Connect January 2024

Enhanced permeability and porosity in the urban form along with the expansion of the public and green domain for a higher livability quotient were the design challenges that we set for ourselves while undertaking the master planning and architectural design of the Lakefront parcel at Palava.

The Lakefront development is a 24-acre land parcel sandwiched between Sectors 3 & 4 of Palava. It derives its identity from the Palava Lakefront, a 30 acres wetland which is the proverbial ‘Central Park’ of Palava. This lakefront defines the northern end of the parcel while a large multilevel car park facility with retail holds the southern edge. The presence of these public programs to the north and south of the land parcel became the catalyst for the design approach. Since the cark park facility to the south was to cater to the residents of the Lakefront Development, it automatically induced a strong purposeful axis connecting it to the Lakefront along which a larger narrative could take shape.

This north-south axis is planned as a green pedestrian axis running parallel to the Palava Central Avenue to the west, which is the primary vehicular axis. Running perpendicular to these Vehicular and Green spines, are the east-west axes - a second layer of pedestrian and vehicular linkages - which create a network of interconnected yet independent pedestrian and vehicular loops. From this emerges a new urban block. The central Green Spine linking up to the wetland is envisaged to carry swales for a holistic water management and conservation strategy.

The idea of a perimeter block is retained with some tweaks. The length of the city block is practically halved, and the ground coverage is increased. These measures allowed a qualitative increase in open space while improving density. But most importantly, they allowed us to restrict buildings to under 36 meters in height. The reduced scale allows better daylight penetration for the lower floors and makes the built form more relatable to the human scale. The city block is not a complete perimeter block. It opens along the Green Spine increasing the porosity in the urban grain and allowing a greater permeability of public spaces, which eventually would foster a greater sense of community. Organization of apartments within the buildings is done to ensure that the building corner houses a balcony. This along with the placement of building entries along the corner ensures that the urban nodes are active and vibrant.

The Lakefront Development is a test case for a planning approach in which pedestrian and non-motorized transportation modes take a decisive precedence over vehicles, allowing us to create greener and walkable neighborhoods with a distinct sense of community.