Realty Industry attracting International Planners and Architects

A luxury villa designed by Giorgio Armani, an 18-hole golf course
conceptualized by Greg Norman and skyscrapers with the FX Fowle touch
– hiring global professionals has become a new trend with Indian realtors.

With the $15 billion realty sector in India booming at an annual growth
of 35 per cent and global players lining up investments worth some $10
billion, this industry has begun attracting international planners and
architects.

So don’t be surprised if fancy realty project names like Orchard Country,
Sun City, Malibu Towne, Espace Nirvana Country and Karma Lakelands also
have some top international civil engineers and architects associated
with them.

"With the influx of global realty developers in India, home grown
companies are also signing on architects and engineers with international
footprint to give a touch of class to their projects," said Kunal
Banerjee of Ansals API.
His company has hired the services of New York-based architects FX Fowle
for the projects in the national capital and surrounding satellite towns
just like what Omiros One of Australia is doing for Omaxe’s residential
towers.

And these are not the only names. Emaar MGF has hired the services
of a host of global architects – like Singapore-based SRSS Architects,
Bentel Associates of South Africa and Giorgio Armani for its various
projects in India.

"International architects have better expertise and exposure to
tackle complex projects like theme townships, golf cities or technology
parks. All need expert designers and experienced master-planners,"
said Pramod K. Magu of Unitech.

"These global players provide us access to the latest in design
and construction techniques that shorten lead time for completion,"
Magu, who is the company’s executive vice president and an architect
himself, told media.

Experts in the industry say these International names come with a price
tag, but nobody is complaining about the costs.

"Hiring an international architect costs 5-10 per cent of the
total cost, depending upon the project. The cost actually doubles compared
to what we incur by hiring Indian architects," said industry expert.

"Yes, there is just fractional increase of cost," added a
spokesperson for DLF. "The increase is around Rs 40-100 per sq
ft. But this is easily recovered from the premium of up to 20 per cent
on account of better design."

Some developers hire multiple design firms together for a single project.

Unitech, for instance, has 10 global architecture and design consultants
for the $3 billion Unitech Grande project – a super-luxury residential
complex over 347 acres along the Noida expressway neighbouring the national
capital.

This project has experts like US-based mall designer Callison and landscape
artists SWA and EDAW, as also Britain’s RMJM for architecture and interiors
and HOK for floor plans, besides Australian golfer Greg Norman.

Likewise, Ansal API’s 5,000-acre Sushant Golf City in Lucknow has the
course villas designed by New Zealand’s Woodham Meikle Zhan Architects
Ltd, golf course by Martin Hawtree and landscaping by Thailand-based
KTGY.

Photo: View of Villa Maria, Pune by DesiBoy101, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.