JKH Signature - The Ultra Luxury Waterfront Apartment

                JKH Signature is an ultra luxury waterfront apartment project on the banks of river Periyar, Alwaye, Kerala, which will be unparalleled in the finishes and amenities offered. It is a dream project conceived and conceptualized by Dr. Javed K Hassan, Chairman, Nest Group, and will have just two air-conditioned pent houses and 46 presidential apartments.

JHK SIGNATURE

JKH Signature is a place where you can luxuriate in this ambience for life and is an epitome of elegance and absolute comfort. Utterly unique in design and truly magnificent in conception, JKH Signature offers a lavish lifestyle with the sophistication and level of luxury on par with the very best. The properties will be personally allotted by the Chairman to each fortunate aspirant chosen by a panel of experts based on certain criteria.

Luxurious Living Spaces

This premium apartment  incoporates some of the state of the art technologies like

1) Entry with Biometric lock and proximity Card.
2) Central, hybrid air conditioning (VRV) with individual room controls for each apartment.
3) Construction based on green building technologies.
4) Special facade lighting for special night effect.
5) Rain water harvesting.
6) Private boat jetty
7) Canti levered terrace gardens
8) Sauna and Jacuzzi
9) Clubhouse
10) Barbeque counter
11) Children’s play area.
12) Billiards, Table tennis, Card and Chess room
13) Elegant lobby
14) Internet broadband connectivity, Intercom facility
15) Security cabin and Round-the-clock security
16 Home theatre, CCTV, Wi-Fi, Channel music in lift and common area. and much more .

Spruced Up Living

Grab your own world class living space with Kerala's Best Builder, with all the luxuries at the centre of the city!! For more details :Nest Infratech

Echoes Of Kerala Architects

The voice of Indian as well as Kerala architecture hold its own importance in architecture in our daily life, The use of vastu is a booming trend between elite builders. Here we are exposing the life of  some of the legends in architecture who have Kerala roots.

Laurie Baker

Indian Coffee House,Trivandrum

Laurie Baker : Laurence Wilfred "Laurie" Baker (2 March 1917 – 1 April 2007) was a British-born Indian architect, renowned for his initiatives in cost-effective energy-efficient architecture and for his unique space utilization and simple but aesthetic sensibility. Influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, he sought to incorporate simple designs with local materials and achieved fame with his approach to sustainable architecture as well as in organic architecture. He has been called the "Gandhi of architecture".

He moved to India in 1945 in part as an architect associated with a leprosy mission and continued to live and work in India for over 50 years. He became an Indian citizen in 1989 and resided in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala from 1963 and founded COSTFORD (Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development),Throughout his practice, Baker became well known for designing and building low cost, high quality, beautiful homes, with a great portion of his work suited to or built for lower-middle to lower class clients.

 His buildings tend to emphasize prolific - at times virtuosic - masonry construction, instilling privacy and evoking history with brick jali walls, a perforated brick screen which invites a natural air flow to cool the buildings' interior, in addition to creating intricate patterns of light and shadow. Another significant Baker feature is irregular, pyramid-like structures on roofs, with one side left open and tilting into the wind. Baker's designs invariably have traditional Indian sloping roofs and terracotta Mangalore tile shingling with gables and vents allowing rising hot air to escape. Curved walls enter Baker's architectural vocabulary as a means to enclose more volume at lower material cost than straight walls, and for Laurie, "building [became] more fun with the circle." A testament to his frugality, Baker was often seen rummaging through salvage heaps looking for suitable building materials, door and window frames, sometimes hitting a stroke of luck as evidenced by the intricately carved entry to the Chitralekha Film Studio (Aakulam, Trivandrum, 1974–76): a capricious architectural element found in a junk heap.

Eugene Pandala

Eugene Pandala: Eugene Pandala studied for a Masters in Urban Design at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. He had his Fellowship in Heritage Conservation at University of York and at Fort Brockhurst (English Heritage Training Centre) in the U.K. He was the founding head of the department of Architecture at the Architecture School in Quilon where he spent educating and researching on traditional building technologies of India.

Pandala while studying at Delhi School of Planning and Architecture met the legendary architect Hassan Fathy, and was inspired to build with mud. As a nature lover, and cultural heritage conservation activist, he designs buildings with natural materials such as cob or wattle and daub, preferring interesting organic forms. Pandala built his first mud house in Kollam in 1996,comprising 2,500 sq. ft. of building, bringing him to the public's attention.

Mud House

His unique Architecture style paved way to many awards, and recognition. In 2011, Lalith Kala Academy awarded him the first Laurie Baker award .(The Hindu The Sunday, Jan 30,2011). The Designer of the year Award given by Inside Outside design magazine in 2007 (Kerala artist retreat bags best eco-friendly design award Business Standard Sunday, Mar 25, 2012) was for eco friendly design. His heritage Conservation project in East Fort Trivandrum was chosen for a commendation award by Inside Outside magazine in 2004. In 1999 for one of his residential building built with mud "Bodhi", Pandala was given, a Commendation award, by J.K. Foundations, Architect of the year award.

Fort Cochin Heritage conservation project, Trivandrum East Fort Conservation projects, is often cited as good examples of Kerala heritage conservation initiatives. This was led by Eugene Pandala’s conservation team, enabling the State Government to win the PATTA award. Sustainable architecture/Green buildings is a field where Pandala has excelled. His Tsunami rehabilitation projects, and buildings for hospitality industries receives wide acclaim due to its interwoven complicity with nature.

Kerala's elite builders like NeST Infratech, encompass low cost ideas which makes the design more exquisite , following the path of these legends of architecture.

Indian Architecture through the ages

Everything which is human made has evolved with time. Indian architecture has evolved through various ages in different regions of the country. Indian architecture was generally affected by the emergence and decay of great empires and dynasties. India faced a massive change in styles of architecture through these times, but remained to have the most famous and beautiful piece of architecture till date.

Indus Valley Civilization (2700 BC-1700BC)
The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization (2700–1700 BC) that was located in the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of what is now mainly modern-day Pakistan and northwest India. 

The civilization is noted for its cities built of brick, roadside drainage system, and multistoried houses. The baths and toilets system the cities had is acknowledged as one of the most advanced in the ancient world. The mature phase of this civilization is known as the Harappan Civilization, as the first of its cities to be unearthed was located at Harappa. 


 
Post Maha Janapadas period (1500 BC - 200 AD)
The Buddhist stupa, a dome shaped monument, was used in India as a commemorative monument associated with storing sacred relics.  The stupa architecture was adopted in Southeast and East Asia, where it became prominent as a Buddhist monument used for enshrining sacred relics. Fortified cities with stupas and temples were constructed during the Maurya empire (321 BC– 185 BC).  

Wooden architecture was popular and rock cut architecture became solidified. Walled and moated cities with large gates and multi-storied buildings which consistently used arched windows and doors are important features of the architecture during this period. The Indian emperor Ashoka (273 BC - 232 BC) established a chain of hospitals throughout the Mauryan empire by 230 BC.  A long tradition of art and culture was already established well before the beginning of 20th century in India. Indian painting can be broadly divided into two categories - MURALS and MINIATURE.

Early Common Era - High Middle Ages (200 AD -1200 AD)
Universities housing thousands of teachers and students flourished at Nalanda and Valabhi between the 4th-8th centuries. Maru-Gurjara Architecture show the deep understanding of structures and refined skills of Rajasthani craftmen of bygone era.

The South Indian temple consists essentially of a square chambered sanctuary topped by a superstructure, tower, or spire and an attached pillared porch or hall (maṇḍapa, or maṇṭapam), enclosed by a peristyle of cells within a rectangular court. North Indian temples showed increased elevation of the wall and elaborate spire by the 10th century. Richly decorated temples including the complex at Khajuraho were constructed in Central India.


Late Middle Ages (1100 AD - 1526 AD)
Vijayanagara Architecture of the period (1336 - 1565 AD) was a notable building style evolved by the Vijayanagar empire that ruled most of South India from their capital at Vijayanagara on the banks of the Tungabhadra River in present-day Karnataka. This resulted in the creation of a distinctive imperial style of architecture which featured prominently not only in temples but also in administrative structures across the deccan.

 









Islamic influence and Mughal Era (1526 AD-1857 AD)
Mughal tombs of sandstone and marble show Persian influence.The Red Fort at Agra (1565–74) and the walled city of Fatehpur Sikri (1569–74) are among the architectural achievements of this time - as is the Taj Mahal, built as a tomb for Queen Mumtaz Mahal by Shah Jahan (1628–58). Employing the double dome, the recessed archway, white marble and parks while stressing on symmetry and detail was visible during the reign of Shah Jahan.

Colonial Era (1500 AD—1947 AD)
Under colonial rule, architecture became an emblem of power, designed to endorse the patron. Numerous outsiders invaded India and created architectural styles reflective of their ancestral and adopted homes. The European colonizers created architecture that symbolized their mission of conquest, dedicated to the state or religion. The British, French, Dutch and the Portuguese were the main powers that colonized India.

 







Republic of India (1947 AD - Present )
In recent times there has been a movement of population from rural areas to urban centres of industry, leading to price rise in property in various cities of India. Urban housing in India balances space constrictions and is aimed to serve the working class. Growing awareness of ecology has influenced architecture in India during modern times. Though old, this Eastern tradition has also incorporated modern values as India became a modern nation state. As the country became more integrated with the world's economy, traditional Vastu Shastra remains influential in India's architecture during the contemporary era. Climate responsive architecture has long been a feature of India's architecture but has been losing its significance as of late.

During all these times, though India had been designed and demolished many a times but still it stands proudly and attracts millions of tourists from abroad because of its beautiful piece of architecture. Indian architecture reflects its socio-cultural sensibilities which vary from region to region.

Nest Infratech is the real estate and infrastructure development wing of the multi-billion dollar multinational company, the Nest. The company gives shape to some of the most ambitious and luxurious living spaces across the country. Nest Infratech believes in building future by keeping the past architecture records as an inspiration to do great things in an creative way.