Escape To The Woods

Campus Woods is located on 1 acre of land near the CUSAT Campus at Kalamassery in Kochi, Kerala.Ideally situated on the fringe of the bustling city, Campus Woods enjoys prime location advantage. With its lush landscape,easy access to highways, proximity to civic amenities and a host of other facilities, Campus Woods promises to make your life more luxurious and comfortable. This cosy township has three apartment blocks with units ranging from 1, 2 and 3 bedrooms facilitating ample scope for selection based on personal tastes and budgets.

Campus Woods:Luxurios Interiors

The NeST Project & Asset Management division offers a complete range of services viz. handling township management, house keeping, security, mechanical & electrical services, environmental health & safety management, horticulture, club management, mall management, pest control services, landscaping services & waste management. The primary objective of the division is to help reduce operating costs, enhance property value & simultaneously maintain a superior living environment for all residents. The home care division takes care of any and all nitty gritty issues that property owners may face and also offers solutions like remittance of statutory payments to local bodies, taxes, telephone, electricity, water bills etc. The Rental division helps to assess rental value, advertise and show property to potential tenants, draw up rental / lease agreement, follow up, collect security deposit, monthly rental payments and account the same. In the necessity of sale of a property, advertisements, showing the property to prospective buyers and complete end to end solutions will be handled by this division

Campus Woods: Planned Ariel  View 

NeST Infratech is the Realty and Infrastructure division of the multinational billion dollar Nest Group
conglomerate. Founded in 1991 by Dr. Javad K. Hassan and N. Jehangir, and head quartered in Chantilly, Virginia with worldwide offices in Europe, Japan, India, Middle East, and Australia, NeST Group is a well diversified Global Company that has now forayed into the realty sector with Nest Infratech. Offering exclusive living solutions at prime locations in cities across India, Nest Infratech has operations in Cochin & Kottayam and upcoming projects in Trivandrum and Calicut

Reference Campus Woods

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.

From Homes To Apartments,The Booming Residential Trend

The lifestyle hype happening in Kerala leads to the massive migration of people from their traditional house to apartments. New generation jobs, work timings, and international work culture pave the way for the new residential migration.
 To decide which residential style suits for a family is still a tiring head ache,both sides have their own pros and cons. But the Kerala roots in the of native people, try to sustain the homely atmosphere adjusting to the apartment habits. Kerala’s premium builders like Nest Infratech provides the awe inspiring villas and new generation apartments just the way they are meant to be.

" The World Villas" in Cochin

The main milestones which makes the apartment migration to hype are

1)Location ; Apartments located at the heart of the city makes transportation easy
2)Family safety: Since the apartment lifestyle gives a large community around your family, it really ensure the safety when key person is traveling away from their home leaving family alone
3)Freedom of choice: The vast number of builders and their projects give the power of choice to select the best design and some even provide custom designs also

Since the Kerala life style gives more important to relationships and family, the apartment lifestyle is more micro compared to the traditional life style.the cons of having an apartment are

.Limited freedom to make modifications to the exteriors your home.
.Very limited space for gardening and personal hobbies.
.Maintenance comes at a cost.
.Sound interference from nearby apartments can be a nuisance.
.No flexibility to expand the space for future needs as your children grow or if
 your parents move in to live with you.

Talking about the nature of a home or an apartment ,deals with the location, design as well as careful planing of effective utilization of resources, The Flagship project of Nest infratech ,“The World Apartments” and The World Villas” ensures the Eco friendly nature, keeping the ethnicity of owning a Kerala style home ,which comes with,higher freedom.We just have to convert the house to a home with the family ambiance.

"The World Apartments" at Alwaye, Cochin.

  The advantages of having a home are
• Ability to design the house as per your wish.
•An independent house provides you greater degree of freedom.
• Future modification of exteriors as per the latest trends and wishes.
• If you have keen interest in gardening then you would have a space to build on your interest or grow your pets.
• Privacy with no sound pollusion.
• You can always expand the space as per requirement in the future when your children grow up.
• You can develop the higher floors when you want to make some additional income through rent.

As an answer to this dilemma, some of the people find owning a personal villa excluding the higher price tag comfortable,since it actually overlaps the advantages of apartments and homes neglecting the cons of owning them. Which decreases the intensity of the problem to an extent.

Why passive houses are a strong choice.

It's the era of smart homes; homes that are efficient enough to eliminate the troubles of mechanical heating and cooling of a building through smart, time-tested heating and cooling features.

You all must have juggled the improved ideas of contemporary, modern, country-style and traditional style while building your new home. But every one of these styles, as productive as they sound, does not really stand up to the energy efficiency standards. That’s where passive homes come in; as energy saviors that eliminate the need for auxiliary heating and cooling. 

In harmony with the climate

When it gets really hot during hard summer days, it’s hard to cut the growing heat in your interiors. Passive home designs take advantage of the climate to make sure the occupants endure a thermally comfortable temperature in the interior. Understanding the principles of thermal comfort, these homes put you in a comfortable temperature range at all times.

A passive home design

Reduce Carbon emissions

Whether or not global warming is a matter of concern to you, every house plays its part in the alarming rise of carbon emissions around the globe. It is not just factories and vehicles that billow smoke but also our own homes. Ever since the passive homes have come into existence, the energy conservation standards promised are indeed overwhelming. Especially when it claims to slash carbon emissions by 80%, we know there’s push for a better future. 

Save Money

Passive houses make more economic sense than the modern day homes and it is more bang for your money when you decide on building a passive house. Though not cost-efficient during the initial outlay, in the long run passive homes turn more than significant as it lets you cut the cost of energy bills by 90%.

Minimize air leakage, breathe improved air 

It’s not something you want when you have conditioned air in the house let out uncontrollably through cracks and openings. Passive homes minimize air leakage with an effective ventilation system. The sophisticated ventilation system in a passive home efficiently controls the humidity. The air that enters the home is filtered and warmed, and old air is exhausted out.

Intelligent shading and window orientation

Passive homes avoid heat gain through intelligent shading and window orientation. This impressive system provides improved indoor air quality.

A passive home in Germany.

Conclusion

The seemingly more logical idea of a passive house is slowly planting its feet in Indian uptowns. The growing urge to find more sustainable choices of home design has paved way to create a sense of awareness and more passive homes are cropping up.

Today, there's a large chunk of the world's energy gobbled up by modern day homes. It is definitely time we seek sources of sustainability; it's time to get the new builds more efficient.

  

 

 

JKH Signature Apartments

JKH signature is  a premium waterfront apartment project from Nest Infratech. It is located on the banks of Periyar river, Alwaye, Kerala.This dream project is conceived and conceptualized by none other than Dr Javed. K.Hassan, the chairman and founder of the Nest group. It is a much awaited project from Nest with a unique feature, as all the properties will be personally allotted by the Chairman to the aspirants chosen by a panel of experts based on a certain criteria. 

Another great fact is that all these projects are available at a reasonable price range. You can now bring excellence to your existence with the wide range of amenities available at JKH signature apartments. Some examples of such amenities available are discussed below:

Incredible interiors: All the rooms are airy, spacious and trendy. Every room makes a unique style statement and you will surely experience 365 days of delight. 

Lively interiors at JKH Signature apartments

Proximity: This project is fortunately located at one of the prominent locations of Cochin.   It is just 300 metres away from the proposed sea port and 2.5 metres from the proposed metro. The Alwaye railway station and bus stand are also close by. You can go wherever you want in a matter of few minutes like shopping centres, hospitals, recreation areas, and educational institutions. When you have all these facilities around, your life becomes much easier like never before. 

Green Building: As JKH Signature apartments come under the list of green buildings, you can proudly tell the world that you are living in an environmentally responsible building. Enjoy the benefits of a green home especially when you can lower your  operating costs with the water and energy savings right from day one.

Relaxing Zone: After a long tiring day, there are many relaxing zones awaiting you at the JKH signature apartments.The infinity pool with water fall, landscaped gardens, private boat jetty are just few examples for such spaces.

A view of the private boat jetty at JKH Signature apartments

Security: When you are into community living, security is often a major concern. At JKH Signature apartments, you get added benefits like round the clock security. Video door phone with camera outside front door, intrusion alarm system, and guard tour system are the other unique security facilities available at these apartments.

Sports and Recreation: Now kickstart your day by hitting the roof top multi gym. You can  jog in the jog trails or  play some badminton or lawn tennis in the respective courts. If you are fond of indoor games, then also you have separate billiards, table tennis, card and chess rooms. There is also a clubhouse and party area for having a great time with your friends and family. 

Fitness gym at JKH Signature apartments

Parking space: There is a spacious covered car parking area. Apart from that, each home has a special slot for parking  two cars. 

Connectivity: Internet broadband connectivity and intercom facility make connectivity and communication easier like never before.

In-house convenience store: There is an in-house convenience store, you can go there if in case you wish  to buy something. 

Update your life by receiving all these amenities and add life to your living. When you live at JKH signature apartments, you can always keep your heads high!

How To Make Your Home Cool During Summer Season?

Gone are the days when weather forecast made on television were mostly accurate. Now we can’t solely depend on such predictions as day by day our weather is getting unpredictable. The planet earth is getting heated up in such a way that we can now feel the sun even inside our homes.The worst part is that you can’t always switch on the air conditioners 24x7 due to the rocketing electricity charges.

Here are a few tips that help you to get rid of the furnace-like feeling inside your home

• First of all declutter your home by taking off all the old furniture and newspapers. When you free some space, then itself you can feel a great difference in the heat. If you have heavy,dark coloured synthetic drapes at your home, then replace it with attractive and light coloured sheer curtains. Pick some refreshing colours like lime green, orange or aqua blue to bring in a cool,soothing effect inside your home.

• Add on some greenery to your homes by keeping few potted plants. Plants not only adds to the aesthetic appeal, but also give a freshness to your living spaces. You can either keep fresh flowers in vases or place them in a bowl full of water. It will give a cool, refreshing feel during summer.

• If it's too hot inside your home, hang a piece of long wet cloth near your window. The cool air from the water will evaporate and blow towards you when you leave your window open. Keep your drinking water in an earthen pot, you will be able to drink naturally cooled water all the time, not only that it will also keep your room cool.

• Reduce the usage of lights at your home as they tend to heat up your rooms. Use dim light especially fluorescent lamps as they provide a lighting effect that is much cooler than other ordinary lamps. Apart from that, it also consumes less electricity.Though fluorescent lamps are quite expensive, it’s better for your homes.

• Switch off all the electrical appliances at your home when not in use. Don't leave your doors closed always. It's good to keep the doors open for sometime to get some breeze inside your home. Do not keep any heat generating appliances like television,lamps near the air conditioner. If you do so, then it makes the room more warm.

• Avoid cooking during noon hours as most of the home appliances generate more heat during that time. In case if you have to cook during that period, then use a fan that directs the heat outside the window.

• Stick to fans rather than air conditioners. Before you switch on the ac, it's better to put on the fan as it allows your room to cool down. Open your windows in the night when it’s coolest.

• It's good to use white colour or light shades for your ceilings as it makes your room cool.

• Avoid landscaping with rock or cement on the south-west sides of your home as it radiates more heat towards your home.

Nalukettu Architecture Of Kerala

Kerala is witnessing an interesting trend in home architecture: the return of the traditional ‘Nalukettu’.
Homeowners cite a variety of reasons for this rising trend, ranging from superior ventilation to nostalgia.
This is especially noticeable in the preferences of returning NRIs who relocate back to Kerala, not just for their love of the land but also because Kerala offers spacious and comfortable housing at affordable prices.

A Traditional Nadamuttam in Kerala

The history of the Nalukettu style of architecture is an interesting one. Even the veteran novelist M.T Vasudevan Nair has written a novel entitled 'Nalukettu which is considered to be a classic piece in malayalam literature. Nalukettu model houses have been even showcased on big screen. For instance, you can see a glimpse of it in the Mangalassery Mana, the home of the protagonist Neelakandan played by Mohanlal in the movie ‘Aramthampuran’.

Nalukettu architecture is basically a rectangular shaped structure wherein four halls are joined together with an inner courtyard called 'Nadumuttam' which faces the open sky. The four halls on the sides are named Vadakkini (Northern block), Kizhakkini (Eastern block), Thekkini (Southern block) and Padinjatti (Western block). Nalukettu also consists of a basement storage room called “Nilavara”. Many believe that this form of architecture have been inspired from the“Pagodas” of South Asia and Aryan Culture. The union of four blocks is vital in Nalukettu. The open courtyard to which these four blocks faces is also very important when its considered in terms of dimensional ratios and size. The building materials like  red bricks, mud and woods used in Nalukettu were also locally available.


Nalukettu was a typical feature of the Tharavadu houses in Kerala and most of the joint families lived under one roof in such homes. This architecture concept was purely based on Thatchu Shasthra, the Science of Carpentry and Traditional Vasthu. Just like Nalukettu, you can also find Ettukettu (a house with two nadumuttams) and Pathinarukettu (a house with four nadumuttams) in Kerala. All these houses had a simple layout and sheltered numerous people.

Nalukettu architecture was evolved in the era of feudal lords, Nairs and Namboothiris who were known for their aristocracy and caste dominance. When years passed, these traditional houses were dismantled due to several reasons. The socio-cultural changes was a major cause behind it. With the emergence of nuclear family system, people said bye to the Nalukettu system. The heavy maintenance costs of wood also made many to stay away from it. Lack of skilled carpenters specialized in this genre of architecture was also another reason. As a result, most of the Nalukettu homes were converted to museums, ayurvedic health care centres and home stays. Now,only few ancient Nalukettu homes exist in Kerala.

The 'Nalukettu' concept has come into vogue once again. Nowadays many people wish to own a Nalukettu home with a ‘nadumuttam’.You can easily identify the popularity of Nalukettu homes by looking at the projects of renowned builders in Kerala. Nestinfratech’s ‘The World villas project is a perfect example for it. This township comprises of architectural styles that includes contemporary as well as traditional Nalukettu Villas and luxurious apartments, ranging from 29 lakhs. The World sprawls over an area of 25 acres in the ever bracing surroundings of Alwaye.

Nalukettu Villas From Nest Infratech

Nalukettu architecture gives excellent ventilation for your homes and you will absolutely enjoy the natural sunbath experience inside your home. Such homes are just perfect for Kerala's weather and you also won't feel much heat inside your home even when it's boiling outside. You will just love that feeling when tiny rain drops fall inside the Nadumuttam in your home. For non resident Indians who crave for a touch of tradition, Nalukettu homes are a perfect choice.