. .

How does the Kone Maxispace manage this? Well, by eliminating the bulky counter-weight, which is
used to support and assist elevator movement, and replacing it by flexible roping arrangements
using high tensile ropes, the elevator is able to maximise its space, adds Mr. Sankarakrishnan. It
also weighs considerably less. In contrast to the commonly used traction elevators that weigh 430
kgs, this elevator weighs only 70 kgs. The elevator segment is a rapidly growing one in India. The
elevator market stands at 10,000-12,000 a year while a decade ago only 20 to 150 elevators were
being sold in a year. "The growth prospects are huge," adds Mr.Sankarakrishnan.

With outsourcing becoming the norm in most industries, elevator industry cannot be far behind. The
Chennai branch of Kone India is set to expand its activities.

***************8

It's not just style, but also substance that makes windows a significant element in your interior.

IT'S the cosy bay window in your room. Perched on it, you watch the world go by... enjoy the rays
of the tender sun in the morning and the cool breeze at dusk when you sit with your favourite book.
It's this same window that breaks the monotony of indoors and connects you to the outside world.
No matter the clock ticking away... it's the same window that shows time - in both, tangible and
intangible ways. So let's talk windows.

Can any interior space be complete without windows? That too in a parched climate like ours? Not
quite. From location to the type of window, a lot of thought goes into its design. Strategic location
of windows gives optimum cross-ventilation and apt planning of the air draft will reduce the
temperature of the room considerably.

Depending on the direction that the window faces, one can enjoy direct morning sun, diffused light
from the North through the day or cut out the harsh rays from the West with appropriate sun
breakers.

Windows play a critical role in linking outdoor and indoor spaces - visually. Without them interiors
will become boring, sometimes even lifeless. They not only help you enjoy Nature from inside, but
also protect you from the same. Imagine uninvited birds and creepy crawlies getting inside your
living spaces!

Let's analyse the types of windows:

In casement windows, the shutters are fixed on the different types of hinges, either on top or on
one side of the window frame. Here, one can take the maximum advantage of a complete window
opening when it comes to breeze and light.

In sliding windows, the shutters slide on grooves or wheels. By opening one, you can't take full
advantage. Nevertheless, its plus point is that the shutters would not project out when opened.

French windows are large, almost touching the floor. It is used extensively towards balconies or
courtyards.

Bay windows project outside the building, thus creating a small seating space inside. Unless these
windows have adequate protection with sunshades, this type could invite harsh sunlight or showers
inside. So it's quite a disadvantage in tropical climes.

If you have lots on store to display, there are show windows. While they are on their way out in
huge showrooms, in retail businesses they help in creating attractive graphical and thematic display
of show materials.

Application of curtain walling is the recent trend in designing office buildings. Based on the
direction, height and location, the glazing can be laminated, insulated, double-glazed, toughened,
reflective or tinted. Now to the materials used for windows. Firstly, there are varied gradations and
finishes in teak and country wood. Then there is the MS section -- painted or powder coated and
aluminium section -- powder coated or anodized. Finally, PVCs with natural finish or powder coated.

People with big budgets sometimes fancy large windows with arches on every external wall. But
remember, windows must be conceived with a purpose. If the space is substantially big and the
external space that the window faces something pleasing, then there are plenty of creative options
in terms of styling, colour and materials used to make the windows look distinct in comparison to
the doors and the door frames. On the other hand, if you are short on space, then its advisable to
settle for uniformity and see that the style, colour and materials used are in sync with the other
aspects and overall theme of the interior.

Another significant fact is that the positioning of a window cannot be altered at whim. For, the
window is an interior element that doubles up as an exterior element as well. Location changes will
certainly affect exterior elevation too. If it is absolutely necessary to shift windows, one must keep
the exterior look/ elevation in mind.

Above all, when it comes to choice of material, be sure it's one that can be easy to operate, hassle-
free to maintain and fitted perfectly sans gaps. And yes... see to it that the windows are in harmony
with the overall theme of the interior and architecture. Otherwise discerning onlookers might just
shut their eyes off your window!

************8

Foreign direct investment and public housing

Housing boards in various parts of the country have been facing problems in terms of time delays
and shortage of funds.They could do with some assistance from FDI for which the government
should push more aggressively, says Ramesh Nair

FOREIGN investment in real estate was opened up a couple of years ago when the government
permitted 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), on a case-to-case basis, into the
development of integrated townships.

This led to considerable amount of discussion on how it will affect the future of real estate
development in our country. Time has passed and our country has still not received any
considerable amount of FDI inflows into the sector.

Number of reasons such as lower return on investment for the foreign players, lack of developers
with national presence, low productivity in the retail sector, foreclosure norms, repatriation norms
for original investment and profits, currency devaluation leading to skewed returns, infrastructure
bottlenecks and lack of transparency in the real estate sector have been cited as reasons for poor
FDI inflows.

The fundamental issue governing any real estate investment boils down to risk and return. Risk in
real estate investments can be classified into country level risk, market level risk and deal level risk.

Anybody seeking FDI should address the following risks in an appropriate manner such that these
risks are minimised.

These risks can be minimised by innovative structuring, having access to adequate information
sources and hedging.

Benefits of real estate investing need to be understood at a global level. Real estate investments
offer more diversification benefits than investment in international securities as correlation among
real estate in different countries is lower than correlation in international equities.

Again internationally, real estate markets are less volatile as compared to the stock markets. In
most developing countries, local investors are unable to meet the need of multinational firms
expanding into their country.

This gives tremendous opportunities for international investors due to the inability of local capital to
meet needs of foreign firms.

A number of state housing boards are today cash-strapped in India. Housing boards are
organisations created under state government laws in India.
Most of the states in India have housing boards and their key objective is to provide housing in
various towns and cities in the respective states. These housing boards are no-profit-no-loss
organisations with funding from domestic funding agencies such as Hudco and the state
government.

Of late, the housing boards in various parts of the country have been facing problems in terms of
time delays and shortage of funds. There are moves from some boards to undertake public-private
partnerships, which could help in the rapid growth of this sector.

Allowing FDI inflows into this sector is certainly an issue, which the government could push for more
aggressively.

There is also a move in some quarters that these boards need to be converted into corporations, so
that they can start functioning on commercial lines and thereby increase their efficiency and give
the citizens a better deal. It is very important during this transition period that we look at the
international standards in public housing, especially in countries such as Singapore, which is missing
in our country.

In Singapore, more then 87 per cent, of its 3 million population, lives in public housing and 9 out of
10 of these housing units are owned by residents themselves.

The concept of community plays a very vital role here. This need in building communities is being
met by improved flat designs and community facilities, social activities or functions, day trips,
educational outings and the promotion of neighbourliness and crime awareness by the public
housing body of Singapore — Housing & Development Board (HDB).

Apart from this, HDB also provides estate management services such as maintenance and upkeep of
common properties, repairs, replacement and servicing of lifts and other mechanical and electrical
installations. Physical planning and design issues are also carefully researched and improvements
can often be seen in the variety and variations of flat and block designs and overall town planning
design. Town Councils have been set up to allow residents to participate in the day-to-day activity
of estate management.

Although due credit has to be given to many housing boards for their proactiveness and
commitment to cater for the housing needs of all strata of society at affordable costs, all the above-
mentioned issues prove that there is considerable scope for improvement in standards of Public
Housing in our country which could become a reality if FDI is allowed proactively into this sector.

Something unusual about these buildings

D. MURALI

With the increasing use of technology in buildings, one may wonder if buildings are big machines.
Perhaps, Le Corbusier had this in mind when he wrote his book; A house is a machine for living in.
EVER wondered what `modern buildings' are? They are buildings made since 1900 - a new style of
construction based on experiments in planning and design and use of material - and these became
popular in the West after World War I. Thus informs Robert Frederick's book titled "Modern
Buildings" with "100 questions and answers", published by Top Story.

Visibly, glass is one of the most used materials these days, along with concrete and steel, instead of
traditional materials such as brick, marble and wood. So much so that multi-storeyed buildings
made of glass are also called `glass boxes'. Advantage of using glass is to save electricity because
there is natural light throughout the day. With the increasing use of technology in buildings, one
may wonder if buildings are big machines. Perhaps, Le Corbusier had this in mind when writing in
his 1923 book: "A house is a machine for living in."

Chapters in the book are titled, "Temples, Churches and Mosques; Museums; Amusement Centres;
Hotels; Commercial Buildings; Airports and Railway Stations; Domes and Stadiums; and Unusual
Buildings." On places of worship, if you were asked to name the temple that looks like a lotus, pat
you would answer, `Baha'i Temple in New Delhi.' It has "27 giant white petals made of marble that
emerge out of nine pools with nine paths which show the nine spiritual paths of the Baha'i faith."
Now, what is the `karesansui'? Answer: Zen gardens you would find in Japan, "carefully designed
with sand, gravel stones and rocks to represent land and seascapes... giving an overall impression
of a miniature world."

The book has ten questions on hotels. Such as: In which hotel was the film `Goldfinger' shot? Who
built the hotel with a façade that has no windows at all? Which hotel has a front wall in the shape of
a wave? Which hotel picks you up in a Rolls Royce? For answers, you better see the book, though to
save you from too much suspense, the answer for the last question is the "Burj-Al-Arab Hotel" or
the Arabian Tower in Dubai, "the world's tallest hotel," and it has a helipad just in case you are
hopping by in a chopper.
A question such as "which famous trade tower was destroyed in an air-attack recently" would get
enthusiastic response because 9/11 has not faded from our memories yet. Likewise, you perhaps
know that the world's tallest skyscrapers are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
However, it could be an unusual bit of information that The Bank of China Tower in Hong Kong is
inspired by the way a bamboo plant grows. "For the Chinese, this plant represents hope and
renewal." Which is why, there are recent reports of people in India decorating their houses with
bamboo shoots.

On stations and airports, here is some quizzing material. The station at Condor, Bolivia, is the
highest railway station in the world at 4,787 metres. Hong Kong Airport's 45 acres of lightweight
steel roof can be seen from spacecraft orbiting the earth. King Abdul Aziz International Airport at
Jeddah can get very crowded; during Haj, it needs to accommodate 50,000 pilgrims at one time for
periods up to 18 hours during arrival and 80,000 pilgrims for periods up to 36 hours during
departure.

The last chapter has Q&A on `unusual buildings' such as: The apartment house that has a front that
looks like flowing water, parliament building that looks like an airship, and a famous bridge known
as `blade of light'. You would also learn that the length of the steel wires used in the Golden Gate
Bridge is enough to circle the earth three times, and that the largest observation wheel, called the
London Eye, used 1700 tonnes of steel, "which is heavier than 250 double-decker buses."

If that Corbusier quote is bothering you, think of how things could be worse if a house were for
machines to live in.

Foreign direct investment and public housing

Housing boards in various parts of the country have been facing problems in terms of time delays
and shortage of funds.They could do with some assistance from FDI for which the government
should push more aggressively, says Ramesh Nair

FOREIGN investment in real estate was opened up a couple of years ago when the government
permitted 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), on a case-to-case basis, into the
development of integrated townships.

This led to considerable amount of discussion on how it will affect the future of real estate
development in our country. Time has passed and our country has still not received any
considerable amount of FDI inflows into the sector.

Number of reasons such as lower return on investment for the foreign players, lack of developers
with national presence, low productivity in the retail sector, foreclosure norms, repatriation norms
for original investment and profits, currency devaluation leading to skewed returns, infrastructure
bottlenecks and lack of transparency in the real estate sector have been cited as reasons for poor
FDI inflows.

The fundamental issue governing any real estate investment boils down to risk and return. Risk in
real estate investments can be classified into country level risk, market level risk and deal level risk.

Anybody seeking FDI should address the following risks in an appropriate manner such that these
risks are minimised.

These risks can be minimised by innovative structuring, having access to adequate information
sources and hedging.
Benefits of real estate investing need to be understood at a global level. Real estate investments
offer more diversification benefits than investment in international securities as correlation among
real estate in different countries is lower than correlation in international equities.

Again internationally, real estate markets are less volatile as compared to the stock markets. In
most developing countries, local investors are unable to meet the need of multinational firms
expanding into their country.

This gives tremendous opportunities for international investors due to the inability of local capital to
meet needs of foreign firms.

A number of state housing boards are today cash-strapped in India. Housing boards are
organisations created under state government laws in India.

Most of the states in India have housing boards and their key objective is to provide housing in
various towns and cities in the respective states. These housing boards are no-profit-no-loss
organisations with funding from domestic funding agencies such as Hudco and the state
government.

Of late, the housing boards in various parts of the country have been facing problems in terms of
time delays and shortage of funds. There are moves from some boards to undertake public-private
partnerships, which could help in the rapid growth of this sector.

Allowing FDI inflows into this sector is certainly an issue, which the government could push for more
aggressively.

There is also a move in some quarters that these boards need to be converted into corporations, so
that they can start functioning on commercial lines and thereby increase their efficiency and give
the citizens a better deal. It is very important during this transition period that we look at the
international standards in public housing, especially in countries such as Singapore, which is missing
in our country.

In Singapore, more then 87 per cent, of its 3 million population, lives in public housing and 9 out of
10 of these housing units are owned by residents themselves.

The concept of community plays a very vital role here. This need in building communities is being
met by improved flat designs and community facilities, social activities or functions, day trips,
educational outings and the promotion of neighbourliness and crime awareness by the public
housing body of Singapore — Housing & Development Board (HDB).

Apart from this, HDB also provides estate management services such as maintenance and upkeep of
common properties, repairs, replacement and servicing of lifts and other mechanical and electrical
installations. Physical planning and design issues are also carefully researched and improvements
can often be seen in the variety and variations of flat and block designs and overall town planning
design. Town Councils have been set up to allow residents to participate in the day-to-day activity
of estate management.

Although due credit has to be given to many housing boards for their proactiveness and
commitment to cater for the housing needs of all strata of society at affordable costs, all the above-
mentioned issues prove that there is considerable scope for improvement in standards of Public
Housing in our country which could become a reality if FDI is allowed proactively into this sector.

Choosing the right flat

M. Murali

Planning the interiors of an apartment is as important as choosing its location. It will be best to get
professional help to maximise on space and comfort.

APARTMENTS are here to stay and very soon will become the only preferred option over individual
residences. Choosing the right flat to match one's needs may be a difficult task.

There are many options, like a four-apartment complex, a group development, a housing complex
or a high-rise apartment building. In a small four-apartment complex, privacy and calmness can be
achieved, whereas in a group development or in a housing complex, you might get additional
facilities such as playgrounds and small shopping units. While in high-rise flats, great views and
fresh air would be a bonus.

Having chosen and purchased an apartment, you could consult an architect to improvise the
architectural planning and interior with sunken slabs, beam positions, sanitary lines and ducts.

He could help you in getting bath tubs, may be an island kitchen-cum-dining and a kids' homework
corner too. Additional help could be sought with respect to utility areas — positioning heavy gadgets
like washing machines, dish-washer or the grinder. Even a flexible design for a bedroom-cum-
study-cum-family room can be achieved. He would advise on how to manipulate the window
openings without marring the elevation, to provide large special windows with openable shutters at
varying heights so that the furniture arrangement inside does not get hindered.

The creative architect can interact with the promoter to enhance the space inside. He could work on
elements like a special flooring pattern that is different from the usual rich and flashy flooring.

You could explore with newer materials which will bring exterior/natural elements inside the house.
Like using rough granite seating near the balcony area, which is economical as well. More
explorative materials like the `deal' or scrap wood could also be used for the flooring in such areas.
When it comes to tile selection, lighter white-based colours are most preferred as they blend easily
with other colours. But when you intend to use coloured tiles, then it is suggested you keep the
colour of the floor tile, wall tile, counter top, and the colour of the fixtures all in your mind.

In the kitchen area, utilitarian needs have to be given primary importance. A well-designed kitchen
counter along with an interesting flooring pattern can make a world of difference. The wall tiles also
could be colourful — a bright yellow with a black granite counter top can add an element of cheer.

Care should be taken to provide additional electrical points while casting the roof slab itself, as it
becomes difficult to do it later. While doing the internal cabinets and loft coverings, a complete
package designed in plywood, with minimal usage of wood can be a lot cheaper and faster. Do a lot
of talking with people who have just bought an apartment, they might be able to give a whole lot of
ideas you wouldn't even have thought of. But if you intend to achieve a well-composed interior,
planned for further compliance and practicality, you need to seek the professional help of an
architect.

Woods are lovely, inside the home too

Ranjani Govind

For a connoisseur of nature, wood is the ultimate. But how pleasant or difficult is it to be walking on
woods at home? A look at what wooden flooring has on offer.

WE may be on a splurge with urbanisation concepts, but when it comes to interiors, the character
speaks of a clear dichotomy: contemporary compositions proclaiming modernity, yet an inner pining
to get closer to the old world charm of nature. Needless to say, it is a combination of the old and
the new, evolved by choice. Home experts too have time and again said that leaning towards any
extremity wouldn't by itself make a distinct statement. So we see a more judicious mix of the two in
both living rooms and office space by interior designers. A classic example is the fast picking trend
of wooden flooring.
Although wood is a part of a live-in routine in the U.S. or most European countries, it's still a part of
an opulent lifestyle in India, yet to knock at the doors of the so-called average customer. There may
be thousands of homes and offices in India with wooden flooring, but is still a small percentage
when compared to people going in for an array of synthetic alternatives available in the market.

Says Sundeep Lyall of Wood Weavers (India) (Tel: 28113719, 94440-41994), pioneers in wood
flooring in India and into the business for three decades now, "It's highly relative to the location and
the client, a sense of each one's awareness and need matter a lot here...people who regularly travel
abroad and have also lived there are more open to the idea of a living adaptation with wooden
flooring. People have to understand that unlike as in olden times, the kind of scratch-and-stain-
proof imported finishes available now could leave one amazed! It would be worth a try for
customers with an enterprising mind; after all, it is a matter of getting rid of a deep-rooted bias, the
initial stumbling block!" But aren't cost and maintenance, other impediments?

"No" argues Sundeep, "Study this: basic seasoned teak is available at Rs.100 per sq.ft, Australian
Jarrah wood is Rs. 550 per sq ft, and Canadian Maple is Rs. 650 per sq ft, with laying cost and
finishes included. Merbau from Indonesia is available at around Rs.215 to Rs. 320 per sq ft and
African Padouk at Rs. 210 to Rs. 310 approximately. Mind you, what we use is 60 to 110-year-old
mature and seasoned timber".

Anamika Sundeep, administration-in-charge at Wood Weavers, is quick to chip in. "People generally
forget that wood by nature withstands the ravages of time better and the sheen could be revived
even after decades just by sanding. It maintains a constant temperature, and is an effective noise
barrier". Moreover, adds the marketing executive, M. Maxwell, "the natural beauty that wood
flooring provides is exclusive, in that it offers an inherent variety in grains, enhancing the diversity
of nature and highlights the beauty of asymmetry thrown across on the floor. Can you ever think of
this in mass-produced granite or tiles?"

Smrithi Rao, at Anna Nagar, who had her wooden floor done three-years ago, says, "Daily sweeping
with a soft broom (to avoid tiny scratches from mud) and a swab with moist-wrung-cloth once a
week or vacuum cleaning are all that these wooden planks on the floor demand!"
But with a multitude of wood-finishes available in tiles, why would one go in for wooden flooring?
Says interior designer Kamlesh, who has an obsession with wood, "No doubt, wood demands extra
care and caution, and it goes without saying that a soil-test for termites before construction or a
building test is indispensable. And maintenance too is not as simple as it is projected. But, if you
have a heart for nature, any other alternative would seem incomplete. Sophistication is highly
subjective and need-based."

Imported planks from several countries are available in a plethora of sizes (for the two kinds of
flooring done, Parquet and Tongue-and-Groove), fixed on smooth cemented floors or even mosaics
by only skilled professionals, and are bonded with renowned solid adhesives from Germany, Europe
and the U.S., with mechanised trowels for uniformity, or are anchored to the floor by ratcheting
floor nails from Canada, and are finally coated with polyurethanes from Sweden.

Sundeep Lyall, however, is wary of wooden flooring in kitchens and bathrooms. "Our kind of cooking
with oil and masalas, and the kind of water spillage in bathrooms make it difficult to maintain."
Wood Weavers is a member of the National Wood Flooring Association, a world-wide association of
wood-flooring professionals.

"We are fixing 5000 to 6000 sq. ft. of flooring every month, he says nonchalantly, showing his
serpentine list of clients in the city."

Maintenance matters

D. Murali

Maintenance charges and maintaining harmony are inter-linked in an apartment complex, and when
some fail to pay, the plight of those in charge is only unenviable.
AMONG the perennial problems in most apartment blocks are leaks and money. That it takes money
to arrest leaks, and that money has its own way of leaking out faster than it comes are only too
known. Let us now discuss money matters.

Living in flats necessitates common expenses and these can be met only by contribution by the
residents. Call it amenities or whatever, but it is generally referred to as `monthly maintenance' —
a phrase that evokes the idea of some dole but this one is a payment, not a receipt, unless you are
one of the office-bearers of the apartment association who is authorised to collect the funds from
everybody. After perhaps the usual queries about water, one of the first questions most women ask
when visiting their friends in other flats, is what their maintenance contribution is, and then
exclaim, "Oh, so much!"

But ask the treasurers of residents associations and many would tell you horror tales of how a few
residents in their premises have not been paying their contributions for ages. One recent case I
heard from a friend goes like this: X, a grandpa, who wanted to stroll in the garden within the
premises, kept the door of the flat partially open because his granddaughter was asleep and he
didn't want the child to wake up to find the door closed and start crying.

Some reasoning, but when he returned, he found that a few valuables in the flat were missing and
the child was still asleep. He fumed that the watchman was responsible for the safety of the
residents, and that he had failed in his duty. "I'll not pay my maintenance contribution," he said.

Other residents tried to pacify the grandpa that he should not have left the door open, that the
watchman was for the whole block and not for individual houses, and so forth, but he was stubborn
on not paying for a service that didn't work! After a few months, the residents association decided
to cut off water supply for his flat and the grandpa slapped a case against the association.
How long it would take for the judicial system to decide the case is anybody's guess, but ask around
if the association is within its rights to stop water supply. Your law friend would tell you, "No",
"Yes", "May be." How about refusing to pay up monthly contribution? The answer is ``no, you don't
have a right to withhold that.''

Living in small communities as we do, when staying in flats, there is no point if harmony gets
broken by petty fights that have their beginnings in egos and ends nowhere.

Residents have every right to demand how their contributions are spent. Since it often happens that
office-bearers are honorary posts manned by people who are doing their bit of public service,
everybody's life is made easier by mutual cooperation.

First understand what expenses your block incurs under various heads such as security, plumber,
sweeper and so forth.

A simple back-of-the-envelope calculation would then show what the dividend is if you put the total
expenses on top and the number of flats at the bottom.

However, money is a tricky issue. If you think your association is charging ``so much!,'' you need
to see the accounts.

Well, if there is a helpful chartered accountant in the neighbourhood, he or she may even agree to
verify the accounts as a goodwill gesture, provided the association agrees.

If not, you may need to contest the elections when office-bearers are to be chosen the next time
around. How to go about that is a different story.

Is your house water-proof?

Buildings incorporate latest scientific methods to ensure perfection in appearance while

waterproofing is done by methods that are centuries or possibly millennia-old. Frenetic speed, non-
availability of quality construction materials and lack of sincere labour are reasons for poor
structures coming up of late, says A. C. RAVI RANGASWAMI

Laying of tiles on a waterproofed terrace

CONSIDER a house that you are visiting. It is less than a year old. Its façade is impressive. Its
design is ornate and available space has been skilfully exploited. You admire the beautiful and apt
colours used too. But as you look up, at the ceiling, you find a damp patch in a corner, spoiling the
whole appearance of the room. No expense has been spared to make the house look grand but
have the architect and builder been remiss in bestowing attention on the durability of the structure?
The small patch in the ceiling does not mean that water has leaked through that spot alone. It
means rather, that water spreading over a longer area and through various channels behind and
below the surface, has, for the present, been able to escape to the surface at that point only.
Obviously, stop-gap repair work to clear that blemish will not help, for, over a period of time,
perhaps after the very next shower, the moisture will find other portals of entry to the surface of
the walls and ceilings.

What then, is the source of this evil? Why is this leakage of water, even in new buildings, a
ubiquitous problem in Chennai? The answer is that waterproofing of buildings receives scant, if any,
attention at the time of construction. While other aspects of the building incorporate latest scientific
methods to ensure perfection in appearance and quality, waterproofing is done following methods
that are centuries, possibly millennia old.

In those days, construction was done at a leisurely pace. Curing of concrete/mortar was given great
importance. Curing is one of the most important factors determining the strength and water
tightness of concrete. But nowadays, we witness huge buildings cropping up within a few months.

The main reason for waterproofing being accorded step-motherly treatment is lack of awareness of
its long-term benefits.

Waterproofing is an integral part of the construction activity and its critical role must be
appreciated. We fail to realise that all the money we spend on aesthetics will go down the drain if
we do not ensure that the house is waterproofed. This is confirmed by the absence of waterproofing
details in the advertisements released by construction companies that provide all other details,
which are physically visible.

Water seepage is just not an inconvenience but also damages your concrete, causing corrosion of
steel reinforcement. Durability of the finished structure relates to concrete's ability to preserve the
alkaline environment around the reinforcement during its service life and to maintain its structural
capacity. The protection of the reinforcement is lost if harmful substances like chlorides or carbon-
dioxide and other toxic gases like nitrogen oxide and sulphuric oxides penetrate the cover layer
along with moisture and oxygen causing corrosion of the re-bars.

Frenetic speed of construction, non-availability of quality construction materials and lack of sincere
labour are reasons for poor structures coming up of late.

Although `Envelope Waterproofing' of a structure is very much advisable, the most vulnerable or
important areas from the waterproofing angle are the roof and the sunken portions of the
toilets/bathrooms. The conventional method adopted is the brick-jelly concrete or the brick bat
coba. The brick-jelly concrete is very much suited for the Madras terrace, which has been forgotten
with the development of concrete technology.
 Slope-making (with concrete) towards downtake pipes

With the advent of practice of providing RCC roof slab on which brick-jelly concrete or brick bat coba
is provided, leaking roofs have become very common. A common misconception is that brick bat
coba with the cement finishing of IPS is an adequate waterproofing cover/treatment to terrace
slabs.

As a matter of fact, brick bat coba is a highly absorbent material and when water starts entering, it
only works as a reservoir of water because of the absorbency of bricks. As a result of stagnation of
water in the brick bat coba, there is a heavy strain on the roof slab. Moreover, the trapped water
finds its way to the slab below and seeps through weak areas. This is due to the fact that the roof
slab has not been waterproofed. Waterproofing of sunken portions requires considerable expertise.
If the waterproofing content of a structure is entrusted to a specialised agency or technician, better
results ensue.

Chemical Waterproofing: Chemical admixtures are ingredients in the form of powder or liquid,
added to the concrete matrix during mixing. Admixtures are actually no substitute to waterproofing
of buildings but definitely provide many beneficial effects.

Coatings/Membranes: The advent of coating membranes followed admixtures but unfortunately

they are not found suitable for Indian conditions. In surface coating, the pores and capillaries are
blocked, hampering the natural breathing of the building. The impermeable surface coating allows
water to build up behind the surface coating with the risk of disruption to the coating and possibility
of damage. In fact, trapped water would be moving behind surface coating and wherever it finds
weaker segments, it would come out resulting in cracks and blisters on the surface.

Bitumen or asphalt is widely used as a coating. Bitumen, on attaining high temperature, particularly
in summer, undergoes photo-oxidation, initiated by UV radiation. This results in the formation of
cancer-causing and toxic polyaromatic compounds including Benzopyrene (B) (a harmful toxic
constituent as in cigarette smoke) which have led to the banning of bitumen in several countries.

Polymer Flexible Slurries/Membranes: The proportion of polymer in these is at least 40 per

cent, expressed in terms of cement. As a result, the cement no longer forms a firm framework. In
fact, the polymer bonds the mixture of sand and cement to yield a soft and flexible structure.
Elastomeric Coatings/Membranes: The entry of recent generation of elastomeric
coatings/membranes has revolutionised the waterproofing industry. These elastomers are special
class of materials that are flexible and breathable, with high elongation and weatherability and crack
bridging membranes.

Impregnants: Solvent-based impregnants have several problems — Toxicity, hazardous,

environmental pollution, odour and so on. In various countries, there is now legislation in place
limiting the use of organic solvents in the coating and impregnant industries.

In the West, experts recommend solvent-free acqueous silicone ester emulsion for waterproofing of
external brick walls and exteriors without leaving any patch. At present, this product is
manufactured as well as imported into our country.

A majority of the products available in India are based on the coating technique, while the latest
impregnation technique is offered by only a few companies. Some of the major players in the
waterproofing industry are Fosroc, Roffe, Mc Bauchemie, Pidilite, STP, Don, Xypex, Tech-Dry etc. As
far as Chennai is concerned, the coating technique is preferred since it is a one-step treatment and
less time-consuming.

Application of polymer modified coating helps to avoid water penetration

The impregnation technique, which is becoming popular worldwide, is a multi-step treatment and
several civil engineering professionals are really impressed by the results of this technique and
recommend it to their clients. But, it must be borne in mind that application skills play a very
important role in the success of any waterproofing system. It calls for considerable expertise and
specialised labour.

The cost of waterproofing, compared to the spread over entire cost of the project, does not come to
even 2.5 per cent.

If you add the cost of interiors to the basic cost of the structures, then possibly this additional cost
will be further lowered down to 1 per cent or 1.5 per cent.

Further, as the number of floors increase, the cost per sq.ft. goes is further down to almost a
negligible percentage. Thus, wise is the builder who acknowledges and implements the effective
safety measures for waterproofing right at the concept stage itself.
Extend an olive branch to your neighbour!

D. MURALI

Lovers of trees and nature would appreciate that problems arise when humans and nature compete
for the same space. Options to coexist are severely constrained in apartment blocks.

NORMALLY, newspapers should not carry `plants' but I had plugged in a whole tree into the column
two weeks ago (Branch out, only on your soil, May 15, 2004). In response, there have been mails
both for and against, so what follows is a harvest from my inbox.

"Should one give up all ideas of tree-growing" asks Nirmala Ramanujan of East Tambaram. "When
modern apartment builders flout all norms, many of the buildings are so close to the road and
compound walls that we can't even have trees on the pavement then. Without the trees to provide
coolness, we literally get baked in our buildings! Everybody is not fortunate to have a huge
compound. So should a poor man give up dreams of having trees?" Well, on stone-throwing by
urchins: "Kids do that even when they play. Does that mean we ban kids too? We can't control
urchins, but we would control Mother Nature by chopping off branches indiscriminately. Only when
we do that, not studying the tree's angle or balance, we endanger the trees."

On car getting damaged: "Cars can be produced in days at a factory. Can a full grown tree be
produced in days?" But, it is after all somebody else's car. "The tree never damages. They are more
intelligent than we think. They have been there for more than 30 years. Buildings are recent
developments." The thrust of the article was that safety of structures, residents and their property
was as important as having green environs.

Mr. K. Krishnamurthi, an advocate, points out: "This is what is called civil injury as per Law of Torts.
If such an encroachment is caused, the neighbour who is affected can sue the person causing the
protrusion for damages and get injunction as well by way of suit." Thus, when trees cause damage
to a neighbour's property, there is a `civil injury,' though it is a different matter that if you were to
institute a case against your neighbour, it could be ages before a remedy gets out of our
overburdened legal system, by which time the tree would have fallen on its own.
"Ours is an independent house just as all the other houses on our street," writes Vidhya
Mohankumar. "Our neighbour's trees shed their leaves, branches (coconut tree's) and flowers into
our property and it is becoming quite a frustrating task to have the mess cleaned up everyday. It's
as good as dumping your garbage on the other side of your compound wall into the neighbour's
property." That's an apt analogy. "Our attempts at trying to sort out the problem with them always
draw a blank because they end up yelling back at us, so much so that on one occasion they said
that even if we went to any court they wouldn't care a damn. How does one deal with such people?
Is there anything that can be done?" Well, you have an answer above, so your neighbours are
wrong about law. If only you can get to talk to somebody in the next compound with a cool head,
you may have a solution.

Mr. M. S .S. Ramanujan is too upset about trees getting blamed for problems. "The incident of Astra
car getting damaged as an example to scare the public from growing trees in their house is quite
sad." He reasons: "After all, it was not the tree which fell on the car, the tree hit the window (a
guess), window's pane broke (poor quality material), the broken pane fell outside the sill (design
inadequacy) and it so happened that the Astra (thank goodness it was not some other higher-priced
car) was parked right under the window whose windshield broke. (In fact, why would not the
designers of the building think of a protective projection from the walls for the space earmarked for
parking the cars; because accidentally many things could fall off a window sill from the flats in the
higher floors)." But covered car-parks are not affordable by many.

"Today is the day of coalitions. So why not we peacefully coexist with nature, considering the fact
that the benefits are equally available to the owner of the tree and the next-door neighbour." Mr
Ramanujan writes: "In quite a few cases, trees are older than the buildings. When branches are
chopped, dictated solely by the requirements of the building, tree loses its balance. On the contrary,
when left to itself with gentle course corrections, of breaking a branch here and a branch there, it
learns and then self-corrects."

Lovers of trees and nature would appreciate that problems arise when humans and nature compete
for the same space. Options to coexist are severely constrained in apartment blocks.

Lavanya has a bitter tale to tell about her neighbour's neem tree that is protruding into her
compound and posing many problems: "The roots are damaging our compound wall; already it has
cracked in places. They are also affecting the foundation. Anybody can climb the tree and enter into
our open terrace thus posing security problems to our person and property. Crows are also creating
nuisance and leaves drop in our area thereby creating dust. Our neighbour has not paid heed to all
our requests. They refuse to cut the trees due to sentimental reasons."

On the issue of trees encroaching into others' property, Mr. C.H. Gopinatha Rao, an architect, has
these views: "Roots of trees such as mango, jack and so on grow horizontally and damage the
compound walls and even the walls of the main building in some cases. What is the remedy?
Discuss the problem with the neighbour and impress upon him to cut the tree. In many cases,
people attach sentimental value and prefer not to cut the tree." Yes, that's Lavanya's case. "The
next alternative is to cut the branches protruding in our compound periodically which will not solve
the problem of expansion of roots. Another method is transplantation if the neighbour agrees."
There is also an `unethical and harsh method' that some people resort to — of applying certain
chemicals to the roots that come in all the way from elsewhere, but that will kill the tree.

The moral is simple: "Neighbours should be considerate and take proper action. Going to court will
strain the relationship."

Mr. Rao also advises against planting trees such as eucalyptus and ashoka because of their potential
of exhausting your water resources. "If you love nature, have flowering plants or bushes that would
not strain available water. Consult a horticulturist for what is best."
To wrap up, here is a hypothetical question that I pose to my lawyer friend, Mr. Krishnamurti: "Can
I entice a tree-cutter to come and cut from inside my compound all those troublesome neighbour's
branches and take the wood in return for his services?" That may look like a win-win situation
because you don't have to pay cash for cutting, but Mr. Krishnamurti tells me that the cut- wood too
would belong to the neighbour, though you hire the cutter.

Okay, let us give trees some rest, so here's the topic for the next fortnight: Sunshades.

Options aplenty

R. Vivekanandan

DOORS, doors, doors and more on doors... We've passed through the main door. What about the
other doors in the house? Are they not as important? What about the options when it comes to the
rest of the doors in interior spaces? Well, read on...

It might be the entry to a bedroom tucked into a private corner of the house or a fancy entry into a
picturesque balcony or just a plain one lending access to the bathroom... With the location of the
door comes its strength or weakness. But smart designers always convert weaknesses into creative
challenges and throw up inventive ideas.

Let's tackle them one by one:

The prime purpose of a bedroom/toilet door is privacy. So there is no need to go in for heavy,
panelled designs. It can be light flush doors, and if we are free of any mindset, we can even try out
frosted/stained/etched-glazed doors. As the interior side of the toilet door is likely to get damaged
due to constant wetness, waterproofing layers like aluminum/pvc/poly carbonate sheets or
polyurethane coating is advisable.

As for the living/family hall door, since it is mainly used to control air-conditioning in the space or to
simply enjoy the home theatre system or make private conversation, simple glazed doors could look
neat here. To solve privacy and acoustic problems, if needed, cloth or wooden blinds could give the
needed advantage.

The storeroom is, to state the obvious, just to store things. Sounds undemanding when it comes to
design? Not quite. Be it a kitchen store or general dumping space, the storeroom door has to be
simple. Louvered/wired mesh at the back are advisable where ventilation is not possible.
External doors having access to balcony/terrace or garden must be thick and panelled. It could
almost match the main door in locking and security system but not necessarily with similar
decorative features.

Exterior doors having access to well-secured courtyard or balcony or terrace could be of

glazed/folded/sliding varieties. See to it that all external doors open outside and overlap to avoid
rainwater from entering the house through the gap between the door and the floor. The finishing of
the external doors is preferably painted. Polyurethane coating can also be done.

The kitchen door is also used to keep pets and rodents at bay. It is also useful to avoid
cooking/frying smell or noise from wafting across the rest of the house. It could be a simple door or
a partly glazed design to avoid delinking from the rest of the house. Swing system attached to the
door, to help it open both ways, is an added advantage.

Coming to the office room door, if it is a large office space or cabin, a glazed door could be an ideal
choice. For a smaller office or cabin, frosted doors with view glass or panelled varieties with view
glass could help in keeping out distractions caused by movements outside the door.

As for the pooja room, religious sentiments influence its design with symbolic richness/features. It
could be a grand one with ornamentation or a simple one with minimum ethnic touches. Whatever
the style, perforated doors could give good ventilation and also create a visual link with the rest of
the house.

Last but not the least, the service door/gate. Here, grille gate or wooden frames with grilles are
mainly used for safety reasons. The style could match the grille pattern of the windows of the
house.

Now, should we close the door or simply leave it ajar for more options next fortnight?

A concrete solution?

By Shanthi Kannan

Concrete laying at a construction site using RMC.

LAYING concrete roofing has always been a noisy affair, as the entire process turns the
neighbourhood into a pollution zone. The pile of gravel, sand and cement on the road and the
concrete mixing machine occupy one whole part of the road, often causing traffic bottlenecks, the
dust — all combining to arouse your neighbours' ire at the operation. But is there a way out?

RMC or ready-mix concrete could be one solution. As Ashwin who was constructing a house found
out. His building contractor approached an RMC supplier for pouring the concrete, and the job of
laying concrete on the roof was completed in an hour's time. No spillover of gravel, sand and
cement on the roadside. It was a clean and relatively quiet process.

According to Larsen & Toubro officials, design-mix concrete is the state-of-the-art. Where big
construction companies are involved, concreting is done mostly through a batching plant
commissioned at the site itself or by RMC. With the adoption of IS 456: 2000, construction agencies
have now been left with no choice but to adopt design-mix concretes. However, V. S. Suresh,
managing director, Real Value Promoters, says design-mix concrete done by RMC suppliers is not as
strong as the manually-mixed one. When a contractor mixes for a design, he adds cement, sand
and aggregates in the ratio of 1: 2: 4. But in an RMC design-mix, the ratio of cement might come
down relatively. The conventional method of mixing concrete is stronger than the RMC, he says.

Today, the maximum usage of RMC is for the roof. Its usage in building columns and piles are
minimal. According to Mr. Suresh, one to two cubic metres of concrete will be required for columns
and piles at a given time. Generally, RMC providers supply concrete not less than 5 to 6 cubic
metres per day. They do not supply smaller quantities for piles and columns.

RMC costs 15 to 20 per cent more than the conventional method and is viable only where the
requirement is for large quantities of concrete. Normally, it will cost around Rs. 2,000 per cubic
metre of pouring, according to L & T officials. However, there are other factors such as location that
will determine the cost.

RMC suppliers are of the view that concrete mixed on the site in the conventional method does not
have quality. There will be a 10 to 15 per cent wastage of raw materials if it is done on the site, say
L & T officials. The important advantage of RMC is speedy work and a quick curing period. It
eliminates the need to store materials for concrete at project sites and hence less space is needed,
says R. Kumar, Managing Director, Navin Housing & Properties.

In spite of various advantages such as consistent supply of better quality, less wastage of raw
materials, drastic reduction of labour required at project site, expeditious supply facilities and less
storage space, the ready-mix concrete segment has not caught up in India.

Mr. Kumar says pointing out that under Indian conditions, labour is less expensive compared to
RMC. As a result, most of the medium and small scale builders opt for the conventional method.

Kamal Lunawathi, Director, Arihant Foundation & Housing Ltd., says his firm uses RMC in 90 per
cent of its constructions. The disadvantage of RMC is logistics. It is difficult to reach a small and
narrow road where the building is being raised. The trucks are so huge that they occupy a large
space on the road, causing traffic bottlenecks. In spite of these factors, the future points to RMC,
says Mr. Kamal.

The L & T is looking at various forms of RMC such as lightweight aggregates, heavyweight
aggregates, cementitious materials, self-compacting concrete, self-crushing concrete, fibre
reinforced concrete and polypropylene fibre.

Optimising usable space

D. Murali

HOUSES ranging from 344 to 1291 sqft, 470 full-colour photographs, and 60 detailed plans by
designers. This, in short, is Mini House by Alejandro Bahamon, published by Harper Design
International (www.harpercollins.com) .

"An essential tool for architects and homeowners looking for ingenious solutions for limited space,"
states the blurb, and the colourful contents page shows house by the sea as also one on Mount Fuji,
stone house and tree house, office house and tower house and more. The author's intro says how
an architect, relying on technology and the current necessities, is capable of producing a small
architectural object that is both greatly productive and efficient.

"The traditional house layout, inherited from the earliest civilisations, calls to mind front gardens,
foyers, courtyards, corridors, galleries — in short, preludes to the more private spaces." Well, that
could transport you to a dreamland because you get to see so few of such houses. In a minimal
house, `preludes' vanish; and "clear, forceful strategies are needed to separate or connect these
two worlds." Components of these tiny houses may have to serve more functions than one, to
optimise usable space. You may have to question the need to have walls too, because they take up
space and make the area seem smaller. "Found inside these houses are ingenious elements such as
folding tables, hanging beds, translucent panels, and highly-efficient storage areas."

Technology also comes to your help to achieve your goal. "There are thin metal sections that serve
as structural systems, plywood systems that provide the final finish for surfaces, and very dense,
very thin materials that provide thermal and acoustic insulation."

The author would advise you how you can build a vacation home in Barcelona with minimal
excavation and "producing the slightest possible visual impact on the surroundings"; give tips on
creating "a complete home for a young couple next to one spouse's parents' house in a small part of
the garden"; and assist a financial consultant in putting up a small building for working from "away
from hustle and bustle," but with "parking for two cars, a gym, a full bathroom on the ground floor,"
reserving the upper floor for the main living area, office and library, all within less than 1,300 sqft.

If you love nature, think of a `tree house' — "a small, slender wooden building separate from the
house." The author talks of preserving the scale of the existing house and creating a building with
its own personality, with the appearance of "a garden sculpture."

Politicians may have to think of a `rural house' to stay in touch with the electorate, and the book
has stuff on building in a sparse area, with "rural population scattered on farms."

Let's say you're a businessman considering a vacation home in the Swiss Alps at an altitude of
21,520 ft: A `Trigon' may be a good idea, with "a simple system of sloping beams" and triangular
doors in the outer wall, even if "the main part of the house seems to be missing, as if it were
blurred by snow."

To conclude, there is the sub-350 sqft house using cutting-edge technology.

Great read at a fraction of what you pay for one square foot for a pigeonhole in city's concrete
jungles.

International-style housing

Chennai will soon have a taste of condominium-style living. R. Balaji reports on the proposed
township in Siruseri, Old Mahabalipuram Road, involving an Indo-Singapore joint venture.

Aerial view of a miniature model of the proposed housing scheme in Siruseri near
Chennai. Pic. by Shaju John

THE IT corridor on Old Mahabalipuram Road will soon have a township spread over 100 acres with
about 6,000 apartments, thanks to the first foreign direct investment in real estate, courtesy
Singapore Realty Private Limited.

Involved in the Indo-Singapore joint venture are the Singapore-based Lee Kim Tah holdings, a
listed company in the business for six decades; India International Insurance Pte Ltd, a company
formed in Singapore by merging subsidiaries of four Indian general insurance companies; First
Capital Insurance Co Pte Ltd; and the Indian partner, BP Ventures.
Equally important, the promoters say, is the involvement of State Government departments and
agencies such as the Industry Department and the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil
Nadu (SIPCOT), which sold its land to Singapore Realty. SIPCOT has also committed to facilitating
the project by expediting the paperwork.

With 6,000 two and three-bedroom apartments (1,050 sqft to 1,400 sqft) built in condominium
style, the township will be self-contained, providing its inhabitants international quality facilities.

According to Singapore Realty officials, the township will give its residents a sample of the lifestyle
in international quality townships. Each apartment will be part of six-12-floor high rises, a cluster of
which will form a precinct. The precincts will be arranged in such a way that the residents will not be
more than a 10-minute walk away from the common facilities.

The township will come up adjacent to the Siruseri Information Technology Park on Old
Mahabalipuram Road. In the first phase, the promoters plan to construct about 400 apartments.

The project is aimed at filling a lacuna — the need for modern living space — in the IT corridor, the
stretch of Old Mahabalipuram Road starting at Madhya Kailash in Adyar up to Siruseri.

Major information technology companies have set up shop along this road and more are coming.
Official estimates indicate that at least 35,000 more professionals are likely to be employed in this
area over the next few years.

So how do you go about providing the essentials for a township — water, power, drainage and
approach roads — in a semi-rural setting?

The job is more than half done, according to V. Subramanian, Director, Singapore Realty.

The township is located within SIPCOT's information technology industrial estate. So electrical lines,
sewerage lines and approach roads are available up to the project site. The Old Mahabalipuram
Road is to be upgraded to international standards, a project that the State Government has
announced.

SIPCOT has also assured the promoters that it will ensure that 3 million litres of water are available
daily to the township. It has secured guarantees from the State Government for water, power
supply, sewage disposal and approach roads. SIPCOT has agreed to facilitate these clearances in
advance, and in-principle clearances have been obtained. The final details of the masterplan are
being put in place for Department of Town and Country Planning's seal of approval, Mr.
Subramanian said.

The initial masterplan for the 103-acre plot has been presented to all the government agencies such
as the Municipal Administration, Town and Country Planning and the Development Commissioner.
"They have reacted positively and have advised the promoters to go through with the finer details
to meet local regulations."

In the last six months, the legal formalities of purchasing land from SIPCOT have been finalised.

The land has been sold on an `outright basis' to the developer, who will transfer the property to the
apartment buyers. SIPCOT has been looking at creating a common maintenance agency. However,
till the conclusion of the project the developer will handle the infrastructure maintenance.

The developers have planned to keep the constructed area to about 35 per cent of the total space.
The rest would be for common facilities like roads and open spaces with lots of greenery. They have
been discussing with the Forest Department to plant trees that will thrive in the area. The
department will sell them semi-grown trees, and Singapore Realty will also set up a nursery to
ensure availability of ornamentals and greenery. The arterial road across the township will be a
tree-lined spine from which the other roads will branch off.

In the first phase, the developers have fixed a price of about Rs. 1,000 -1,100 a sqft. A centre for
shops and restaurants and space for schools and recreation are also planned.

Once the final clearances are obtained, the company plans to accept bookings from August for the
first 400 apartments. With all utilities assured, the objective is to make available a ``liveable
environment'' and apartments that will be ``ready-to-occupy,'' Mr. Subramanian said.

Lee Kim Tah Holdings is part of Lee Kim Tah Enterprises, which leads a consortium holding nearly
98 per cent of the $5.75 million equity, with the Indian partner holding the rest.

Choose the right material

M. Murali

ANY space big or small could be made lively and personalised by the forms, finishes and materials
used. Right from the foundation level to the final painting in a construction, there has always been
confusion as to what materials one has to choose. Not going too much into the engineering aspects,
let us look at some material options for better finishes and aesthetics, which are affordable as well.

The material options for the wall are numerous — conventional brickwork and plaster finishing, or
wire cut bricks for exposed brickwork. Exposed brickwork adds some relief and texture to the walls
(both external and internal). We could use it even for lintels and arches.

Some small structural works like the vault roof can also be cast with bricks. Pre-cast concrete
blocks, which help in faster construction, have a good finish, and hence no plastering work is
required. If planned properly, electrical wires can be concealed within the pre-cast blocks.
Stonewalls would be costly, but using stone in a restrained manner, say, only for lintels and sill
tops, enrich the living environment. Selection of the right stone material depends on the location;
mostly the locally available material works out to be more economical like the `sholingar' stone for
the construction work in and around Chennai.

Natural stones, if used in the pergolas or other decorative elements, are sure to attract attention.

For flooring, there is a wide range of materials available. Selection of material is mostly determined
by the cost factor, but in some cases as in kitchen, which needs stain-resistant materials, usage
also plays a role. Natural stones are generally preferred, and synthetic tiles are catching up. Natural
stones such as the Kotah and Jaisalmer yellow marble, used in combination, create a good flooring
pattern. A dark marble material to highlight a space or demarcate a space can also be tried.

In utilitarian areas like the service balcony, a combination of polished stone and a rough stonework
would provide a good flooring pattern. More importantly, it would give a non-slip flooring surface.

Synthetic tiles like the vitrified tiles and ceramic tiles, come in various sizes and shapes; some even
simulate a natural stone effect. They are also available in non-slip finishes for toilet floors. Also,
they can be laid in place faster and easily maintained.

Woodwork

For the woodwork for doors and windows, options like Padauk wood works out to only two third of
the cost of teakwood. Padauk can be varnished and has a good rich colour. Shutters for doors can
be made with plywood and finished with veneer and varnished to simulate a solid wood effect.
Grillwork too can be made simple without ornamental patterns, which would reduce cost and
increase aesthetics and strength.

For staircase and balcony handrails, square brite-bar could be used instead of the conventional
circular rods. Malleable steel can be used for balustrades and lower rails; the top handrail alone can
be made of wood for aesthetics and ergonomics.

Material selection has to be done with an overall perception of the whole building — whether one
wants a rustic setting or a posh and contemporary ambience. Blending them together in the right
proportion and quantity is a tough balancing act; one has to keep in mind the practicality and the
maintenance factor as well.

GREEN VISTAS

Green and graceful

K. Raghuraman

With new concepts and added usages for garden space gaining popularity, designing a garden
architecturally assumes importance.
SOME real estate analysts are of the opinion that we are now witnessing the early signs of a return
to the bungalow option. Home loans are at an all time low, incomes are doing well and investment
in property is proving to be a good option from the point of view of tax savings also.

We see a number of high-income families who invested in plush city apartments giving concrete
shape to their dreams of owning a weekend getaway. The beach houses and farm houses that dot
the suburbs of Chennai are a testimony to this trend. Also, those in the upper middle class group,
especially the younger generation, investing in homes are not so taken in by the `short-distance-
commuting-factor'. One good reason why they are risking bad roads and morning/evening traffic
snarls is the fascination of `owning' a garden.

In the next few weeks, we will be looking at landscaping of individual houses - the larger ones
spread over several grounds or acres and the more modest ones that fall into the 2-6 grounds
category. Some points that we will discuss will be common to both, while others will take on a
modified avatar to suit the site requirements. Given this scenario, we will be moving back and forth
between these two categories and in some cases will study the facets by analysing landscape
proposals.

If you remember the bungalows that used to be a feature of some of the more famous roads of the
city - G.N. Chetty Road, TTK Road, Gandhi Nagar - you would always find the house sitting squat on
the middle of the plot and the open spaces being turned into garden plots or parking spaces. It is
not that these gardens were in any way inferior to what is being designed now - they were stately in
their own way. But with new concepts and added usages for garden space gaining in popularity,
designing a garden architecturally assumes importance.

If you are buying up a modest independent house and do not have budgetary provisions to splurge
on a garden, there is little you can do except to spruce up the green. But that little patch of green,
a hedge or two of flowering plants, a compound wall that is not 8 ft high but gives you over 10ft of
privacy thanks to the creepers mounting the wire mesh - these and many more small and dainty
touches will make the house much different from what it was when the broker brought you over for
a dekho.

And if you are designing your house - which is more than likely - then you have options and more
options. As in the case of an apartment complex, it is necessary to bring in the services of the
landscape architect at the site planning stage itself. In the case of an independent house, it is not
an option but a necessity, as the garden can play and must play a very crucial role in house design.
And should you have any doubts, remember, any and every landscape architect is an architect first
and is landscape architect by choice and interest.
When designing a garden in an independent house, the options as I mentioned before are unlimited.
One could go in for the traditional option - a large garden in the front, fringe planting in the sides
and a slightly smaller utility-cum-kitchen garden in the rear. Or of course one could wrap the entire
house around a central courtyard, maybe even follow the ethnic central mittham pattern. Then one
could design the house with several open spaces thrown in between. In this option the landscape
will merge into the living zones, in other words gardens will be extended living areas. This way,
there will be private gardens, party lawns, children's play area... all brought in without the passer-
by being tempted to stand on tip toe and spy on what's going on.

In some houses, living and private zones, the latter basically made up of family bedrooms, are
connected by green corridors, which also effectively cordon off the zone from visitors. And of course
we have the water bodies, the pebble beds and in the larger houses swimming pools, streams,
rolling meadows as far as the eye can see - which in some cases, believe me, will be a mere 6-10
metres, as there will be a graceful grassy mound coming into the line of vision.

Even as we discover the many facets of landscaping residences, we will with the use of examples
show how these are combined architecturally to give you a designer product that is not just unique
but is a perfect reflection of you requirements, your lifestyle and your personality.

Shelter by the sea

The collective architecture of the plush beach houses on the ECR speaks of a highly-refined taste and
class. Prince Frederick takes a trip down the beach to see houses that blend with the sea and the
sand
AS you drive through the many roads that lead you off East Coast Road to the Bay of Bengal, you
will notice many a house thumbing its nose at the constructivist, utilitarian, and an almost anti-
aesthetic approach that defines urban architecture. Features that repeat themselves with great
frequency are meticulously tended gardens, galleries that provide a panoramic view of the sea,
balconies that have been corbelled out and balconettes that make the windows stand out. And, all
the houses are capped by saddleback roofs with beautifully undulating red tiles, which, interestingly,
is the most easily recognisable feature that runs through the ECR. This common aesthetics is in
keeping with one of the Coastal Regulation Zone norms that says: "The design and construction of
the buildings shall be consistent with the surrounding landscape and the local architectural style."
But whatever uniformity that you find is far from being monotonous. The collective architecture of
the plush beach houses on the ECR speaks of a highly-refined taste and class that does not pale on
you, no matter how many times you clap eyes on them.

"Beach houses should blend with the sea and the sand," says Iranian architect Shahriar Dehghan,
who has made Chennai his home and the ECR his stomping ground. His creative energies have
given shape and style to beach houses that actively respond to their surroundings. "Beach houses
should look like they have risen naturally out of the landscape. The building should not deform the
natural beauty of the seafront. Be it 1,200 sqft or 10,000 sqft, a garden and a swimming pool are a
must in a beach house. Construction of beach houses entails a study of geographical aspects such
as climate and wind direction."

One of the CRZ norms has it that beach houses cannot have more than one floor. Does this
restriction stunt creativity? "On the contrary, this norm contributes heavily to the beauty of a
beachside neighbourhood. World over, only cities and towns that are free of highrises score high on
beauty. Within the city you are constrained to go vertical because of factors such as land prices and
non-availability of vacant plots. Along the ECR, you can rise above this restriction. Land prices are
relatively low, and those who go for beach houses are invariably people with enough means to
purchase quite a chunk of land. Considering all this, where is the need to abandon aesthetics for
functionality?"

And aesthetics sells on ECR, even if it comes with a hefty price tag.

"NRIs, expatriates, highly-paid software engineers who work on the parallel Old Mahabalipuram
Road and other high income groups are increasingly settling down on ECR. They have the
wherewithal to go for forms and structure that are based on Mediterranean or any other European
architecture," says Emmanuel Fernandez of Espana Builders and Developers, who are active on this
road.
"Rental business is on an upswing. There are many beach houses that bring in a rent of Rs. 80,000
to one lakh. The demand for rental houses outstrips the supply by a long chalk."

"With the NRIs showing an interest in ECR, land prices have spiralled. In the last few years,
Neelangarai has registered an almost two-fold increase. Not uncommonly, landowners name their
price and get it," says M.M. Ahmed of Mariam and Co.

Norms violation

As more and more people are bowled over by the charm of living on the ECR, violations are on the
rise. It is said that there are quite a number of buildings that fly in the face of the CRZ stipulation
that "construction/reconstruction of dwelling units between 200 and 500 metres of the High Tide
Level (HTL) is permitted as long as it is within the ambit of traditional rights and customary uses
such as existing fishing villages."

"Thanks to such violations, CMDA notices fly thick and fast," says Mr. Fernandez.

"As most of those who want to live very close to the sea are generally the rich, it is not much of a
problem to them if their piece of property is not approved. They tell themselves `anyway we are not
going to apply for building loans,'" says Rozario of Nathan Builders. In point of fact, land within 500
metres of HTL fetches its owner a higher price.

The growth along ECR has not been uniform, but conspicuously haphazard. Says Mr. Dehghan,
"Land prices in Neelangarai are higher than they are in Pallavakkam which comes before
Neelangarai. But after Neelangarai, land value dips greatly. But when you reach Akkarai, it goes up.
The reasons are not far to seek. Neelangarai is a well-planned locality with an excellent layout. The
same cannot be said of the other areas. They are characterised by the same shoddy planning that
has wrecked Valmiki Nagar."

Drainage system

He comes down on the poor drainage system along the ECR. "You do not develop an area by laying
roads and then dig them up to lay pipes. It is like putting the cart before the horse. Thorough
planning should precede development."

In many localities along the ECR, water is a sore point. Only bore-level water seems suitable for
drinking purposes. And one cannot miss the lack of communion among neighbours. Many feel that
they cannot count on their next-door residents for help during an emergency. Probably for this
reason, many go for a security cover offered by not less than three dogs. Most of the roads that
lead off the ECR culminate in fishermen's villages. Those living in plush beach houses see in these
fisherfolk a ready and willing help during an emergency.

Well, if you count the advantages and the disadvantages of living near the beach, you will in all
likelihood find six of one and half a dozen of another. But there is one advantage that tips the scales
- peace and quiet. It cannot be gainsaid that beach houses along the ECR provide these in an
abundant measure. Longtime residents of Neelangarai, Rukmini Claes and her husband Rene Claes
vouch for it.

Doorway to design

R. Vivekanandan

The main door not only provides protection, it reflects the socio-cultural background of the user.
Here are some finer aspects that go into designing the main door.

WHEN talking doors, a flood of questions and creative ideas hits us. So let's continue with our
discussion on the topic - this time, going beyond the basics to the nitty-gritty of designing doors.

First things first. What's the ideal door design for a given space? Is it a typical design that can be
followed for all the rooms? Or does it differ depending on the purpose of each room? Should door
design be the continuation of other architectural elements? Or should it adopt the basis of interior
design elements?

Confusing? Yes... but a search for the answers will help us understand the essence of `door design.'

When we think doors, we have to analyse their purposes - with appropriate materials, colours and
accessories within the available budget. What is the purpose of the door? It varies from space to
space. It serves a different purpose at the main entry and it serves a different function for the
storeroom. Let's focus on the `main door' in today's column.

The main door serves as an access point for the entire house. Besides protection, it gives dignity
and privacy as well. The main door also keeps the `conditioned air' inside.

Access point: The main door plays a vital role in giving a certain identity to the entry point of a
house. So, design here should have prominence in terms of size, style and colour. Location of the
door too plays a significant role in lending character to it.

Protection: The prime purpose of the main door is to give physical and psychological protection. It
should be thick and sturdy and preferably a panelled one with good latching and locking system. For
additional protection and as well as to keep the main door open for better ventilation, a grille gate
can be installed in front of the main door. The grille gate has to carefully designed so that it does
not become a major focus visually. A small hatch door could be provided at eye level of the door
instead of a `view glass.' This would enable us to communicate with people/strangers without
opening the door.
Having a window by the side of the main door is also very helpful to deal with people. To create a
sense of protection, the main door should be in teak. A security alarm system is also advisable.
Those with big budgets can also fix an outdoor camera and an indoor videophone system connected
to it.

Dignity: The main door reflects the status and dignity of the house and the user. It also offers a
glimpse of what's in store inside the house, including the socio-cultural background of the user. The
style of the door could represent the taste of the inmate. So, don't go for `show off' doors. And yes,
the design of the door must have appropriate scale and proportion to match the building.

Privacy: Privacy being pivotal in the design of the main door, it obviously cannot be a glazed one,
however fancy your imagination might run. And what about the `privacy' after opening the door? In
most case, the entire house including the kitchen, bedrooms and even toilets will be visible once the
main door is opened. To avoid this, the main door should open into a lobby space. This would offer
enough privacy for the inhabitants of the house.

Material: Wood is the ideal choice for the main door and considering the life and the finish of the
materials; teak is perfect for both the frame and the shutter. Wider teak panelled doors may be
expensive but will certainly look aesthetic and rich. Unless the size and style of the house demands
so, do not go for huge decorative doors. And certainly, not as a symbol of status, for they are
inconvenient to open and difficult to maintain. If the architecture and interior design of the house
demands a creative alternate, it should not be ignored because of preconceived ideas about the
main door.

Finish: Normally, varnish is done with melamine coating on the top of the teak wood finish.
Expensive polyurethane coating is ideal for long life. Enamel auto-spray with polymer coat is ideal
for the desired colours.

Now, keep the doors open till we catch up in a fortnight!

Aesthetic and functional

By Pradeep Chopra
A woman who was having her house built was once asked what her broad specifications were. She
replied, "I don't care how the rest of the house looks, but the kitchen must be large and well-
ventilated with plenty of shelf space". Of course, the lady didn't really mean that the rest of the
house could be built haphazardly. The point she was trying to make was that, the kitchen is really
the hub of the house. Unfortunately though, only a few architects and owners plan for comfortable
and functional kitchens. But take heart — the era of neat, smart and organised kitchen has finally
arrived in India!

Modular kitchen

* Take advantage of computer-aided design facilities offered by many kitchen retailers. Using the
measurements of your room, they can produce a 3D image to show you how it would look if fitted
with their units.

* Modular kitchen is basically an art to provide you more space in a convenient way. For example,
to use the corner of the kitchen (which gets generally wasted) there are `carousel units' that
revolve around and give you maximum use of the corner. Wall racks not only take less space but
are also handy in nature. The cost of such modular kitchens are slightly higher then the
conventional kitchen layout.

* Don't position a cooking surface under a window, as you may burn your clothes when you lean
over to open the window. Also, this lowers the visibility of the burner flame.

* If your layout permits, give yourself generous worktop space on either side of the gas burner or
cooling range if your have one. This allows plenty of room for resting hot dishes safely.

* A U-shaped arrangement of units maximises cupboard and worktop space. However, consider
your needs when planning your layout — you might prefer to do without one wall of units in order to
have a serving window, for example.

* All the necessary kitchen equipment can be arranged into a `work triangle', which is made by the
food storage/refrigerator area, the cooking area and the sink/cleaning-up area.
* Place all kitchen furniture and fixtures against the walls so that you have plenty of room to move
around.

* The key to a tidy kitchen is efficient storage. Make the most of cupboard space by fixing racks and
shelves inside your units — most kitchen suppliers offer a range of clever interior fittings to help you
get organised.

* Consider the heights of various appliances and kitchen units and try to think three-dimensionally
when planning.

* If you prefer to have the refrigerator inside the kitchen, remember to keep it as far as possible
away from the cooking area. Also, put your microwave away from the main cooking area if you
cannot put in your dining area.

Kitchen sink

* Use stainless sink instead of cement mosaic or stone.

* Place the sink and cooking area diagonally opposite each other in a confined space to ensure
enough space for two people to work simultaneously.

* Positioning the sink beneath a window would cheer up anyone doing a monotonous washing
routine.

Also consider

* Many house-plants thrive in steamy and humid atmosphere of the kitchen, so use their lush
foliage to enliven a window sill.

* Kitchen window dressings will probably need washing more frequently than those elsewhere, so
make sure blinds or curtains are easy to remove and replace.

* Use gas stoves with self-lighting burners and childproof knobs.

* Install smoke detectors and fire extinguishers in the kitchen for electrical and oil fires.

* Install power points away from water and close to where electrical equipment will be used. Avoid
dangling electrical loads.

* Ensure that overhead cupboards are low enough to be accessed without the need of a step-
ladder.

* Eliminate sharp edges and corners on all kitchen surfaces.

Select proper flooring

* Avoid using stones like marbles for kitchen floors as they are slippery and likely to get stained
easily. Instead, use anti-skid flooring material or vitrified tiles that don't get stained easily.

* The kitchen platform should be preferably covered of hard stone like dark-coloured granite.
* The kitchen walls should either be tiled or stone clad with granite or marble tiles, up to the ceiling
preferably, so that it's easier to clean. They are likely to be stained due to fumes from oils used in
the kitchen.

Kitchen makeovers

M. MURALI

Having a keen eye for detail and visualising the usage pattern can make any kitchen very
comfortable to use.

Providing ample space for kitchen appliances assumes importance while planning an
uncluttered cooking space. Courtesy: Image Home Design

A large part of a housewife's time is spent in the kitchen. So shouldn't the kitchen design be ideal,
making it comfortable for the lady of the house?

Having a keen eye for detail and visualising the usage pattern can make any kitchen, be it small or
large, very comfortable to use. For example, planning a place for the mixie or sandwich toaster
close to an electrical socket makes a very big difference as you don't have to carry them around to
where the socket is. As these small appliances do not take up too much space, they can be placed
on a small raised counter.

Usually, there is no special place assigned for a heavy appliance like a wet grinder. Providing
lowered counter slabs and special power points may help a lot. With the increasing number of
kitchen appliances being used these days such as dishwashers, water purifiers and microwave
ovens, providing ample space for them assumes importance while planning the kitchen. Small
details like providing space to keep the cookery books definitely add life to the kitchen space.

Usually, the person cooking stands in front of the stove staring at a blank, dull wall. Would it not be
much better to rather see some open space as you cook? A large opening in front of the cooking
range with a high sill would be nice. Having just as many openings as possible, would create a
brighter kitchen with better ventilation, allowing the cooking odours to escape easily.
Some of us may like to have breakfast right in the kitchen, so, providing a small opening and a
counter arrangement could give the kitchen space a lot more meaning. This counter could also
serve as a pantry at other times when you have guests over for lunch or dinner, and helps in
reducing the clutter and congestion on the dining table. Food can be served and removed in the
order perceived.

Additional area like a small utility or a service balcony, do make a big difference. You could put your
washing machine there or gather vessels for washing. There could also be a small foldable ironing
board for some quick ironing work in an emergency. This makes the space multi utilitarian serving
yet compact.

Also not many kitchens have electric chimneys or hoods, so the wall along the cooking range gets
really tarred and soiled in the long run. We could look at having darker colour wall tiles and the
material or finish on the walls could ideally be easily washable and smooth. Even the counters and
flooring could be of a natural hard material to prevent stains from cooking. Materials like the black
granite, the kotah and cuddapah might be just right for a kitchen space.

Everything apart, the television soaps and serials seem to be part of our daily life. So we could give
provision for a television set or may be a small openable shutter that could be opened up to see the
television in the living area. This serves to open up the kitchen space, making it larger and more
flexible, enriching the life of one and all in the house.

GREEN VISTAS

Way with elegance

K. RAGHURAMAN

Walkways, pathways, pavements, driveways, parking bays... every outdoor element ought to speak
of its characteristic feature and fall into place aesthetically too.

MOVING on to some more aspects of apartment landscaping, this week we will look briefly at
walkways and pathways, pavements, driveways and parking bays. Walkways and pathways connect
two spaces or activity zones. Pathways criss-crossing the lawn are generally avoided and it is best
that they encircle the lawn. In the case of apartments, pathways circling the lawn will double up as
circulation spaces.

All material suited for exteriors can be used for pathways. This includes rough granite, kota and
cement-based patterned tiles. The other options are bricks, which in Chennai's conditions are
difficult to maintain, as they tend to gather moss. But if one has the wherewithal to maintain them,
then it is definitely a good choice as bricks tend to help cool the feet. Another recommended base
for bare-foot walking are natural pebbles in a sand bed. This is said to have therapeutic effect on
the feet as they tingle the nerve heads. But the moot point is that these pebble pathways need to
be watered almost everyday for one to be able to step onto them bare foot.

Pavements: Pavements, as opposed to pathways, are generally gathering spaces. They are often
located near the swimming pool or the bar-be-cue, in front of the fountain and abutting the house.
Pavements are generally rough and hard spaces where one can walk or bring in furniture to sit
around. In some cases permanent seating can also be provided.

These pavements can be linear, rectangular and circular or take free form depending on the
requirement. In most cases, regular forms are recommended to avoid cutting of natural material,
which can be cumbersome. Free form pavements generally are made up of loose stones that are set
in sand to assume any required shape. The in-between crevices are generally filled in with sand or
grass. These pavements can either be open to sky or covered. All exterior material that suits
pathways can be used here too and it is best to avoid synthetic tiles as these are not weather-proof.

Driveways: Driveways are the most functional aspect of any building, more so in the case of
apartments where the vehicles entering the premises are bound to be much higher than
independent houses. The design must take into consideration turning radius which must be able to
accommodate even mini-vans too. While the larger apartments tend to have circular driveways with
an exclusive in-and-out-gate, one side driveway and parking should provide for a wider road width.

It is obvious that apartments will cater for only cars and vans, but when working out the road, a
high load-bearing factor must be considered because the odd lorry that comes in for house shifting
can cause the drive way to sink and this can be dangerous.

Traditionally, macadam was the chosen material for driveways, but in today's changing scene,
concrete roads and more recently cement-based tile driveways are gaining popularity. In the latter
case, small cement-based units are assembled in the site. This option allows water to percolate and
rainwater-harvesting requirements are automatically taken care of. Also, if there are cables running
beneath the proposed driveway, it is better to go in for such tiles as it is possible to remove small
patches for underground repair work and replace the same with little possibility of breakage.
For those wanting ethnic look, rough granite driveways are an excellent option. But one will have to
factor in high maintenance costs as dust tends to gather in the natural crevices of the stone and any
grass that may grow between the stones will have to be tended to.

Ramp: Ramps are a natural extension of driveway planning. But in most apartments, one would
notice that these are results of hasty afterthought, leading to a particularly steep ramp that tends to
test one's driving skills and the vehicle's brakes every time one moves between the road and the
apartment.

International norms recommend an eight-foot ramp for every one feet rise into the campus. In
Indian conditions, this can at best be watered down to 6 feet ramp for every one feet rise. Anything
less than that has to be countered with a strict no by the residents.

This leads us on to another important aspect - gates. Gates must always open into the campus. It is
most common to find to apartment gates opening onto the road and the entire traffic coming to
standstill as the watchman tries to get one of the resident cars move in or out of the gates.

Parking: Parking is an essential feature of any apartment complex. The higher end or larger ones
will also provide for visitor's parking within the campus. Kerb-side or road-side parking is just not
done thing in today's situation where road space is proving to be inadequate, vis-à-vis traffic
volumes.

The standard parking bay dimensions are 8 ft x 16 ft. Any compromise on this must be avoided, as
it will mean less manoeuvrability and turning radius. Parking generally is covered and is either in
the basement or on the stilt floor. However should parking be open, it can be effectively combined
with landscaping and trees can be strategically planted to provide shade.

AROUND THE COUNTRY

Cool climes for investors

 A shopping-cum-office complex at Gurgaon.

Edited excerpts from reports on the property market in other cities by global real estate
consultants, Cushman & Wakefield:

NEW DELHI - Commercial

A question often asked today is about the future of mall developments across NCR (national capital
region), which is expected to exceed over 4 million sq.ft. by mid-2006. The key questions are:

Is the market expected to remain favourable for investors offering healthy liquidity and exit with
reasonable returns?

From a user view-point, does there remain adequate number of tenants to occupy such
developments and continue to offer quality shopping experience?

It is a fact that exit options for investors taking lead position in malls across Gurgaon during 2001-
early 2003 are already drying up. There has been little appreciation in the capital values and the
ever looming threat of these relatively smaller formats being marginalised by large (1 million sq.ft.
plus) developments remains very strong and ready liquidity remains a challenge. A case in point
being Noida, where projects of the scale of Unitech's retail project have already exerted pressure on
existing/planned smaller developments. These pressures can only escalate, once the larger formats
go on-stream. The same threat remains very visible across all locations within NCR. Yields are
bound to come under upward pressure within the next 18-24 months as markets mature and malls
reposition themselves in their respective locations, giving rise to a new pecking order.

Residential

AFTER witnessing cyclical upheavals, the real estate market in the last quarter seems to have
stabilised and the present market dynamics are backed by fundamentals that reflect a more mature
market. The increased demand momentum created by the end user sector is expected to continue.
While both Gurgaon and Noida would continue to offer quality residential developments, Gurgaon is
expected to have an edge over Noida due to the presence of large developers such as DLF, Unitech
etc and because of an increasing number of corporates establishing their office headquarters here.

While residential demand continues to be predominantly from the end users, there has been a
significant interest from investors for South Delhi's top end properties. The unprecedented rise in
capital values for a few South Delhi colonies such as Vasant Vihar, Gold Links, Westend etc coupled
with a fairly decent rental yield for new properties have lured a lot of small investors to buy
properties in these areas.

BANGALORE

THE commercial real estate demand in Bangalore continues to be driven by the tech sector (IT,
Telecom, ITES and R&D). Vacancy levels that had dropped in 2003, due to upsurge in market
activity are appearing stable now and the rental and capital values across micro markets may
strengthen over the coming months.

HYDERABAD

REAL estate industry in Hyderabad continues to be driven by the IT & ITES sector. However, the
biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry are also foreseen to generate considerable demand in
the coming future. Real estate prices and values are likely to experience steady trends in most
micro-locations.

BRICK & MORTAR

Dress up your COMPOUND

M. MURALI

A mural work or a puncturing with geometric patterns will make the compound wall look interesting.
THEY ARE built last and they get the least of attention too. Yes, we are speaking of compound walls.
More often than not, the design of these structures that separate the house from the roads gets
little attention. In many cases, they develop cracks, thanks to soil settlement, the impact of heavy
vehicles movement on the road, excessive tree root movement and so on.

Generally, the trend is to go for shallow `brick-footing', or in some cases, a shallow pile foundation
with the structure tied up with a plinth beam. Also, most places in Chennai have clayey soil. The soil
expands and shrinks in different seasons, leading to development of cracks.

A good under-reamed pile, 6'0" to 8' 0" deep at 5'0" intervals with a 9"-deep tie beam, could be a
better long-term solution. Some times, the trees growing along the compound wall, and the
branches or palm leaves falling can break the top of the wall or result in cracks. A good 2"-thick
RCC coping, which will cost Rs. 20 per sqft, would prevent the top from cracking.

As for rain water, bill stickers, a rough cast plastering at Rs. 15 per sqft could be done instead of
normal plastering (Rs. 11 per sqft). Rough stone facing is also an ideal solution; the cost depends
on the stone selected.

The Corporation has introduced an `Adoption scheme', which could help to keep nuisance-making
passersby at bay. Under the scheme, house owners can adopt the outside paved areas for a width
of 5' 0" to 7' 0" depending on the road width, and create a green patch. For a barren compound
with an uninteresting facade to the house, a splash of natural greenary can make a world of
difference. RCC planter boxes can be built on top of the compound wall or on the mid-face where
small plants can be grown. Creepers and climbers can be grown inside or near the compound.

Along with the compound wall, the gate creates an impression in the visitors' minds. The gate could
be of many types such as the double swing gate and the swing gate. But in many urban houses,
there is need to accommodate two or three cars as well as two-wheelers. Hence, a foldable type
with four leaves or a sliding gate with a small wicket gate could help. This saves a lot of space in
small complexes. The smaller wicket gate could be used by pedestrians to walk into the house along
the walkway.

So much for the efforts put in to satisfy the visitors. But when the people of the house relax in the
evening in the living area or the exterior court, they often find compound wall an imposing feature.

A blank compound wall with no delineation is boring. A mural work or a puncturing with geometric
patterns will make the wall look interesting and add to a relaxed atmosphere. Bright exterior colours
could also be used.

Also, there are many designer creations for the paving inside the compound wall along the
driveways and walkways. Options are available in the form of rough granite, Eurocon tiles, concrete
interlocking blocks and bricks. Concrete interlocking RC blocks, which come in grey and cost about
Rs. 20 to 25 are sturdy and can be easily laid. They are suitable for driveways and can be removed
easily for laying of additional electrical conduits or sewer lines.

Decorative and durable exterior tiles made by Eurocon or Dora may cost Rs. 40 to 50, but are
elegant and have a non-slip surface. Brick-paving, using good wire cut bricks (Rs. 10 to 12 per
sqft), could be used to create an interesting flooring pattern. Also, paving with natural materials
such as Shahabad (Rs. 25 per sqft) and Kotah (Rs. 30 per sqft) could provide some interesting
patterns with a touch of coloured Chettinad tiles here and there. A proper paving material could act
as a link between the compound wall, gate, landscaping and the building.

Are canines cut out for flats?

D. MURALI

Pets are universal and so are the problems related to them. When it comes to community living
rules, we have opinions raining cats and dogs from apartment dwellers. But how many are favorably
disposed to the barks and mews?

WE ALL have our pet likes and dislikes, but this piece is on likes and dislikes of pets. City-dwellers
rarely get the opportunity to look out of the window and hail, "It's raining cats and dogs!" though in
their physical form, these pet animals are not uniformly welcome. Thus, the world in apartment
blocks is divided - as with trees - on whether pets have a place in flats or not. `Pets' is a tricky topic
to touch upon, because some of the readers are sure to have forceful opinions about their puppies
and kittens.

Let us agree that pets have a role to play in the lives of humans, as both givers and takers of
affection, as loyal watch and ward, and as enforcers of some discipline in life. Instances are not rare
where pets have had a role in the survival of their masters. However, life in apartments is not
something that these domesticated animals are cut out for, no matter how much you train them. No
offence meant, let me clarify, in the use of `animals', because I have heard how some people get
annoyed when somebody refers to their pet as `dog' rather than address with their pet-names.

What militates against a dog's interest is that the flat, in most cases, is small enough to be called a
rich man's doghouse. Thus, it is as if the dog accommodates its owner and his family, rather than
the other way round.

Two, since not everybody is favourably disposed to doggy ways, it may take a little longer for your
pet to gain all round acceptance through good behaviour. Three, there are a few who are so phobic
to dogs that any amount of convincing - such as that it has been vaccinated, neutered, chained and
so on - won't help in controlling their hysteric outbursts; such people may refuse to share common
space such as staircase and parking lot when your canine is out there.

Pets are universal, and so are problems about pets. Less than a month back, The Star-Ledger
reported about a Bill in the New Jersey state assembly - to forbid landlords from banning tenants
with pets. "Landlords bemoan housing rules," read the headline, because if the law came into place,
every apartment in the state would be open to "cats, dogs, birds, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice and
ferrets." Another news report from the UK, dated June 14, is about how a Zimbabwean refugee is
desperate for a home where she can be reunited with her seven cats; her grievance: "All adverts for
flats specify no pets" because landlords think pets will "mess the place up".

Posted on June 12, on News Tribune, is a report on Minnesota lawmakers making it illegal to keep
many wild animals as pets. After serious maulings, and the shocking realisation that "a 16-year-old
kid could order a tiger over the Internet and have it delivered to their door", the U.S. state is
shutting its doors to wild cats, bears or monkeys as pets. Those who lobbied the new law wanted to
bar snakes, alligators, wolves and wolf hybrids also but "the opposition was too great". For some,
these are "ego pets," because their owners "are people who want to attract attention to themselves
as the toughest guy on their block."

While well-trained and nicely groomed pets are so lovable, what is important is that pet owners can
make more demands on the apartment's water resources because of the need to keep the pet
surroundings clean.

Also, since barks can travel up and around, spare a thought for the elderly in the apartment block
who are used to undisturbed afternoon snoozes, even as you work peacefully in office after having
locked up your doggy inside your flat without realising that the poor fellow is getting worked up with
a desperate salesman ringing the bell.
Building a knowledge base

D. Murali

The building industry, being the second largest employer, does merit a comprehensive database,
states the preface to "The Sourcebook of Indian Building and Construction Industry 2004", that has
stunning details of companies, products and services.

BUILDING and construction industry is the second largest employer in the country, next only to
agriculture. While it may not be feasible to create an address-book with all those engaged in
agriculture, the building industry does merit a comprehensive database, states the preface to "The
Sourcebook of Indian Building and Construction Industry 2004", published by LHM Publications
(dicomnet@vsnl.com). "Not just another directory," it states, though the bulk could be as daunting
as the Deepavali Malars of yesteryear. Apart from names and addresses of companies, the book
includes a neat profile of products and services.

Classification begins with acoustic and thermal insulation and ends with wooden floorings,
meandering through bathroom and fittings, carpets and collapsible gates, demolishers and drip
irrigation equipments, epoxy and explosion-proofing, fans and fencing, granites and gym
equipments, ladders and landscaping, marbles and mosquito screens, pest control and plumbing,
railings and real estate agents, sculpture and swimming pool, vasthu and Venetian blinds. Thus, if
you are looking for a company that does piling and foundation, there is an entry for a company that
has won `best piling award and timely completion certificate' from Anna University. Another offers
`free architectural consultancy'. Yet another supplies plastic septic tanks.

Adding value to what could otherwise be kept stacked as a compendium of business entries, are
articles that presume no prior building knowledge. You would learn, for instance, that admixture is
"a material, other than cement, water and aggregates that is used as an ingredient of concrete and
is added to the batch immediately before or during mixing". In places where water is at a premium,
plasticisers and superplasticisers help in reducing water/cement ratio. If because of global warming
and tectonic plate moving, our city were to reach sub-zero temperatures, remember that structural
steel may not help because it could become brittle; aluminium is the ideal metal then. It also has
very high strength to weight ratio.
Do you know that brick earth can be classified into three categories: loamy, mild or sandy clay;
marls, chalky or calcareous clay; and plastic, strong or pure clay? Quizzing again, when was the
first white cement factory set up, and what was its brand name? Answers: 1956 in Kottayam, and it
was Vembanad Cement. "India's annual output of fly ash is over 90 million tonnes," notes the book,
adding that our product is among the best in the world.

Remember that this is a good input for brick, cement and concrete. Not long ago Chennai
experienced some seismic shocks; so, a chapter on seismic area protection using fibrillated fibres
can make sense to builders.

I'm sure you wouldn't have thought of `graveyard tests'. These are conducted by Forest Research
Institute, Dehradun, by keeping timber buried underground for several years and then taken out to
study if the wood has survived termites and such.

Essential read is the discussion of fire safety in interiors and rainwater harvesting. A massive matrix
shows the different building stones of India, classifying them as igneous, sedimentary and so on,
plus indicating locations and uses.

On tiles, be prepared to know about Guna tiles that are hollow, Flemish ones that look like `S', and
the interlocking Allahabad tiles. `Ready reckoner' section has specifications of the Bureau of Indian
Standards, unit weights of building materials, conversion factors, and more. Useful reference
material.

The hidden enemy

Your house is under constant attack. And the enemy is that sly, smart pest determined to carry out
its destructive agenda. If you have to win this battle, take the experts' help, says Prince Frederick

Anti-termite solution being squirted into a floor junction.

TESTS are like that smart, sly and wicked cat Macavity — they can cause ruinous damage and still
keep themselves discreet. They quietly "eat into" your resources.

Carriers of deadly viruses, some of them pose a threat to your life as well. You may feel tempted to
mouth the adage "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and after a dramatic pause add
that it applies to this nuisance. But, much as we would like to believe that preventive measures
would keep pests at bay, keeping them off your door is not as easy as falling off a log. Pests being
truly what they are, they often take you on a wild goose chase.

They carry out their "destructive agenda" surreptitiously and they exhibit great resilience against
measures to get rid of them. Nothing short of a life-long commitment will ensure a pest-free house.

Head Honcho, Demolition Inc.

You can easily make a laundry list of household pests. But, the termite beats everything else by a
long mile, in terms of the intensity of damage caused to your house. So much so that very often the
terms `pest control' and `termite treatment' are used interchangeably.

Wood as food

Termites find a wood-based diet absolutely irresistible. "Primarily, termites feed on the cellulose
found in dry leaves, twigs and dead branches.

Dwindling green cover has forced them to enter our households and forage for food there," says
T.S. Krishnamoorthy of Transcend Pest Control. Termites can be classified under two categories —
wood-dwelling and soil-dwelling. Among the wood-inhabiting termites, the drywood termite targets
houses and furniture. But it is the soil-inhabiting or subterranean termites that can give you
sleepless nights. While drywood termites confine their attention to a particular piece of wood,
subterranean termites can build tunnels in the soil and "check out" all the wood in a house. While
faecal pellets announce the presence of drywood termites, the formation of mud shelter tubes on
walls indicates the presence of subterranean termites.

Termites find wood yummy!

Evil genius
Although Mr. Krishnamoorthy and his daughter Meera are in a war against termites, they think they
have to give it to them (termites). "These are extremely intelligent, social insects," Ms. Meera
concedes.

J.R. Sethuramalingam of PAWS Pest Aways agrees with her. "They have a social structure that is
absolutely fascinating. Just like the honey-bees they have workers to slog it out and the queen bees
to lord it over them," he laughs. There are also soldier termites that emit defensive secretions to
scare the ants away. It is also said that there are king termites that assist the queens in governing
the colonies.

Go for expertise

The only known cure for termite-infested houses is the creation of a chemical barrier. You cannot
fight a lone battle with the termites. You have to enlist the service of a pest-control operator (PCO).

"Termite control is not expensive. For termite-proofing, say, a built-in wardrobe costing about Rs. 1
lakh, the bill will be about Rs. 1,000. That is about 1 per cent of the making charge of the wardrobe
itself," says Mr. Krishnamoorthy.

One-time affair?

"Mostly, correct assessment and the right method of treatment makes termite-control a one time
affair," he says.

For a termite control programme to be effective, the right combination of chemicals should be
decided upon. In this context, employing the right PCO becomes a paramount necessity.

Both Mr. Sethuramalingam and Mr. Krishnamoorthy say that there is often considerable variation in
the prices quoted by PCOs for the same job.

"Check the PCO's credentials before you hire his services," is their advice.

Treating wood with anti-pest solution. — T.A. Hafeez

New thinking

PCOs believe that pre-constructional termite-control treatment (PTC) can be more effective and
cheaper than a termite control programme that follows construction. "Now builders are veering
around to the view that PTC could be more effective and work out cheaper. According to the Indian
Pest Control Association, PCOs have to provide a five-year guarantee for post-construction
treatment and a seven-to-ten year guarantee for pre-construction treatment," says Mr.
Sethuramalingam.

"Earlier, the guarantee period was longer. But then, those were days when PCOs were allowed to
use more powerful anti-termite chemicals like aldrin heptachlor. As many of these chemicals have
been banned on account of high toxicity levels, the guarantee period for both treatments has been
reduced."

So, is PTC better?

"Definitely yes. However, response to pre-construction termite-control is poor, especially in these

times of multi-storeyed buildings, for three reasons. One, the whole process requires about 15 visits
from the PCO while the building is under construction.

Because of the lack of awareness and the urgency on the part of the promoter to complete the
construction, the vital stages are overlooked. Promoters, with the exception of a few, pass on the
responsibility of termite control to the prospective owners. Three, the best market rate for termite-
proofing at foundation for conventional buildings is around Rs. 3 or Rs. 4 per sqft of plinth area.
Promoters of multi-storeyed buildings prevail upon the PCO to settle for the same rate overlooking
the verticality above and below the ground level. With the result, the proofing done is often
unsatisfactory and the termites occupy the building even before the tenants do," says Mr.
Krishnamoorthy.

"While leading builders like Ceebros, Chaitanya and Arihant adopt PTC down to the last letter, most
builders do not go the whole distance," rues Mr. Sethuramalingam. "As a result, residents lose faith
in PCOs. And more so, pest control treatment." And that is good news for the termites.

The battle strategy

LET us assume that your house has come under severe termite attack. These insects are present
almost everywhere.

You have no option but to adopt a comprehensive termite treatment programme. Let us see what
this means.

Along the external wall of your house, small trenches will have to be dug (thereby slightly exposing
the foundation wall), then 50-cm rod holes will have to be drilled along these trenches and anti-
termite solution should be squirted into them. The back fill earth should also be exposed to the
chemical.

Inside the house, 12-mm holes should be drilled at floor junctions, constructional joints and
masonry walls, and the solution should be poured into them.

BRICK & MORTAR

Experiment with colours

M. MURALI

Colour need not be just paint; it can be any material that has a natural colour or that which can be
coloured.
IF you study the new car models that are released everyday, you may not find a big difference in
them when compared to the previous models of the same company. The form may be almost
similar, but the refinement of the lines, the colours or the accessories used, produce a better model
that looks futuristic.

Be it cars or buildings, the refinement of the lines, forms and colours have resulted in some exciting
models.

From the pure white colour of the Taj Mahal to the strong red of the Red Fort, colour has been used
to create a particular emotion in the onlooker's mind. But in the modern scenario, colour need not
be just paint, it can be any material that has a natural colour or that can be coloured.

For painting the exterior of residential flats and residences, there are paints available in various
price brackets depending on the durability and finish. The cheapest options available could be
cement paints, which would work out to be Rs. 3 - 4 per sqft of wall surface. For options such as the
Sandtex Matt and exterior emulsions, it would cost around Rs. 6 - 7 per sqft and Rs. 10 - 11 per
sqft respectively. Cement paints will have a 3-year life, while the Matt finish will last 5 years and the
exterior emulsion about 6-7 years. Interesting and novel painting techniques like mixing paint with
fine sand can also be tried.

We could even look at some textural finishes like the textured concrete finish or a marble chips
embedded grit finish that could give a lot of variation in the exterior, costing about Rs. 25 per sqft.
In the later option, the chips themselves have their own colour and are available in various sizes.

Options are available in the form of textured paints, sand blasted finishes, and exposed concrete
finishes. Stone facing the walls with Dolphur Sandstone (red and pink) at Rs. 40 per sqft, Slate, the
Pathen Charala (Andhra Pradesh) stones at Rs. 30 per sqft produces a good finish. The Sholingar
rough granite (Rs. 80 per sqft) and the Thailapuram stone (Rs. 40 per sqft) are locally available
options.

The granite slabs can be flame finished as well for exterior cladding purposes. Maintenance of walls
becomes easy as the stones have a stain-resistant surface and are easy to clean as well.

Besides the type of colour, the colour theme is important. To create contemporary aesthetics, you
might need to use some rare colours and in some unseen combinations. Dark colours, contrasted by
light and bright colours could be used to highlight the various elements of the building.
Probably residences are the only buildings of which it could be said, "they are owned by an
individual" or "it is an individual's house.'' Hence the colours and finishes could be used to reflect
the person's character and style of living.

The colour scheme used in the inset image is a blend of bright and strong dark colours, creating an
interesting mass and highlighting the shading.

The elements of the building can also be designed employing a colour theme. For example, a
projecting balcony or a corner window can break the mass and give an interesting colour
combination.

Light and shade play a very vital role in the colour schemes. Using the right shading devices at the
right places becomes vital. Hence a `braise soliel', a shading device with slits could be employed
instead of the usual concrete solid sunshades. Light and shade may be used to highlight a bright
colour like yellow or orange. These shading devices not only protect the building from the sun and
rain but also give some depth and character to the facade.

If you are looking at something more artistic, materials like metal and deal wood could be used in
the exterior where the entrances are to be highlighted with special texture/colours. In areas where
there is heavy wear and tear, special finishes can be done. Even an artist could be employed
exclusively for creating an interesting wall finish, be it in paint or an amalgamation of various
materials like paint, metal, wood or stone. Mural walls can also be done.

So, do experiment with colours and new materials, and the architect or the artist in coordination
with the client, would often produce a good output.

GREEN VISTAS

Creating the main garden

K. RAGHURAMAN

While a lawn is a statement of one's personality, the exclusive bedroom garden would be a reflection
of the quintessential you!
IN the last edition, we looked at the landscaping possibilities of an individual property. We shall now
continue exploring the same property and study the few other patches of green that we had not
dealt with.

We looked at the smaller of the two gardens abutting the drawing rooms. Now let us concentrate on
the larger one. For site plan reference, you could pick up a copy of propertyplus dated May 29. This
patch of green is the formal garden of the house. In other words, it has been so designed to serve
as a recreational area for the residents and also double up as a party zone. The garden area is
about 350 sq.ft and will have two approaches — the main one from the living room and the other
from the smaller of the two gardens.

As the site plan indicates, this garden has been formed entirely above the basement. And as
mentioned during the discussion on terrace landscaping, more than adequate care must be taken
with regard to waterproofing. Drainage network below the lawn surface should have been properly
designed and laid.

Again there is no compromising on this aspect as any water stagnation can lead to wet patches in
the basement roof and walls.

Apart from water proofing, the concrete before laying the lawn, the exterior walls of the drawing
room abutting the garden also need to be waterproofed as a precaution. This can be done up to two
feet above the planned planting zone.

The entire lawn will slope marginally away from the house to facilitate drainage and to ensure that,
even in the heaviest downpours, there is no stagnation.

These levels should be worked out at the site planning stage itself and should be provided for in the
structural plan. A more marked slope may be attractive designwise but may not be practical if there
are old people in the house or for women using designer footwear.

Again, this garden patch follows a typical lawn plan with grass in the middle and hedge plants all
around. As we are looking at a party lawn this is an ideal option. There is also provision for a
barbecue counter at a corner. At the other corner is a fountain. This being the formal garden, the
fountain would essentially have ornamental and aesthetic value.

Apart from using underwater lighting, care will be taken with the nozzle spout diameter. This is
done to avoid high water jets as these will lead to pronounced water spray, which may not be
comfortable to those standing close to it.

Rough granite seating will be scattered across the lawn area. As this lawn area is a statement of the
owner's personality to society, the finishing material will be sophisticated though not garish.

The planting plan will include some high value specimen plants and if the services of a qualified
gardener are available for maintenance, then a bed of annuals will add that colourful finishing
touch. The lighting, similarly, will be extremely soft and preferably concealed. Of course, there will
be one high watt utility light, which will also be connected to the stand by a generator.

Your private garden

Now let us move on to the garden extending out of the bedroom, a perspective drawing of which
has been provided alongside. If the garden just discussed was a statement of your personality, this
is a reflection of the quintessential you — yes this is your private garden.
It has been so designed to be an extension of the living space of the bedroom. The idea is to
promote spatial linkage of inside and outside spaces. What separates the bedroom from this green
patch is a collapsible glass wall. If both you and your spouse are not too insistent on air-
conditioning and do not mind the company of an occasional mosquito, then it is best to leave the
glass wall open especially during a rainy evening.

The wall, which is also a walk through French window, opens into a spacious patio that extends
across the breadth of the room. The patio is topped by a pergola that has jasmine creepers criss-
crossing; to waft you to sleep in a heady aroma.

The entire 200 sqft of private garden space has been cordoned off with a high compound wall on
one side, and screen walls on the other two. There are small alcove doors leading in and out of
these screen walls.

Occupying pride of place in the private garden is a small gurgling fountain or should we say a
waterfall. While in the earlier instance the fountain was for ornamental purposes, here the value is
therapeutic.

The sound of flowing water is expected to soothe the nerves of even the most harried businessman.
While natural rocks are the obvious option for creating this waterfall, fibreglass rocks could also be
used. Their semblance to natural rocks is very close and they are a lot easier to handle and
maintain.

Retained in the plan is an existing neem tree that not only provides shade during the day but also,
according to the owner of the house, creates a `lived-in' feeling.

The branches of the tree have be used to hang a hammock, and a few deck chairs at its base make
it an ideal coffee-cum-newspaper spot.

The other patch of green happens towards the entrance zone. This is a narrow stretch above the car
entry zone. Not much of it, except for the palms bordering the lawn patch, will be visible from the
road.

In this case, a small concrete patch, which would have otherwise been simply left alone, had been
turned into a lawn that can be viewed from inside the house. Being very narrow it does not offer
much from the utility point of view.

In the next edition, we will move from a two-ground house to a two-acre property where the
possibilities are different, if not enormous.

Shady matters!

D. MURALI

If you see sunshades that accommodate heavy split AC units, remember not to throw safety to the
winds by seeking shelter under them.

SUNSHADES could be the least dramatic things to write about, but when there is a news report in
the city pages that a child died because of a sunshade collapse, we tend to sit up and look around
for potential dangers. And there are many, if one were to look at things with the unusual eyes of
suspicion that only accountants are famed for.
Before launching onto the exercise, we need to be clear about the meaning of sunshade. Dictionary
defines the word as something, such as an awning that is used as a protection from the sun's rays;
a canopy made of canvas to shelter people or things from rain or sun. Awning is a roof-like
structure, often made of canvas or plastic that serves as a shelter, as over a storefront, window,
door, or deck. We see sunshades as projections above windows and doors. In otherwise nice
buildings, sunshades are often the neglected and abused areas.

A common use of sunshade is to place a frightening pumpkin on top to ward off evil spirits. Nature-
lovers look upon sunshades as a patch of rare surface to immediately fill with pots, even if it meant
that whenever they watered these pots, water would drain off down below, trickling on heads of
passers-by, and making them curse under their breath. I'd rather suggest they count their blessings
because it is only water and not the pots that fell on their heads. For those habituated to throwing
trash through windows, sunshades become the suspended garbage heaps with anything from
cigarette butts to used latex.

Don't dismiss sunshades as trivial. The Revenue wing of Madurai Corporation generates funds from
the following sources: "Property Tax, Profession Tax, Advertisement Tax, Sunshade Tax,
Encroachment Fee and Rent." A report talks of how, in Germany, there is a municipality that levies
a shade tax. "A shop owner is supposed to pay EUR 35 because her awnings hung in Bavarian
airspace." Dawn.com has a Gujranwala-datelined story about a scam in the municipality: "an
embezzlement of Rs.116 million in heads of property tax and shade tax contracts." Shady, indeed.

"Sunshade is provided to protect rooms from slashing of rainwater inside," explains Mr.
C.H.Gopinatha Rao, my architect friend. "It is a cantilevered member." Means what, I ask. "A beam
which is built in and held down by weight or otherwise securely fixed at one end and hangs freely at
the other end. This corresponds to the old bracket of masonry or cast iron or timber. The normal
projection is two feet. More the projection, better is the protection, however the room will get less
light." So, there is a trade-off between shade and light. "Sunshade is also known as chhaja and can
be of stone. In modern days only reinforced cement concrete sunshade is widely used."

I ask Mr. Rao why in many places sunshades seem to age faster than the building. "A common
mistake committed by masons is to use only ¾" jelly or broken mosaic chips, which results in steel
bars coming down. Then, the cantilever collapses." Never overload the sunshade, is his advice. So,
instead of brickwork for facia of sunshade, use chicken-mesh; avoid mortar because it may fall
apart and cause injury. Starter fixings using vinylester chemicals are among the current trend in
sunshades, notes Mr. Rao.

Sunshades are supposed to be safe shades too. So, if you see sunshades that accommodate heavy
split AC units, or where somebody has constructed an extended room on what was meant to be a
simple sunshade, remember not to throw safety to the winds by seeking shelter under such shades.

Brainy buildings

How about an intelligent system to monitor and optimise services such as lights, heating, security,
alarms, ventilation and air-conditioning in a building? K. Ramachandran and Shanthi Kannan take a
look at what such a system has on off er
 Cognizant Technology Solutions' office at Thoraipakkam, where an intelligent building
management system is in place — Pic. by Shaju John

THERE are buildings. And there are smart, intelligent buildings. An `intelligent building' employs
many tightly integrated mechanical and electrical systems that do everything from controlling the
building's environment, lighting, and security to maintaining high-speed data networks and
emergency backup power generators.

These systems incorporated in a building save energy while increasing reliability, security and
efficiency. They can detect and repair a malfunctioning part of the building or its services, avoid
serious consequences including a fire.

Central to an `intelligent building' is a Building Management System which can control, monitor and
optimise services such as lights, heating, security, alarms, access control, ventilation, air-
conditioning, and in modern buildings that extensively use computer systems, secure the networks
and databanks.

The system can be used even to monitor attendance and staff movement and availability. The best
way to explain the concept would be to take a peep into the `intelligent building management
system' in place at the Techno-campus of Cognizant Technology Solutions, Thoraipakkam, on Old
Mamallapuram Road. It took 14 months to evolve a fully integrated design plan and arrive at the
IBMS solution that covers security, safety and automation, and since January 2004 the concept has
been functional in the 400,000-sqft complex.

Some of the features of the IBMS at Cognizant are: A very early smoke detection system used in
the data centre for tracing fire during the incipient stages itself; a common fire detection and
suppression system for both smouldering and fast flaming fire; a gas suppression system using an
environmentally safe and clean agent; biometric finger print based access control for the data
centre; a common monitoring system for all points of the building, from different angles both inside
and outside.

The system can also handle airconditioning, electrical generators, and utilities, including water
levels in the overhead tanks. The lighting system is occupancy-based wherein lights for a bay goes
up automatically when the first person enters it and switches off when the last person leaves it. By
far the most advanced security features are at the data centre: a proximity card for primary access,
a biometric authorisation using fingerprint and a third level security in the form of infra-red sensors.
Besides this, roving cameras pan 360 degrees to monitor the entire data centre 24 x 7 hours, 365
days. Movement detectors also sweep the centre. There are separate access cards for different user
groups for the switch rooms, electrical rooms and the library.
Besides fire and very early smoke detectors, the building materials at the data centre can resist
fires over two hours. The entire campus has 73 fixed CCTV cameras, which also record images at
strategic points, with monitoring from a single point. Intelligent Buildings and their management
systems have their roots in the industrial sector in the 1970s, which developed along with
technology growth. The use of these technologies resulted in significant cost reduction and energy
savings.

According to Anand Mecheri, managing director, DATS (India), a building security and automation
company, there are numerous methods by which building services within buildings can be
controlled: Time-based providing heating and lighting services (only when required); Optimiser
Parameter-based — often utilising a representative aspect of the service, such as temperature for
space heating or lighting, and increase in higher uptime.

The latest concept in the IBMS is ``interfacing occupancy information to building controls.'' Under
this, each service has an impact on others. For example, if there is fire in the building, the whole
process of fire-controlling mechanism should take off without damaging the infrastructure and data.
The fire alarm should shoot off, along with the lift switches, and other electrical gadgets should shut
off. Electronically-managed doors should open up automatically.

IBMS is applied in modern buildings with multiple services such as IT parks, hotels and corporate
houses, says Mr. Anand. The cost of IBMS depends on the building size. For example, to convert a
10,000-sqft office floor with an optimum IBMS would cost approximately Rs. 40 lakhs or more. A
larger building would have a lower cost for providing such solutions. He says the total IBMS market
is Rs. 400 crores to 500 crores.

Residential applications

Until recently, the majority of homes were wired with a little more than the main electrical circuits,
a few phone lines, and a few TV cables. Times have changed. Electrical and security system
contractors routinely install low voltage communication network cables for a wide range of
intelligent home or `smart home' systems. Anand Rajagopal, Director, Comfort Solutions, says
intelligence can be incorporated at several levels.

Services and equipment that utilise these networks include: security; home theatre and
entertainment; telephones, door-phones and intercoms; PC and Internet networks; surveillance
cameras; driveway vehicle sensors; communicating thermostats; motorised window blinds and
curtains; entry systems, and irrigation systems.
The concept of `smart homes' is beginning to take root in India. The home automation industry has
always been a low-volume, high-margin market for the high-end homebuilder. But now it is
affordable and can be implemented in any budget flat of today, says Mr. Rajagopal.

At Anna University, doctoral level research that combines electronics and civil engineering discipline
is looking at making buildings `intelligent' enough to resist earthquakes, fires and gale force winds.

A bagful of wonders!

If you're looking for upbeat, offbeat and trendy drawing room additions, a bean bag is what you
need , says Ranjani Govind

FOUR young engineering graduates from Bangalore, posted recently at IT companies in Chennai,
have only two bean-bags for furniture at their otherwise near-empty flat in T-Nagar. "We throw
ourselves on this wonder, relax, use lap-tops on it and carry it all-over the house and more or less
abuse it. Do you believe, we often carry it to the beach while we saunter along," say the beaming
software professionals. Call it the bachelor bag or bean-bag-for-the-brisk, it is a bag full of wonders!

Bags that beckon you to take a break... from the staid drawing room necessities like chairs and
sofas or the demure divans that is! A bag for chairs, you may ask? Yes, the attitude had been there
for long in a market, indifferent to accepting its simple features. But that's history now, what with
thousands of homes flaunting them and the youth all out to label them under the `cool-and-trendy-
segment'.

Sceptics, however, haven't stopped scoffing at the shapeless, unsteady seats, but being helluva lot
contemporary in character, it bags all the attention from the younger generation, denied for years
now!

Bean bags are cylindrical-shaped, tapered at the top end for easy carry. They look like a sack that is
half full. Only that a bean bag is stuffed with four kgs of polystyrene granules — an eco-clean,
environmentally recycled fill that resembles a bean, and feels like the slightly-spongy thermocol —
and is made with vinyl leather-like fabric, double-stitched-six-piece-patterned with lining to prevent
stretching.

K. Dev Anand of City Craft on Venkatanarayana Road, (Ph: 24330264) who manufactures his brand
of City Bean Bags, has sold more than 10,000 pieces to customers directly from his outlet. He says
"Bean bag manufacturers are dime a dozen in the city, but what makes it special with me is our use
of special vinyl for the outer cover, made in Mumbai, which is guaranteed against skin allergies. It is
then stitched with quality poly-cotton industrial grade thread at our unit in Nandanam, and stuffed
with bean-like granules that are processed at large factories in Ambattur, again ensuring that the
stitch and the fabric lasts for about 15-20 years."

Mr. Anand says rexine bean-bags, widely sold in the market, could prove to be harmful, as the
cellulose nitrate coating in it could affect the skin in the long run.

But what about postural-related aches as the bag adapts a shape with one's body resting on it? "I
have been selling 150 numbers a month in this seven-year-old business and have had no
complaints," says Mr. Anand.

Sales personnel at Modfurn, on Royapettah High Road, however, say bean bags are not greatly
moving pieces compared to other alternatives for the drawing room. It is a strict `no, no' with the
elderly as they do not feel secure sitting on it. "Polypropylene, artificial leather, is used for our bags
sold here, but only the young prefer this."

"It is just a mental block. We have been educating people about the usage of bean-bags which is so
commonly used even by the elders abroad," argues Mr. Anand. Anything new spells a sense of fear,
he reiterates, adding that they also have pieces with special head-rest for reclining and leg-and-
hand-rest ones for additional comfort.

City Craft has several varieties — King Size or standard (Rs. 2,850); Jumbo (Rs. 3,750); XL-Jumbo
(Rs.4,500); Sofa (Rs. 4,750); two-seater sofa (Rs.4,750); and on the cards is single bed costing Rs.
6,000. Mini foot-rests that are affable and toy-like are priced at Rs. 350.

Kalpana Satish, with a fetish for adding anything new to her interiors at her residence in
Nungambakkam, says, "The sheer novelty and mobility of the bag excites my son so much that he
clomps on it and treats it as a long-jump field. It is sturdy, with no maintenance hassles and is
available in several colours too, so there is no question of mismatch."

The granules, however, shrink over the years that could hamper the natural evolution of required
shapes and need to be refilled every year at an extra cost.

Sit upright, just recline, lie lazily, or stretch out laid-back — bean bags, you bet, could be a bit of a
biting curiosity to orthopaedics who wish to delve into the contours of the bean-age!
Special doors with special functions!

R. VIVEKANANDAN

There's no closing the door on the subject of doors without discussing `Special Doors.'

IT'S an era of speciality and specialist. There's no escaping the word SPECIAL or its derivatives in
one form or the other in our lives. So naturally, there's no closing the door on the subject of doors
too without discussing `Special Doors.'

Now, what are special doors? Well, they are the ones designed to go beyond their primary purpose
to fulfil other specific functions. Let's brush up on some of the "commonly" used special doors.

Room Dividers: As the name goes, this type of door is used to divide rooms into smaller segments
temporarily. It can be opened up when the need arises. This is usually with sliding or folding or
systems or with both. It is used mainly in banquet halls in hotels and conference halls in corporate
houses where the need for smaller halls arises. In most cases, these doors are acoustically treated
and are airtight so that a marriage party at one space does not disturb a doctors' conference on the
other.

Safe doors: These are used for the safety of cash, gold, jewellery, bonds, certificates and other
valuables. Be it residences, banks, jewellery showrooms, corporate offices or commercial
establishments, there is a need to keep valuables extra safe. It comes in some standard sizes and
can also be custom-made based on one's requirements. Mostly, it has a double layer door (either
single leaf or double leaf). One has grilles and the other has a thick metal door with a heavy locking
system. But nowadays, most of the locks are electronically operated with secret code and is
connected to alarm system.

Fire-safe door: This is treated with different types of chemicals to resist fire and prevent it from
spreading. Though it can be applicable for all buildings where fire safety norms are high, it is mostly
used in multi-storeyed buildings, for fire hazards are high and there might be situations demanding
that people escape through the fire escape route. A fire-safe door first protects this route. These
doors are usually rated as `1/2hr', `1hr', `11/2hr', etc. This means the door can resist fire for that
much of time. Based on the demands of time for specific places, consultants will recommend
appropriately rated doors.
Camouflaged door: These are doors that just merge with the background. Though this type is
used for different reasons, matching toilet/dressing room doors that look like a part of the wardrobe
always fascinate common people.

Lift door: It is used in front of the sliding grille gate of the lift for protection. It is either metal
plates welded to grille gate with view glass or open-able ply or panel with view door. It is advisable
for all manual lift for the general safety, especially for children.

Special glazed door: Wired glass doors are used where both view and security concerns are to be
addressed. Laminated glass is the choice where we need the glass to be shatter proof. Bullet proof
is of course to protect highly-guarded people. Insulated glasses are used to maintain the controlled
temperature inside and toughened glass doors in places frequented by the public. And now... isn't it
time we opened the door to another element of interior design?

Completed till June 2004 Start with Jul 31