Good Earth

Design
FootPrints is the first phase of development at Malhar. Spread over 7 acres, this community has been kept free of
vehicular movement, with homes arranged around a network of streets and landscaped courtyards. This offers many
advantages to you as a homeowner, while ensuring that your car is within a short walk from your home. Firstly, the
cluster spaces and interconnecting streets are exclusively pedestrian, offering a safe place for residents to walk and
children to play. Secondly, the reduction of surface roads allows for more green areas and ensures that the overall
character of the layout is more human in scale. Finally, the absence of a car park results in the plots being
economical in size, leading to more usable spaces and larger private gardens.are exclusively pedestrian, therefore
safe for residents to walk and children to play. Secondly, surface roads having been greatly reduced, it allows for
more green areas and ensures that the overall character of the layout is more human in scale. Finally, the plots being
economical in size, the absence of a car results in more usable spaces and larger private gardens.
Planning
The 96 homes at Footprints are divided into 8 groups of 9-16 plots, each arranged around a cluster park. 3 central
parking courts are tucked away beneath neighbourhood parks and service 2-3 such cluster groups each. At the
entrance of each group of clusters is a drop-off point with some surface parking for visitors or residents with special
needs, beyond which a ramp continues down into the central parking area. Since the layout follows the natural slope
of the land, with clusters being a various levels, these parking courts do not resemble typical basements. They are
well lit and ventilated, and connected to the clusters through landscaped courts, sometimes even at the same level.
Facilities
o A Community club
o An amphitheatre will be at the heart of all cultural activities.
o 24 hour Security
o Underground service ducts to take care of electricity and communications.Provision for Broad band connectivity
o Backup power options using a hybrid system of solar energy and generator.
o Centralised water supply
o Common toilets and change room for servants, drivers etc.
The Community Club

At the heart of the community is an Amphitheatre and club. Leading off one of the larger parks, through the
landscaped amphitheatre, the club will have a well equipped gymnasium, a games room - with a table tennis table
and other indoor games, a pool table, a splash pool for kids and a multi purpose hall which leads into an intimate
private garden. The multipurpose space may be used by the community for get togethers, yoga, dance and music.
The adjacent park will have the volleyball court and a childrens' play space.
The Homes
The Footprints offers a variety of homes that respond to various lifestyles and budgets. Broadly there are four types
of houses available: the open plan home, the courtyard home, the split level home and the corner home; each being
available on 3-5 different plot sizes. Depending on the plot, the number of spaces and built area decreases or
increases. Apart from the variations in concept and area, each house responds to its unique position in the cluster;
with respect to its neighbours and the cluster space, to relative differences in level , its particular directional
orientation, or an unusual shape of plot.
Materials
EARTH BLOCKS:
Soil excavated from foundations, basements, tanks and water bodies is stabilized using a small percentage of
cement and moulded into blocks. We use resources from the site itself thereby reducing the amount of materials
being transported in. These blocks are specifically designed for the structure and quality control is done on-
site.Besides being engineered for strength and durability, walls made of these are aesthetically pleasing when
detailed well.
STONE:
Another locally available material with excellent insulating properties and aesthetic beauty. Today building with stone
is a craft that is slowly disappearing with the increasing dependence on factorymade synthetic materials, and
therefore the need to revive its use.
WOOD:
At Malhar, wood is more than just an aesthetic source and is seen as a sustainable resource. To promote its use as a
renewable resource, we intend to plant timber species within the community. A warm, intimate material, it replaces
high energy consuming steel and aluminium for doors and windows and can be used even for floors.We believe in
recycling old timber—from houses that are demolished, from packing cases, and from plantation timber—as opposed
to forest timber.
NATURAL STONE AND CL AY FOR FLOORS:
As natural floor materials, these are good for you and your family’s health. Wood and clay offers better insulation and
comfort than synthetic floors. Besides they age beautifully with the years.
PAINTS:
At Malhar we only use paints that are non-toxic, lead-free and low in V. O C. Volatile Organic Compounds (VO C),
commonly found in most indoor and outdoor paints, give out lowlevel toxic emissions into the air for years after
application. Lower VO C paints preserve both the indoor and outdoor air quality of your home and help your family
breathe easy.
Highlights
o There are three entries which will be demarcated with distinctive architectural features, which mark the entry into
the parking courts and the pedestrian entry to the different clusters.
o Homes are accessed through common parking courts, which are designed to restrict the walk from the car to the
home to 50m.
o 24 hour Security
o Underground service ducts to take care of electricity and communications.
o The design uses the natural lay of the land , so large open parks are created on the roof of the parking area.
o The architecture will be evocative of village like spaces and scale.
o Landscaped water bodies will serve as rainwater collection and recharge zones.
o Rainwater will be harvested from the roofs and used for domestic supply.
o The landscape will be designed to encourage biodiversity and conservation of local and indigenous species.
o Eco-Friendly Sewage Treatment Plant. and recycling of water for irrigation and flushing.
o Rain water harvesting
o Ground water recharge
o Water recycling
o Non Chemical Sewage treatment
Solid waste management

o Green Construction practices
o Integrating craft into the design
o Use of local materials
o Biodiversity and use of indigenous species in landscape

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The Community Club

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