E-Newsletter from ZED RIA - May 2014
RIA WATCH WHERE HISTORY FLOWS BY... The ZED RIA expanse is about 11 acres, with the 150-year-old network of freshwater canals cutting across the swathe of ZED RIA. The 30-meter freshwater canal networks eventually with the Buckingham Canal, which was first created in 1860. (See Buckingham Canal's fascinating history and the long route from Vizag to the water reservoirs to Chennai's south).
THE RIA IDEA There are 45 villas, 33 row houses, 28 duplex homes, and 14 penthouses. Closer to the fresh water canal, we have 3 blocks of low-rise, pleasantly designed apartments with each of them hosting 12, 44, and 36 number of homes. Each of these plans has been worked to see that there is natural light, spaces that are crafted to have living spaces that are spanned comfortably. The kitchen overlooks the living with options for a breakfast bar and for the dining area to be designed as spaces by every homeowner. The kitchen spaces have been designed to see that the platforms are comfortable for the Indian homemaker. As part of our individual conversations with you, we'll ask you for your preference on the height. We'll set the kitchen counter so you don't hunch down at work because it is short. Or find it difficult because it is too tall. The bedrooms have been chosen carefully to be large-ish. The toilet spaces and storage spaces within each of the washrooms have been crafted to be vaastu-complaint and ergonomic. Lighting in the toilets is a major hazard in most apartments. And in the dead of day you need artificial light. Here we have structured each of these designs to ensure that there is natural lighting streaming through such spaces. The entry spaces, the windows, the other internal doors are all crafted carefully to see that the spaces that you lose out on opening of doors is minimized. Spaces outside the building are also crafted to see that there is harmony and there is plenty of vegetation.
RESTORING THE EARTH’S SKIN It’s critical to every single ZED design for the last 20 years, and here at ZED RIA is no exception. We have therefore ensured we have a mix of carefully selected subtropical species that are leafy, that absorb more carbon dioxide and which are not hostile to soils. We have avoided to the extent possible alien species of plants. There is a mix of flowering, leafy, and edible plant species apart from flowering and medicinal and aromatic species in order to enhance the quality of campus air within the micro region.
LUXURY... THAT DOSEN’T COST THE EARTH The architectural plan also ensures that the external walls, particularly those facing south and west, secure a second skin of creeper plants or shade-giving plants in a way that the interiors of the home are cool. A striking thing about every single ZED home is that the way the walls are built, ensures heat ingress to be at the very minimum. Without air-conditioning each of these homes will drop temperature naturally by as much as 3 to 4 degree centigrade. Then there is if course the game-changing Zed ACs that save you 70 pc on energy bills, that work on two-pin 5-amp plugs and don't need 15-amp switches. We install them at our cost. It's part of an old commitment that ZED made years ago on what we offer to Zedders in any housing project.
The larger, deeper Idea of ZED helps you reduce dependence on the grid on electricity by at least 70 per cent. Typically, any certified green building reduces this only by 30 per cent, in our case it is 70 per cent. Most regular buildings consume therefore about 3 times the power that a ZED home claims. By world standards, we are 90 per cent more efficient, while by Indian standards we are 70 per cent efficient. I.e., by the American or European standards, our levels of energy consumption or water consumption are far lower even for conventional buildings. But in our case, we are dramatically smarter in terms of our energy and water use, and that lends to further saving. ZED RIA is a campus that truly beats most norms of energy efficiency. It will stand out in Chennai as a benchmark to be emulated by others if we have to build a livable and sustainable city of the future. In the construction process, we do things that are game changing; that not only enhance comfort and convenience for you in your home, but also makes your home last way longer. Typically, our buildings are designed structurally and in terms of construction to last 50 years and more. We use very little cement for construction of walls in apartments. We don't use chemical-based paints or chemical-based water treatment compounds. ZED homes are more appealing in terms of comfort. Essentially, the idea of Zed is about giving you the joy of buying the best, while being sure that it is also lighter on the planet.
MAKING THE DIFFERENCE How are these villas different from the regular? A quick look at the landscape of such villa options in Chennai will tell you certain things that are unique in the ways that they style and plan their buildings. At ZED RIA, the villas are spaced with facades that offer you harmony without the risk of homogeneity. They are 1+1 as buildings go with an interesting combination for the bedrooms the colours are light and ensure no absorption of heat. The setbacks have been nicely spaced to see that there is hardscaping that you can do in each of the spaces to bring character and personality to every home the way you want to make it.
TOWNHOUSES, A NEAT ARRAY The Townhouse edition offers a neat array of just 6 homes to each row and they offer a ground and first-level space with contemporary split-level architecture. The stairways are designed to be as ergonomic as possible. The bedrooms and an anteroom that could double as a study or puja are part of the first floor, while the rest of the functional spaces are located on the ground floor of these RIA Townhouses. Except for one common wall that you share with the neighboring home, the facades are created to secure privacy and yet the warmth of a neighbourhood that encourages our relationships.
DUPLEX HOMES COMBINE COMFORT AND WARMTH The RIA duplex homes offer lovely, thoughtful spaces. The basement parking offers you the luxury of more than one parking lot. Every Duplex has a ground floor which offers daily active spaces, while the first floor is designed to be for the private, reflective space of bedrooms. Windows are positioned to be absorbing as much natural light as possible with each of the washrooms also crafted to be comfortable in terms of airiness, as well as light.
The fans work at 28 watts against the conventional ceiling fans that are rated at 250 pc more consumption at 75 watts.
THE PENTS
Hot water is from the sun with backup Power needed being just 20 pc of the regular solar heater.
RIA penthouses are exclusive, expansive and designed to be offering you quiet spaces with a green lush internal environment and immediate outdoors outside each of the Penthouses. The penthouse is facilitated with a lift that goes right up to the floor. The duplex houses don't carry a lift for it is only the first floor. We are trying to see how we can make for stairways, that are light on the negotiating and easy for the aged and the sick. One ramp for the differently abled is also sought to be integrated into the building plan.
There's rainwater harvested to ensure over 60 days of need is met from such harvest from the skies. The unique solar power grid ensures your dependence on external power is reduced substantially. The landscape plans ensure there is dense vegetation covering the entire campus over the first 7-10 years. The Promenade alongside both the East and West Bank of the Canal will be designed to make for invigorating strolls at start of or end of day. We are hoping the end visual impact will be reminiscent of the Madras of another era that old-timers are nostalgic about. The roads, the designed kerbs, the sidewalks, the pergola spaces of the sidewalks, the bridge that connects the Phase 2 of the land beyond the freshwater canal, The planting and planning of spaces that edge the freshwater canal in a way that there is safety taken into account and high aesthetic appeal … is all part of elements that have gone into the making of the RIA enclave designs. The parks have been crafted to see that they will carry a bio diverse mix of species that are fruiting and flowering. The leisure amenity or CLUB RIA is created as a boutique space that ensures privacy and exclusivity for those in Phase 1, with another set of amenities created for those in Phase 2. Members of either phase will have the privilege of access to each of these two amenities. A swimming pool that is warmed with the least of energy is again part of the RIA campus features. The master plan is also crafted to ensure that there are enough pedestrian spaces opened out for people for walking within the campus. The density of species will be very high by normal terms with the mix of shrubs, grass, plant species and tree species. The entire area is planned such that we will have percolation of water constantly. Being black cotton soil, its ability to saturate rainwater is high. We are working on base solutions to ensure that there are enough green storage capacities for water to be harnessed through the year from shallow aquifers or shallow open wells of the kind that existed in our grandfather's homes. The aesthetics, planning of volumes of spaces, as well as the spaces themselves is critical to the architectural plan. And the active energy planning and water planning aspects have been covered in the rest of the resource management mapping that ZED has been renowned for.
Why the penthouses? The idea was also to get slightly larger spaces. The spaces have been planned to have quiet corners that can be converted into a puja or a study. There are children spaces that are crafted to make living and study easier for kids.
THE APARTMENT What makes the apartment unique? Each of the three blocks of apartments that we have planned alongside the freshwater canal that flows lazily by the campus offers spaces that are designed to only three floors. There are easy accesses with lifts, apart from stairways that are built to be easy to negotiate. These RIA apartment spaces have been planned to see that we have the least number of commons walls. We are contemplating the creation of one block of apartment which will have one home to each floor with only a common space that will host the lift that transports people up. More on that by the next edition. Well. There are many more questions. We'll get to them in the months ahead.
WE HAVE SET COURSE Work has begun. On the villas. On the peripheral walls. A low thatch structure to house the guards and give them respite from the sun. An office space that will last till all creation is done and complete. The first batch of villas themselves. There is the Bridge spanning the Canal that has got started. We'll bring you the next time news on the long and busy calendar of work at ZED RIA.
THE ART OF ZERO ENERGY What makes the spaces in each home different from what is available elsewhere? To start with, we get water in your house without the uncertainty of depending on the water supply board in the city. There will be no tankers of water ever imported at ZED RIA.
For private circulation only
Paddy Padmanabhan