Prince Galada Vepery, Chennai

By: Pramod Jain, Creative Architects and Interiors (CAI), Chennai

Prince Galada, Chennai - Redefining high-end, contemporary urban living

Prince Galada in Chennai redefines high-end, contemporary urban living with an experience of a luxurious villa coupled with the security and amenities of a high-rise apartment. Located in the heart of the city and surrounded by a residential neighborhood in Vepery, the edifice marks its presence in the vicinity with its bold and contemporary style. With the brief focusing on the target users to be luxury apartment buyers, the units are planned to be spacious, with a tinge of opulence. The challenge then was to achieve a huge FSI in order to accommodate maximum units with large footprints in a highly linear and compact site, along with other constraints such as Vastu compliance. The concept evolved by keeping functionality, efficient planning, and user comfort at the center of the design strategy.

Following a biophilic design approach, and with an aim to break down the huge built mass, the floor plate has been split into two, at the center of which is a landscaped garden for the apartment users. Both blocks are equipped with a central core, allowing each unit a generous frontage with views of the landscaped area below and the city’s skyline. Sustainable strategies have been incorporated into the design of both blocks, enabling the users with the utmost comfort in Chennai’s hot and humid climate.

**Double walls made of aerocon blocks are provided for insulation**

Every façade must be simulated, and the window-wall ratio must be balanced to bring in the best light with the least heat and glare into the spaces to achieve thermal comfort. After a thorough study of the sun’s path, both the blocks in Prince Galada are zoned to cast shadows on each other at all times during the day, reducing the harsh heat ingress. Double walls made of aerocon blocks are provided for insulation, ensuring the interior spaces are cooler and more comfortable. Windows and openings are placed strategically to ensure seamless cross-ventilation and ample natural daylight.

The plumbing shafts are designed to accommodate the outdoor AC units to ensure easy access for maintenance. The shafts are lined with closely-spaced louvers, maintaining a clean and minimal aesthetic appearance.

A color palette consisting of grey and beige is chosen for the apartment façade, enhancing the clean and minimal aesthetic. While form and aesthetics are important to any architectural intervention, functionality is central for the entire scheme to work seamlessly. A well-planned, the elevation looks effortlessly striking. This purview thoroughly resolved the plans and massing, resulting in a minimalistic yet striking elevation.

Quick Facts:

Project: Prince Galada
Location: Vepery, Chennai.
Client: Prince Foundations Ltd.
Architect: Varsha Jain
Other Consultants: Ar. Navaz, Ar. Ganesan, Kalaivani – Engineer
Commencement Date: 2014
Completion Date: 2019

Pramod Jain, Creative Architects and Interiors (CAI), Chennai

Founder

Pramod Jain is the Founder, and heads the operations at Creative Architects and Interiors (CAI), a multi-disciplinary architecture, interior and project management firm based in Chennai. Founded by Varsha Jain and Pramod Jain in 1996, the firm’s two-and-a-half decades of expertise extends to residential bungalows, mass housing, hospitality, commercial, healthcare, institutional, cultural and religious architecture. The firm has successfully delivered over 1000 projects to date across the country. Pramod is lauded for his work on large scale projects for public and private sectors, the central and state government of India and equally across various residential, commercial, hospitality, and institutional typologies. He is responsible for CAI’s attention to detail and complexities, and his unique approach to design anomalies set the firm apart from its competitors. He drives collaboration, innovation and policy compliance, defining powerful, insightful, and high-quality work. He considers the contextual reality of any project site to be the primary building block of wholesome design. Gauging the natural milieu of the project, he makes prudent decisions in optimising the building economics of projects. He has made CAI a force to be reckoned with in the building industry, and public and private sectors. His business acumen and strong technical knowledge have been instrumental in making the firm what it is today. With a PGPCM degree from NICMAR Pune, he has over 27 years of operational skills in his repertoire. His expertise lies in integrating sustainable design into sensitive practices toward the environment. Moreover, he leads larger fit-outs and operations handled by the studio, including the PMC department. He is an Accredited Professional of the Indian Green Building Council.