catching current Keywords of Interior design ?

This street flex  advertisement catches the most current common keywords in Interior Design market.

# Kitchen trolleys 

# Modular Kitchen 

# Wallpapers 

# Artificial grass

# POP False ceiling 

# Carpets

Typically aspirations for Middle class home buyers and home owners.

Most of above will come without question..like programmed subconsciously in People to be tick marked in their list of buying..

And we can add many more like

# Musical lights on false ceiling

# Hanging Victorian clock in living room

# Home theater ( if possible an AV room)

# Walk in closet

# Integrated system in Kitchen with microwave and dishwasher 

# Softboard in bedroom with pretty pictures of your world tour.

# Large pictures of your family members put in frames.

# Bench siting by the window..

......and So on...

Is Interior Design fast becoming only a Visual commodity ? 

Good to look at and Fashionable..

Where Homes look and feel like Hotel rooms.

Earlier lifestyle , traditions and culture played a crucial role in how homes were built. Different communities had different homes as per their way of life.

Have we lost the heart and soul of Design ? where home echoes the personality of the family which lives in.

.....Hrishikesh Ashtekar 

Is your Terrace safe for your children?

Recently an unfortunate incident sent shivers down the spine for many of us . A little child fell down from the seventh floor terrace in an apartment building in Pune & lost her life. Lot was said & discussed everywhere right from the academic design studios to professionals to housing society members.

The question raised everywhere was " Are terraces safe for children??"

Terrace of a home is an extended open space of the house of the upper floor. In our climatic context it is welcome as it gives people living on upper floors to enjoy the open space in day to day lives, Many developers show dreams & pictures of a family relaxing in a terrace, having a cup of morning tea or even dipping in their own private swimming pool on the terrace. Though above things do make sence if you have got a designed terrace , most of the middle income homes use terrace to dry clothes or an open space to have few potted plants etc.

You can enjoy your terrace, the way you like but just providing a checklist below to see if it is really safe for your children

1) Entry to terrace - Does your terrace have a sturdy entrance door which can be locked ?

 Many terraces have aluminium sliding doors which look great bu have weak locks that can be 

easily  opened by children when they are alone the house. It is also very common for these doors
to slide  easily & children an get locked on the terrace all by themselves if they  accidentally slide the door.Generally having a open able sturdy door in wood or metal or an additional safety door helps.
Doors should be generally closed & locked if you little children in the house.

2) Railing for the terrace - Are they high enough & designed such that a child may not kneel 
   over or slide between the railing bars?
 Terrace railing is a Design detail. Generally a  minimum height of  4' 6" high railing  is
 recommended as it gives enough security & makes it difficult for child to climb over.
 Currently there is a trend to have minimalist railing with toughened glass & Stainless steel rails.
 These look fantastic in elevation but we need to be extra careful. Even though the glass may be  
  toughened glass & may not break, the connection between glass & stainless steel pipes may be
 weak one. A railing with vertical / horizontal grill bars may be safe only if the distance between
 two bars is less than 4 inches within which a child cannot slide himself.
 A railing with wall of at least 3 feet height & pipe railing above it till 4 & half feet is safe but the
gap between rails & wall top should have close spaced grill / pipes.

3) Objects on the terrace : Do you have objects on terrace close to the parapet wall?
  We often keep potted plants or chairs or make seating in terrace nest to the railing or the parapet
  wall. All of the above provide child with objects which they can stand on & kneel over making it
  highly unsafe. Care should be taken to remove the chairs & take them in the house if we are not
  using them. Also not to keep unused stools or any such objects in the terrace.

4) Flooring of terrace : Is is slippery ?
  Terrace floor should have anti skid flooring as children or even adults may fall if the flooring is of
  smooth stone or smooth finish vitrified tiles especially as it gets wet in rains.

5) Enclosed terraces : How are the grill fixed ?
 Typically , not recommended & legal, people do enclose they terrace with tin roofs & grills in
 front. This is most common safety device, but most fabricators fix the grills on parapet wall with
 plumbing nails after the plastering is done. This is very unsafe as these nails can come off with
 time if not checked & the entire grill can come off. If you need to fix grills, it must be fixed from
 inside in metal sub frame that is fixed at the time of construction /brick work of the parapet wall.
 Details like this are critical & we must ask the developers to provide this sub frame during
 construction. In case you have a existing pipe railing fixed deeply in the parapet wall, grill must be
 welded to it to ensure safety.

6) Terrace lighting : Is there adequate light during night
 A dimly lit terrace is unsafe during night times. There should be adeqate light fixure to ensure
 good lighting levels during the night. Dark corners are highyl unsafe for children. Also they breed
 insects & mosquitoes

Though they may be many more , few are some important points I could think of & share with you . Please do check you home terrace for the above & many more to ensure that you children are safe with the terrace. Of course adult supervision for children while they are playing in the terrace is the best.

Hrishikesh Ashtekar

Customized Homes- What ? Why? & When ?

What are Customized Homes ?

In reality, Customization is nothing but Personalization of a Standard Product or an Object such that it suits your own needs.  As most of us who live in Cities, are very well  aware that due to rising cost of land & also non availability of time ,it is really difficult for us to purchase a piece of land & construct a tailor made home for our family. Hence we look for prebuilt options in apartments & housing societies which are generally developed by private developers. Here based upon our budget & choice of locality, we still come up with certain selection criteria but we still get a Standardized apartment. Thus your family & the person next door will have exactly the same house plan.

Customization of Homes is a Concept , where within the given constraints of the overall structure of entire building, the external facade, the electrical, plumbing systems & of course your budget, you make systematic changes in the standard house purchased by you.

Why to Customize your Home?

One Primary reason, is that every family is unique with its own cultural, ethnic & financial background. Life styles differ, Thus “How do we Live ?” Differ.

Requirements differ also based upon the composition of the Family. A large Joint family who is Living together in a Single apartment may require layers of privacy within the same house . But a couple with a single child or no child may have different requirements,

Another issue is the Standardization of Internal Finishes, Flooring tiles, Wall tiles, and Electrical & Plumbing fixtures given by the developer. This I have faced with few of my NRI clients or Clients who are used to different type of gadgets , plumbing fixtures which are easily available in the western countries in Europe & USA but when it comes to installing the same in India, the developers may not be aware or may not be cooperative as they are more interested in completing the  construction of the overall housing project. Currently many Home automation systems  & other advanced electrical appliances or sanitary fittings are available. It is best if same are integrated as concealed systems when construction is on,

There are many times certain issues faced by families who buy Pre owned houses. The earlier owners may have a different way of living, different liking in terms of finishes & fixtures. The other common issues seen are that if the Pre owned house is old there may be damages & repairs are required. Customization of Resale houses is different altogether as it may involve different construction techniques & strategies.  

Many times there are members in your family with special needs. There may be Old parents or grandparents who may find difficult to walk or use the standard sanitary fittings & fixtures or Little children where child safety will of immediate concern.

More common reason many times is Renovation of old home as per current lifestyle needs where ‘Customization’ can be better Strategy instead of just asking your contractor to change flooring, tiles & painting just for good looks

When to Customize your Home?

The answer is –For New homes, best time is to intervene is during construction of the building. Best stage is even before your floor slab is cast. Next best is when the columns , roof slab & floor beams are yet to be cast, where you can integrate any electrical or plumbing fixtures. Next best is when the brickwork is on & you can integrate you own systems in concealed conduits & plumbing before the internal plaster& flooring is done.

For Pre owned houses, it is best to take the Renovation step earlier before you occupy & get the sought out Customization done. But many times there has been an experience that, the real strategies for changes to be done come to your mind once you start living in the home. 

One thing to take note of that getting a Pre owned house Customized is bit more costlier as it involves repairs & breaking of earlier systems.

Process of Systematic Customization of Homes

Currently most of the time at least in India, Customization is not handled systematically. Though it requires professional help from Experienced Architects, changes are explained verbally on site by home owners to Site supervisors or Site engineers, expecting them to do the same on site. Of course many times there are mistakes & rectification is grossly overcharged. It is also seen that when you order any different fittings or material finishes, developers overcharge & quality of product is not guaranteed. Very few large developers have for large projects something which they call as ‘Changes department’ which is managed by In house Architects. Grossly In simple terms it is like popping Pills on your own without going to the doctor

Customization is a systematic & scientific approach. It required detail consultation with Architects who can diagnose your needs, study the existing systems of the house under question & give measures in form of detail drawings & documents. The costing part also remains in control as overall costing of Customization is worked out in advanced. In many cases if a certain special skilled labour is required, it can be made available. Once for an apartment in a large new housing project, when we gave a detail set of Construction drawings & Material specification along with costing sheet, the Site engineers were more than Happy with the Home buyer Family as they got a clear cut direction of what exactly to do & the construction team could complete the work well before time.

So the key is “Have your own Ideas” but “Involve Professionals” for Customizing your Homes

Ar. Hrishikesh Ashtekar

How to check the Area of your New apartment you are Purchasing?

Now a then we keep on hearing complaints by people who are booking new apartments that the size of the apartment does not seem as large as mentioned in the saleable area given by the developer.

Here is a easy way to calculate the approximate Carpet area of your house:

1)      Generally in India, currently the most commonly used tile size is around 2 feet X 2 feet (600 mm x 600mm) in dimension

      2)      Take the brochure given by the developer in your hand

3)      Standing  in the entrance door, orient the plan given in the brochure as per your standing point

      4)      Count the exact number of tiles in the Living room...

5)      You can measure a typical tile under your feet & confirm the area of one single tile (generally it is 4.0 sq ft)

     6)      Multiply the exact number of counted tiles by this area to get an area

7)      Confirm that the area is more or less matching with the Room dimensions given in the developer’s    brochure

      8)      Now go Room by Room & check each area. Also check area of common passages,
            terraces & also add area of Door Jamb (tiles in the doorway)

9)      Add all areas written by you on the Brochure to get the Total Carpet area of your home

10) Additionally the approximate Built up area (generally on which the per square foot calculation of costing is based) of the house can be calculated by adding another 20% loading of the Carpet area. Generally it is good to ask the developer what is the ratio he has considered for loading of the Built up area versus the Carpet area

There may still be a 5 % to maximum 7% percent variation in case the developers has considered room dimension from un plastered surfaces of wall of rooms, but at least any drastic variation beyond this may easily come to your notice before you book & pay your hard earned money to the developer.
On a safer side, it may still be worthwhile to spend a little & get the area exactly measured through your Architect if more variation is observed & your Developer is unable to explain the reason for it.

Ar. Hrishikesh Ashtekar

Are you thinking of Redevelopment ?

Many of you may be living in an old apartment building (may be even around 25 years old or more) with issues like leaking roofs, worn out water pipelines, toilets , lack of spaces, old style layout, narrow stairways etc.

Some of you just happen to be living in a small old bungalow built on a huge plot of land in a large city, which has now got a prime real estate value.

Some of you may be living in an apartment building with just few apartments built on a large plot, which you become aware that new apartments in the same location may give you a huge asset value

If you have any reasons similar to above , you should think of redevelopment.

Many societies are not aware about the process. I am just explaining you  the broad process as below:

1) Prepare a Redevelopment committee comprising of Chairman, Secretary & all other important & active members of your housing society

2) Consult a Legal advisor - first & foremost to check various legal issues about your property like society formation, conveyance deed , land documents, demarcation etc etc.

3) Consult an Architect to work out the Broad Feasibility for the project. Architects will give you a feasibility report (We do this !)

4) Prepare an overall file with all photocopies of latest documents, drawings, data about the plot & building & approach various reputed Developers for their quotes as to a) How much extra area they will give back to you (generally it is worked out based upon existing carpet area)  b) Kind of materials & Finishes they will be giving c) Other terms & conditions like Time line for redevelopment , rent for interim accommodation while construction is on etc

5) Alternatively Hire a Project management firm , if the society would like to carry out redevelopment without Developers

6) Selection of Developers ideally must be done in consultation of appointed Architects & Legal advisors.

7) Follow all legal steps like Memorandum of understanding & Agreement with the Developer agreed upon with total consultation of your Legal advisor

8) Asks for various alternative Designs & plans from your Developer. Have them scrutinized & checked by your Appointed Architect. Ideally all plans should be given to all society member household for their comments. If the deal is based upon existing carpet areas, have carpet areas measured of all flats through the appointed developer & ask your architect to have a random check of various dimensions in the existing area plans given by developers

9) Have a Final signoff of the designs in total consultation with your appointed Architects before the developers give them for sanctioning to Municipal corporation.

10) Confirm from the Developer that he has applied for additional TDR etc before construction begins

11) Have regular in between on site checks for all stages of construction through your appointed Architects

12) Ensure that when your flats are being constructed , the areas agreed upon are actually followed

13) Ensure that you get the same specifications & finishes as agreed upon by the developers. Same should be checked by your appointed Architects

Redevelopment is an ideal mode for having a new apartment, because apart from everything else, it gives you 'Big Chance' to get the overall plan of your apartment 'The way You want' instead of buying a prebuilt apartment in any new building where you have to make lot of changes.


Ar. Hrishikesh Ashtekar
 

Creating "Open Walls"

I have been experimenting with creating "Open Walls" in homes since quite a few years in various houses. Below is a example of our own new home in JK Hill Park - E604 in Dhayari Pune.
Apart from creating useful spaces , these "Open Wall'', changed completely the light & ventilation quality & overall 'Feel of Space'

This is how, the Wall & Space looks , Before

This is how , the Space looks after having made changes & created an "Open Wall"

 

The real change is experienced from our kitchen, as we have created a dining area just behind the low wall behind, what was the earlier entrance with creating the new entrance. By doing this we have been able to compact our kitchen in half the space of 8 feet x 8 feet.

When people move from old homes to new, they generally carry certain old elements or 'Associational Values'. In our 1BHK flat in the same locality, we had a small open wall. We carried this "Open Wall" in our new home as an associational element. The new owners to whom, we sold our earlier flat call our home as a 'Big Brother' of our earlier home

Ar. Hrishikesh Ashtekar

 

Is Carpet Area of your house same as you are paying for ?

During the purchase of a new apartment, the developer generally gives you a saleable area statement showing the Carpet area, Built up area, terrace area etc & gives you a cost sheet. It is assumed that the areas are more or less same & you proceed with the transaction. How many of us ACTUALLY CROSS CHECK the CARPET AREA, you are paying for?

Let us understand the basics. Carpet area is the usable floor area (in short, where you can lay a continuous carpet). Built up area is the area including the walls, on which the developer calculates the  per unit (per square foot) rate. Generally the loading Built up area over Carpet area in considered to be around 20%, but may also vary in case to case. This the developer should tell you when you have approached for purchase.

Recently we were approached by someone to check his carpet area of the new flat he has purchased in a prime location in Pune city. He had a doubt , the the area seemed to be less than that what the builder had mentioned. We measured our the area & it was about 40 sq ft less than what was expected, which means, at a rate of 10000/- per square feet after consider further loading on the carpet area for built up  area, he was actually paying almost rupees 5 lakhs extra. When he brought this to the notice of the developer, the developer refused point blank. Finally the person has gone to consumer court against the developer.

It may not be possible for everyone to hire Architects to get measure the apartment, but simple do it  yourself measurement techniques may help. E.g -  Just measure a single vitrified tile in the apartment. It may be 2’ x 2’ or even more. Now count the number of tiles in each room, In case of half cut tile, take the measurement. This way you can determine the area of each room. Add all areas , also including area of tile under every door & opening to get the exact carpet area.

Moral of the story is “Keep your eyes open & be aware” that you are purchasing the right area.

Hrishikesh Ashtekar

Customizing the Electical layout of your home

Customizing electrical layout of your home is a basic need for any new buyer , the prime reason being that any family which will occupy the new home will have its unique needs of living & hence a furniture layout.

Customizing an electrical layout involves a 3 stage process:

1) Developing a new furniture layout according to your needs

2) Making a new electrical layout or modifying the electrical layout from the developer in case of under construction homes to suit the new furniture layout . A common example being that you may require electrical sockets for TV or Laptops in your rooms at  "Correct Location"

3) Checking that the work has happened in similar manner & all changes have been done as per your requirement on site.

In any new home , following are points to remember:

a) Electrical layout cannot be modified every now & then, especially so when these days , conduits are concealed

b) The list of all the electrical points from developer should be checked & then new points can be added or existing electrical points can be modified

c) 5 amphier socket points are suitable for almost all fittings.
     15 amphier socket points are required only for Refrigerator, Microwave oven, dishwasher  & A.C,
     but also check any additional appliances you may have which may require 15 amp

d) Always keep additional sockets in every location

e) Provision for invertor backup wiring needs to be made during modification in case of concealed wiring. Call your invertor vendor at this stage itself

f) Take professional help of an Architect for preparing the new electrical layout & customization as he/ she may help you in better way

regards
Hrishikesh Ashtekar

Why do people live in unsafe houses?

In a recent incidence in a suburb in Pune, a recently built & occupied apartment building caved in, where a young engineer lost his life . Also numerous families were rendered homeless. Questions are being now raised about the quality of construction, responsibilities of private builders, engineers, carelessness of government etc etc, putting this debate in national news.The question which comes to mind is that “Why did people occupy a building, where structural safety was in doubt ?”

 Why do people live in unsafe houses?

 This question has two dimensions, actually two types:

Type 1: People who are unaware that their homes are unsafe

Type 2:  People who are aware but still  live in unsafe homes.

Let us understand, first the issue of “Need for Housing in Indian cities”. Currently India is one of the fastest urbanizing nations in the world. As per a report by an organization called KPMG , India’s urban population has grown at a CAGR of 2.8 percent over 2001-2011, resulting in an increase in the urbanization rate from 27.8 percent to 31.2 percent.6 Out of India’s 1.21 billion population, 377 million people are urban dwellers.

If we now look at Pune city alone, as per a recent press report in a national daily newspaper, - “The city is expected to witness a 40 per cent shortfall in the supply of housing units by the end of 2018. While it would require an additional 1,91,200 housing units, the supply is likely to be around 77,500 units, said a study conducted by global real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), “India's top eight cities, including Pune, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad and Kolkata, will contribute 23 per cent or 2.65 million units to the total demand for urban housing, the study said.

The study stated that 80 per cent of the additional demand for homes in these eight cities will come from the middle income group (MIG) and lower income group (LIG).

Such a huge demand for housing will only be created by private sector, which offers housing as a product for sale in various parts of the city. People buy homes, finally based upon their affordability. Affordability is a by product of a term called ‘Market value’ of homes. Market value is directly controlled by two factors. First an marginally variable factor of cost of construction, & second a hugely variable factor of cost of land, which changes almost every kilometre in large cities based upon factors like proximity to city centre, accessibility , quality of infrastructure, governing authority, surrounding urban development etc.

 The factor of “Safety” of home comes out unfortunately, based upon the issue of Affordability. The upper middle class who work in service industry, who get access to easy loans from reputed banks, whose repayment capacities are never questioned, who has insurance & healthcare protection etc buys homes from the ‘Reputed’ developers. High in market value due to their location of land, most of them use good standards of construction, are supervised by good engineers within standard systems , thus ensuring a basic quality which at least ensures a safe structure at end of the day.

 The middle class & lower middle class struggles to find a house within their affordable price limits & ends up moving on to suburbs, where the price of homes is less due to low land price in comparison with those near centre of cities, but there is a fair chance that the developers operating in many areas may be unknown & non qualified people .(By the way – Is there any qualification required in India to become a developer ? ,apart from ownership of land parcels). In city suburbs there are various types of housing options available to people. Even though most of the projects are sanctioned by local authorities or the local authorities may apply procedures of safety before giving completion certificates etc, many of these may be mere formalities done for the sake of making it easy for Bank loan purposes.

 Let us understand typical procedure of house buying for most people :

1) After decision to buy is made, you understand how much is your loan eligibility

2) You start looking for projects around the city either with developers or through real estate agents,

    which are new or resale flats.

3) Apart from your biggest aspect of costing, you see the house plans, interior finishes, of course Vastushastra (???), amenities given by developers i.e security, club house , gardens etc etc .

 4) You are impressed with the 3d views & elevations of building, glass , color etc

 5) You finalize the home & approach the bank.

 
6) The bank checks if the property is sanctioned by municipal corporation, if the floor you have selected is sanctioned & at the max, in case of old property it may ask you a title search report . If getting loan from a reputed bank becomes difficult due to certain reasons, you settle down for making financial arrangements from other sources & buy a property within your budget reach..

 7) After registration, you occupy the home & start living after making your beautiful interiors...

 Isn’t it strange- Within the above process – there is no attention of quality of construction, quality of RCC work, if various structural stability certificates are taken. There is no attempt to get a third party check done by structural engineers & architects, about previous wear & tear of the apartment or get useful information from the neighbourhood about reputation of developers..The same middle class family does all sorts of research about quality, usability, about safety features etc when it buys a car which comes at 20 percent of price of the apartment.

Hence most of the unfortunate people will fall in Type 1 – category – Those who are unaware ,that they are living in a unsafe Home. They come to know only when something happens, maybe structural cracks, or part of building caves in.

Ist’ it our duty to check the quality of the building, when your entire family is going to occupy the house? In various developed countries, there is a standard government procedure to get a third party check done by expert teams of Architects & Engineers before you approach the bank for loan. Why not do it before you buy?

 The second category of people i.e. Type 2- category- are the people who are aware that their home is unsafe. Buildings get wear off due to various factors like weather, poor construction quality or sheer age of building. Except a sudden earthquake, before a structure fails, it starts giving signals hours, days or even months before. Many times these signals are taken casually. I have seen buildings occupied which have a government tag of unsafe building on it. Retro fitting of building is common system & procedure, which needs to be done immediately. People avoid it for various reasons like maintenance for the building being not collected from families, waiting of government to take action, waiting for landlord to redevelop the building etc. This is like committing suicide. Today in a local daily was an article & photo of defence owned government buildings in Pune , where families continue living.

If we fall ill, we go to a Doctor, we get admitted to hospital as we fear our life may get over. When the building is ill or in better words – ‘unsafe’, why don’t we immediately vacate our home & go to an engineer ?

Any suspected unsafe building should be got examined by a structural engineer. Similar to MRI & there are non destructive tests available these days. As per the guidance of the structural engineers, specialized contractors will help retrofit the building. In case of extreme conditions, the building may have to be destroyed & rebuilt. It is better to live in a poor’s hut instead of living in an unsafe palace.

Thus ensuring your safety & avoiding damage due to building collapse is in your hands.

 
In simple words –Life is precious. Please do not risk it by living in Unsafe buildings.

Wishing your happiness & safety !

 

Hrishikesh Ashtekar

Architect

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Child Friendly Home

The Title itself suggests that any home needs to be specially designed for children. This is very true. When we are talking about children we are referring to children between 0 to 12 years who have their own specific requirements & their own world of emotions , fantasies, fears & fun. They are immersed in their own world obviously unaware of dangers of being injured due to furniture or sharp edges or falling from a height etc etc.

 

 There was a wonderful statement made by an engineer friend who remarked, “Any home where children can play & run around Blindfolded is a Well designed Home”.

 

Children need lots of “Space” to explore, to have fun. A very mundane response shown by parents while creating spaces for children is making a children’s room with a ‘typical’ colourful wardrobes, ‘Stars’ on ceiling & also very very typical “Bunk” Bed. I know of a small child of 5 years who accidently fell from one of such Bunk beds while playing & injured herself so badly that she needed to be hospitalised.

 

If we have children in our house, the parameters of design of our home can be summed up in 3- S.

 

1)  S pace

 

2)  S afety

 

3)  S ensetivity

 

 

1) Space:

When  a 6-8 month old baby learns to crawl, it requires lot of clean unobstructed space all around the house. The baby will not confine itself to the so called ‘Children’s room’. It will crawl behind its parents in all the rooms. Rooms should be free from clutter of extra furniture. As the baby grows up, it will start demanding & determining its own space. So wiser will be that in certain rooms, do not make furniture beforehand. For example, many parents with children upto 5 years prefer to sleep on matteress laid on floor, so to prevent children from falling from beds. Matresses can also be rolled up & space can be created for babies to play or for keeping their rocking chairs, play tents, or prams etc. Instead of large bulky beds, you can use folding beds.

Thus the key aspects is “Never Pre design a space” if you have growing children.

 

2) Safety:

Children are curious & are completely unaware of the dangers of getting hurt while playing. First & foremost , remove all unnecessary furniture in the house, so that children do not get hurt by getting hit from it. In small houses, it is difficult to avoid furniture. But still we can design furniture without sharp corners. In our house, my wife , a graphic designer, has skill fully detailed a  piece of furniture (chk image) with rounded edges which we have found to be safe with our children.

 

 

As far as possible , avoid Bunk beds. Have low height beds & furniture , which even if children fall from will get them less injured. Never have electrical switches , at heights where  children can reach. If you have , please install child safe switches which are available in the market. Do not have mirrors or large glass partitions in the house. Children do not recognise its presence & get hit by walking towards it. Have surfaces & furnishes which are non toxic, safe & can be wiped cleaned . Any dust accumulating surface will invite virus & infections. If you have attached terraces, it will be wiser to have extra railings till almost 5 feet height, which can prevent children from falling down. Grills are a must for low height windows.

 

 

3) Sensitivity:

 

We should be sensitive to the needs of “Our Child”, rather than copying from what is general or what some other parent has done in his home. Every child is special, with its own set of requirements. Children from different age groups require ‘different’ ergonomics & react to spaces in different manner. Look closely at how play schools are wisely designed these days. Books & Toys are kept in reach of children. It gives a little ‘chap’ a ‘big confidence’ when he or she opens his / her own little cupboard & takes her own things out & also keep them once the play is over. Against this , I know of a case, where a smart young boy of over  10 years of age came & told his parents that he was now “Grown up” & please remove the silly “Kindergarten furniture” & finishes from his room. Of course the parents had to oblige & installed a good study table, a workshop desk , white boards etc. Thus being sensitive is also to being logical about our own children & their special world.

 

Out door spaces for children:

Now let us also think about the outdoor spaces for children. Ideally outdoor spaces should be such that, when a small 4-5 year old kid is playing, the parents can keep an eye on them. This used to happen in older houses, where buildings were not more that 3-4 stories high & a annoyed mother would call her mischievous kid from the balcony. In most of the housing societies built today with multi-storeyed apartments, the developers give a “Children play area”, a small piece of land along open space with swings & slides. Very rarely children can reach this area without crossing a vehicular street. Hence mostly, in the evenings, parents escort their little ones to this children play area & stand there, till their child plays. This stops the child from exploring own their own. The generation of parents today who grew up playing, complain that their children play videogames rather than actual games, but never bother to ask or find out, where the hell their child will play football or cricket in the housing societies of today, where one cannot find a ‘Maidan’.

 

The question remains un answered or in the minds of all that “Do we analyse the needs for our growing children before making spaces for them in our homes or outside ?”

 

 

Hrishikesh Ashtekar