Marina sustainable housing, Kochi

Abstract

Sustainable development is no longer an option; it is the only way forward. The crucial breakthrough of my architecture thesis is the understanding of the former statement and its implications in the field of architecture. The thesis project ‘Marina Sustainable Housing’ in Kochi is a real life project which is proposed by Sobha Developers in Kerala. This project proposes luxurious residential green towers (high-rises) which are to be designed along with all amenities and services to accommodate around 800 units of 2BHKs and 3BHKs according to the market demand in Kochi. The chief concept is to design a sustainable housing community seeks a blend of advancement without losing touch of the nature and the essentials of modern living. The idea is to design unique homes for a vast community, which are perfect fit of luxury, contemporary, sustainable and eco-friendly. An IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) rating of Platinum is the target of this project and for this purpose, various green building techniques are to be incorporated from site level to even details of building, services and other sustainability features. In order to develop such designs, primary data is collected from live case studies with specific intentions from each. Green building housing projects in India, which are rated by IGBC were selected and studied. A comparative analysis was conducted along with my project requirements to reach inferences. Also, secondary data is composed from various literature studies about sustainability, ecological design, green spaces, vertical landscaping, standards and byelaws, and design guidelines. Subsequently, site analysis and area calculations are conducted to formulate the design requirements, and various concepts of sustainability and housing were incorporated to produce conceptual sketches of spaces and features. Accordingly the technical drawings are prepared for this project; designed spaces such as housing units, tower floor plans, sections, elevations, amenities blocks and views. After the design stage, the outcomes are evaluated to check the achievements in housing design and sustainability, and determine the predicted green rating of the project and its recognition by the Indian Green Building Council.