Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Apartments that serve all your needs

<36,3,,,,,,1>While buying an apartment, we probably spend more time on getting a good bargain and miss the obvious.

Only a few of us who are buying the apartment for a second time will probably look at whether the planning of the building suits our lifestyle.

Normally, we look for a good location, good specification, reasonable budget, value addition, proper legal records, track record of the builder, features such as club house, swimming pool, jogging track, etc.

Some builders offer unique features that are the highlights of their construction. They include parking space for two cars per unit, reserved car parking for guests, one time payment of maintenance fee, Vasthu compliance, backup power for every house through electric generators, fully or partially furnished house, etc. It is not uncommon to see a pooja room in such flats.

Lower ratio of common area to the carpet area is the Unique Selling Point of some of the developers.

Lesser share of common area means that most of the area for which you are paying is well within the house. This also means that the design of the apartment is efficient. All the builders want to boast of efficiency of carpet area that has resulted in stereotyped plans, especially in high-rise buildings.

Architects have always tried to bring concepts combining western comforts and Indian lifestyle in the design of apartments. They are available in flats and multi-level concepts.

An apartment is termed as a flat when the house is in just one level. Duplex and triplex are two common multi-level concepts.

A house is a duplex when it is in two levels. At the lower level, normally, living room, dining hall, kitchen, common toilet, one room and staircase is accommodated and in the upper level, two bedrooms with attached toilets and balconies with or without a family room are provided.

The principle behind such a planning is to provide privacy and seclusion to the bedrooms at the upper levels.

Noise from the kitchen and hall will not disturb the rooms. The room in the lower level normally serves as a guest room.

Triplex houses are homes in three levels. The triplex units contain the living room, dining room, kitchen, common toilet and staircase in the middle floor. One goes a floor down to two bedrooms with attached toilet and goes a floor above to a bedroom with attached toilet and an extra large terrace.

A penthouse is a house on the terrace of a building. It is the most sought after, especially in high-rise apartments, by people who love garden, open sky, abundant air and bright light.

It has an exclusive terrace which is normally developed into a garden with water fountains, lamp posts, built-in seats, barbecue, garden swing and the works.

Penthouses are normally available in two avatars: as a flat on the terrace and as a duplex with a room and a hall on the upper floor with extra large terrace.

Many apartments in recent days claim to be self-contained townships with office space, crèche, entertainment centre with eateries, school, day care centre, college, community hall, supermarket, bank, ATM etc., all within the boundary wall. The choices are aplenty. Look for the value addition of the design and the concept of the apartment than merely for the best bargain.

Anand Prakash

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