Stacked housing for mixed income groups in Bengaluru
Sixteen floors including a basement and ground floor, Spectra Palmwoods is a group housing project in Bengaluru designed by city firm CnT Architects. The development has multiple-size units ranging from 1200 to 2400 sq ft catering to various income groups.
This design was achieved by creating a central public space for the whole community. Units were then designed and segregated into terrace homes, garden homes and sky homes. Terrace homes are the bottom five floors of 15 floor high towers. These are four-bedroom units with a back yard and green terrace. Garden homes are the units from floor 6 to 12 with a deck area, and sky homes are duplexes with terrace deck on the top two floors.
The firm says they experimented with the way the different unit typologies were stacked, which was vertical, in contrast to the usual practice of mixing larger and regular units in the same floor plate, or by providing separate buildings.
This mix in an L-shape organisation of blocks helped create large public plaza, placed thoughtfully on the side shaded from harsh sunlight almost throughout the day.
