Hindustan Times, HT Estates, Mumbai - July, 2006

From a satellite town to a mega-city, Pune’s architectural and design landscape has undergone a transformation. Nidhi Anand reviews the skyline

Pune has seen a remarkable growth in property in the last two decades. From being the ideal location for retired Maharashtrians, or a weekend home, it has turned into a booming township – choice for qualitative living. Naturally prices are escalating but so are people’s expectations. However, unlike Mumbai, where premium buildings generally mean a famous builder and his Italian marble with a few gadgetry thrown in, the last one-year has shown that Pune builders are genuinely moving that one step ahead to capture clients’ attention with great value for money.

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Warranty

How many builders are willing to lay their necks on the slab and vouch for the quality of their buildings? Rohit Gera of Gera Developments, Pune, says, “I believe that every manufacturer has to stand by the product that he is delivering in the market, so like any other industry we decided to organize our working. For a very long time the people dealing in this industry tried to shirk off their duties by saving that the products in this industry are all man made but now we give our customers a warranty of five years.”

Child centric complexes

Some builders have also given the industry various innovative ideas – one of them being the child centric complexes. This unusual concept came about because of many buyers today being young married couples. Child centric projects guarantee safety and security for the younger kids – childproof switches and various other such safety measures, which guarantee security to the children, are imbibed in the design of homes.

Intelliplexes

Pune has come a long way in developing what is being called intelligent buildings, also known as intelliplexes. These buildings are techno savvy constructions with a motive to ease the problems of a common. It has external light systems, sensors for water tanks, a central control system for all the offices. In short it is the designers’ way of giving the people an enhanced standard of living with an intelligence quotient attached to it.

Vaastu, Feng Shui

Vaastu and Feng Shui have started playing a vital role in the architecture and design of buildings. According to Pune designers there personal beliefs and the numbers of people following them are on a rise so Pune designers and architects have started incorporating it in their designs in a big way.

Interiors

Sanjay Mirchandani, builder and developer, Mirchandani and company, says, “The loud and jarring look is out. People want to keep it simple. For example, a lot of wooden flooring is used today. This is also one of the reasons why the 2x2 size tiles came into trend. Even the kitchens today are simpler; in short the whole look that we observe today in Pune is very Americanized".

According to Architect and Builder Sanjay Deshpande, “Earlier people were not serious about the internal planning of a house, all that mattered was the size and the space. Today, a buyer is looking at a user friendly flat. That décor of the house has become extremely pivotal in the selection of house for a buyer. They want bigger halls, though smaller rooms are something they can still do with. Also the 1 BHK system is completely out, because of the increase in the standard of living people are only ready to opt for 2 BHK and above level of houses. One more reason for this to happen is because the volume of loan that is available today is rising.”

The PBAP

Says Lalit Kumar Jain, Chairman – Promoter Builders Association Pune (PBAP), Architect and Civil Engineer, “The PBAP is one of its kind communities in the country. This community has about 225 members, and consists of qualified engineers and architects. The community has a code of conduct and code of procedures that they follow. And all the members have to follow these procedures religiously".

And finally… Planning

Surprisingly, most Pune builders and Architects agree that while planning is an integral part of any growth process, it was missing in the last few years. But in the last year or so, planning has come back in a large way. That is probably, Pune’s one big achievement in the last year. Customer demands have increased and so have builders’ concern and consideration to incorporate those changes in their design.