Embassy Lake Terraces
Bangalore, India
Location:
Bangalore, India
Built Area:
3,250,000 SF
Client:
Embassy Group
Status:
Completed
The Brief & Vision
The brief from our Client Embassy Group was simple; all apartments were to be large. The vision was bold, to take advantage of the excellent location on the northern city-fringe of the expanding city of Bangalore.
Conceptual Approach
The generous and regular form of the site plus the neighbouring surrounds of Hebbal lake providing protected long city views provided a contextual setting for the development. A typical approach to high rise, large scale designs would be to divide the allowable area into similar towers and place them across the site to afford views and interstitial spaces. The bold vision, all apartments to be large, we felt deserved to offer the buyers variety of choice. Variety being choice of location, view, orientation, height of floor and relationship to the outdoor spaces. It was also important to offer identity, to foster a sense of ‘home’ in the area that one could choose to buy in the development.
The approach of creating identical towers we felt, did not address these ideals or indeed maximise the potential that the large site offered us which was space. Placing multiple towers on a large site would dissect the outdoor spaces into smaller parts. In a city where large home owners have typically grown in houses with gardens, the outdoor spaces were as important as the home itself.
To resolve this the form was divided into two distinct 11 storey wings which were cranked to address the views and to maximise the distance between the two wings. Onto the wings, five 8 storey towers were placed above the roof of the two wings and rotated to address the view corridors towards the neighbouring Hebbal lake and to avoid overlooking. The rotation in the towers orientation separated the lower form of the wings (later named the Garden Wings). This helped to separate the two forms and create an identity of their own. To accentuate the identity of the largest apartments (known as Signature Towers), they were placed at the end of the wings and extended down to the ground floor and are afforded clear views of Hebbal Lake.
Amenities
Supporting the approach taken in the massing of the building, the amenities take full advantage of the built forms. Rather than place a singular separate form within the landscape, the amenities took advantage of the variety of roofscapes, tower tops and areas of void deck offered by the elevated towers. This also expanded the green footprint of the site and extended the available areas for amenities to be placed and maintain the openness of the ground floor landscape.
The expansive ground level landscape absorbs the communal and outdoor play activities and amenities. The Function Room is a dramatic change in form overhanging the Water Garden and outdoor swimming pool with a poolside café beneath. An indoor swimming pool, tennis, squash courts and activity trails are placed beneath the elevated buildings and the lower periphery of the site to minimise visual interruption. Commercial convenience outlets are placed beneath the elevated buildings and can be directly accessed by all residents via the open-air lift lobbies at ground floor.
The Sky Decks at the 11 floor roof level between the Garden Wings and the Towers above are utilised with further amenity facilities curated around families, entertainment and play providing dramatic views of the development and beyond towards the north, Hebbal Lake and south to the city. A Club Lounge is situated on the upper floor of one of the Signature Towers. A Residents lounge offering F&B and meeting facilities with expansive cityscape views.
