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The Hindu : The growth is moderate hereMany potential buyers adopted a “wait and watch” approach in 2007 preferring to live in rented accommodation than buy property, writes Ramesh NairAfter a record 50 per cent plus price increase per annum in 2005 and 2006, the Chennai residential real estate market witnessed moderate growth in 2007 with prices increasing 8-12 per cent across various micro markets. However most of this price increase was seen in the first quarter of the year when prices stagnated. Although the office market saw a record 7 million sq ft absorption in 2007 indicating new job creation and a strong economy, this did not translate into direct increase in prices and volumes in the residential market as witnessed over the last three years.Many potential buyers adopted a “wait and watch” approach in 2007 preferring to continue staying in rented accommodation than buy. The number of apartments being sold in 4Q 2007 was also lower than 4Q 2006. Also, the home loan market, which was growing at 30 per cent plus in 2005 and 2006, saw a growth of only 10-15 per cent.The key reason behind this slowdown has been higher prices and interest rates, impacting affordability, and to a lesser extent excess supply in a few micro markets, rather than slow down of economy. Developers, who were selling their entire projects in a few days, are now taking months to sell their unsold stock. But no major drop in prices is expected immediately as the vacancy rate of unsold completed residential real estate stock is still negligible. Developers have started offering a variety of offers such as free car parks and flexible financing options such as interest waiver during construction period so that they do not have to bring down the prices.NegotiabilityThe year 2007 saw Chennai’s residential market returning to more normal levels of activity. Properties with deficiencies in location or overly optimistic asking…More

The Hindu : Hi-tech security gadgetsHome security gadgets are finding increasing acceptance. More so in apartment complexes than in individual houses.Spending money on installing a security system while planning a home was not something people thought about until a couple of years ago. But these days, security systems are increasingly figuring in the process of planning and building a home. And the number of companies dealing in security equipment is growing.The scene is changing, though slowly. There are house owners who do not hesitate to earmark around Rs.25,000 for getting a good security system in place that would make them less fearful of the risk of intrusion into their premises at night.Changing trendM. Remesh Kumar, Circle Inspector, Ernakulam Town North, said that the trend of using security equipment is catching on.It is good if individual houses go in for some kind of security system, because they are more vulnerable to thefts and burglaries, said Mr. Kumar. The security systems are being more used in apartment complexes.Flats are actually more secure compared to an individual house, but it is in such complexes that security equipment is being used more these days.This is perhaps at the insistence of builders that the residents use a system that comes with a newly built flat and becomes operational from the first day itself.It is just like adding another piece of electronic equipment.It could just be a system that would enable the people in the flat to see the people at the gate when the security man alerts them of a visitor.Advanced systemThere are much-advanced systems too of alerting the police control room of any housebreak or getting a mobile alert if the security system is breached.The police too favour such systems and recommend the use of security equipment in a booklet titled ‘Police at Your Door Step.’InhibitionsThe individual house owners are taking more time to accept the need of such a system, said…More

The Hindu : Good old vases in glass were part of every home in the drawing room that weren’t taller than a foot. But that’s history now, for, just as human beings, they have also grown in height with every passing year and lo! the market has a mind-boggling variety in onyx stone, marble, terra cotta, leather, stone, wood and powdered coral that are as much as six-feet high, making kids hug them in sheer wonder!Tall they are and heavy too both in weight and price. Consider this: A colourfully bedecked five feet Rajasthani vase in single rock marble costs a cool Rs. 1 lakh and upwards. The explanation is, the painstaking work in microscopic detail has ornamentation of different kinds, including gold. The vase is provided with water colour embossing, fixed with precious stones, borders given with stain-free hand painting with the edges wrapped up with 24-carat gold foil…all this with Rajastani minakari running riot all over.Pawan Handicrafts, which sources its work from Jaipur, has an in-house unit with expert craftsmen. It also encourages economically backward artisans by giving them daily wages. (Go intowww.pawanhandicrafts.com for seeing all the colour)If that’s something that only the well-heeled can think of, spare a thought for the terra cotta collection that occupies most important road junctions in the city.Earthy coloursDone with modest mud with deft hands that shape up a variety only a fertile mind can imagine, the ethnic creations that are burnt in kilns for perfect hardness have earthy colours and paints in inspiring makeovers that could catch the eyes of both the traditional and the up-to-date chic for a drawing room facelift. After all, they are available from hundreds to just a few thousands!Pankaj Kajrekar, an interior designer from Mumbai, who is an adviser to several malls for their makeover, avers that dry flower arrangements can be used to aptly highlight the beauty of the vases which are by…More

The Hindu : All the rooms in your home can be planned and designed once for all. However the children’s bedroom needs to be so planned that it can be easily metamorphosed as the children grow. Children are not children forever.Their needs and requirements keep changing as they grow. Almost everything ranging from the cot to the desk needs to be replaced as the children grow.So, the future requirements should be given due consideration while planning their bedroom.While a baby-cot is the only furniture needed for an infant’s room, items like a desk, chair, shelf etc. might need to be added later. Also the cot itself might need to be replaced with a larger one.Furniture apart, the room may have to accommodate a new child too!Double roleSo, sufficient space should be provided to accommodate all the future furniture requirements. Often, the bedroom is also a child’s play-area. Providing enough open floor space will serve this purpose. Foldable cots and chairs will be handy where there is a space crunch.Privacy is not a key factor for such a bedroom. In fact, absolute privacy will make it difficult for you to monitor your children. However a calm environment is a pre-requisite for a peaceful study.So this room needs to be sound-proof to the noise arising out of the other rooms.Plain glass window panes will be suitable as they filter out the external noise and also provide only minimum privacy to the occupants of the room.Encourage childPlanning for comfort in a children’s bedroom is akin to teaching them to grow lazy. The comfort-planning that applies to the master bedroom should not be implemented in this room. That does not mean that the room should be uncomfortable either.The children should be encouraged to be active and move around the room.This can be accomplished by adopting simple measures. Denying access to the cupboard and electric switches from the bed or the study desk…More

The Hindu : The wind factorThe vertical growth of cities across the world has led to the development of wind engineering as a major factor in structural design.That sleek car beckoning visitors to the showroom is most likely to have been designed using wind tunnel studies to cut down air resistance and improve driveability. Wind tunnel testing is normally associated with the automobile industry where reducing air drag is integral to the design of vehicles with better profiles and improved fuel-efficiency.At the global level, there is another sector that is increasingly recognising the importance of wind tunnel studies in design. The vertical growth of cities across the world has led to the development of wind engineering as a major factor in structural design. Wind tunnel testing is now widely used to reliably predict localised wind conditions on cladding or glazing, as well as the overall structural wind loads on the frames of high-rise buildings.Employed in the early stage of design, it helps minimise wind effects by reshaping the structure, fine-tuning stiffness and mass distributions and orienting the structure properly. In a wind tunnel, the environment around a building is simulated to replicate the actual wind conditions. The design is then tweaked to achieve the desired effect.In India, however, architects and builders involved in high-rise construction projects depend more on building codes and standards which have limitations in assessing the wind load factor. Many tall buildings are designed without detailed wind tunnel tests. As a result, they fail to assess the impact of various factors on the structure, such as geometry, surroundings, orientation, direction, complex structural interaction and cross wind response.“Code analytical methods are helpful for preliminary design and for simple situations, but provide conservative wind loads in most cases and underestimation in others,” points out K. Suresh Kumar, director, RWDI Consulting Engineers (India), a Technopark-based firm here that offers wind engineering solutions. A Canadian company with research facilities…More

The Hindu : The place and how it plays out with other placesD. MURALIGeography might not have been the subject you liked the most in your schooldays. However, geography is important when it comes to putting up a building. More so, if the construction is for the hospitality business. “Geographically, a location has two attributes that need to be examined before a hospitality business can be developed: absolute location and relative location,” writes Larry Yu in ‘The International Hospitality Business’ ( www.jaicobooks.com).Absolute location is something that you can pinpoint precisely with the help of coordinates. “It is also known as the site, which refers to the physical characteristics of the place, including geological features, climatic conditions, bio-resources, and cultural and economic characteristics, such as the ethnic makeup of the local population, their religious beliefs, and the level of living standards,” explains Yu.External featuresIn contrast to such an analysis of ‘internal’ characteristics of the place, relative location looks at the ‘external’ features. Such as “Proximity to major tourist markets and easy accessibility for tourists.”Geography is about maps, but biography is about chaps, says Eric Bentley. Adapting it location, you may say: ‘Absolute’ is about all that is in the place, while ‘relative’ is all about how the place plays out with other places.“Geography has made us neighbours. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners, and necessity has made us allies. Those whom God has so joined together, let no man put asunder,” exhorts an inspiring quote of John F. Kennedy.In hospitality, necessity and economics can bring a whole geography onto your plate. For example, in Saudi Arabia, the scarcity of local suppliers forced the purchasing directors to utilise an enterprising team of global suppliers, informs Yu, in one of the many case studies.Footprint“The Saudi Big Mac represents a truly international effort, including sesame seeds and onions from Mexico, buns made of Saudi wheat, Brazilian soybean oil…More

The Hindu : The much awaited new policy for the SC, ST, OBC, weaker sections and women has been placed before Parliament.It aims to ensure that private builders and developers make room for the urban poor in their housing projects through cross-subsidisation and more floor area ratio to developers. It is estimated that the urban poor, who will be over 80 million, have not found a place in the master planning processes.The salient features of the new policy are: the policy plank is “affordable housing for all,” instead of “shelter for all” as hitherto. As against the 1998 Housing and Habitat Policy which had only a peripheral mention of the housing needs for women and weaker sections, there is now a specific thrust for this sector.Ten to 15 per cent of every land developed for housing by any agency or apartment complex will have to be set apart for the specified category.- 20-25 per cent of the Floor Area Ratio (FAR), where applicable, will also have to be reserved.- Interest subsidy of 5-6 per cent will be extended to the specified groups for all loans.- The policy will be forwarded to State Governments for implementation. A Central Monitoring Committee will be set up to oversee the action plan. State Governments will set up similar committees.As per the estimate made in 1997 (based on which the 1998 Habitat Policy was framed) the requirement was 1366 million housing units, 75 per cent of which was to be in urban areas. The present estimate is about 24.7 million units at the end of the 10th Five Year plan and 99 per cent of which pertains to economically weaker sections and low income groups.Planning crucialA major emphasis is on urban planning, increased supply of land for housing to the specified segment, transferable development rights, increased flow of funds and the like. The estimated fund to bridge the deficit is around Rs. 1,51,000…More

The Hindu : Quality paintings from artists around the world can be sought with just a call or email, after you see the mind-boggling collection of the boutique ‘Streisand Arts’ online atwww.streisandart.comWant to have a visual treat yourself? Just get into the showroom at Indiranagar run by Viswambhar Isiah Streisand (brother of Hollywood playback singer and actress Barbara Streisand) and get yourself a visual treat of the variety and assortment in the art pieces where the best of paints, brushes and strokes have yielded rare masterpieces in several corners of the world!While umpteen galleries, malls, shops, exhibitors and individuals market paintings of several varieties, Bangalore’s Streisand Art (previously Masters Gallery of Fine Arts) goes one step beyond.Special conceptsThe boutique houses a multitude of works of well-known artists from interior cities across the globe. Artistic expressions here speak of special concepts, a singularly unusual material used or an extraordinary piece of a famous painter.Streisand Art labels itself as an ambassador of international art and caters to all genres of artistic sensibilities in both the traditional and contemporary worlds.The boutique has a parent association called ‘Spectrum’ in New York and deals with about 1,000 artists worldwide with classical, abstract and modern creations.Unsung heroesMr. Streisand believes in scanning and sieving the international scene of art to pick the best and often brings to light several unsung heroes after an understanding with the artists themselves to deal with their pieces directly and sell them worldwide through the Streisand website.“We offer customised tastes too in painting. Once the customer decides on the theme, our design team, after research, gives computer designs and passes them on to professional artists according to the subject,” say the staff at Streisand Art.The varietyBe it the painting of the ever famous Italian ‘Galloping Horses,’ the famed ‘Lady with the lamp’ seen at the Mysore Palace or the microscopic details of the army in the battlefield in B.G. Sharma’s…More

The Hindu : Precaution will go a long wayProper care will ensure home appliances live their full life and work to optimum efficiencyThe list of electrical and electronic appliances used at homes commonly to make life easier is only getting longer and the user base is also expanding with increasing purchase power. However, do these gadgets live their full life and work to optimum efficiency?Are the equipment well-protected from voltage fluctuations, power cuts, overloads, etc.?A little care to the electrical system at home can assure these benefits and help us save on repairs and replacements.R. Prakash Kumar, an electronic engineer, says power-related problems for electronic appliances can be due to two factors: unscheduled power cut and voltage fluctuation.When there is a disruption in power supply it is better to switch off all the electrical and electronic gadgets. Usually, at the time of restoration, it takes a few seconds to stabilise.Voltage fluctuationAt that time, if there is high voltage even for a second, equipment such as air conditioner and refrigerator can be affected.In the case of voltage fluctuation, any type of damage can be caused to the equipment either due to dip or surge in voltage, even if it lasts a fraction of a second.One of the precautions that can be taken is installation of cut-off circuits (high/low).This can be centralised or gadget specific. This will cut off the power supply if the fluctuation goes to the extremes.AffordableThe circuits are affordable too, he says. Or, residents can go in for stabiliser even for the entire house. Energy- consuming equipment at home is of two types: power equipment and lighting equipment. The power equipment is all home appliances such as oven, microwave, refrigerator, air conditioner, etc.It would be better to check the switch ends and the wiring for these at least once a year, he suggests.Systematised wiringFurther, at the time of building the house, wiring, plug points and switchboards should…More

The Hindu : Military Engineering Services (MES) Builders Association of India, Bangalore branch, celebrated its Annual Day -2007 to mark the 20th year of its existence in the city. Regional Chairman, Southern region, Zachariah P. John, was the chief guest. The programme saw the release of MES diary, felicitation to two senior builders, cultural programmes and sports activities.The branch has 114 members, the all-India figure being 9,500 members. The association provides a platform to builders carrying out works for Air Force, Army and Navy. It facilitates interaction between MES and builders, provides solutions to disputes and brings the latest technology and products within the reach of the builders….More