Skywards: Trivandrum Goes Vertical
Have you ever tried to imagine how our city will look like, a quarter of a century from now?
Don’t worry, I’m not talking about Global Warming and sea level change, so don’t close this browser window. Visualize yourself driving through the NH Bypass on a nice afternoon in 2035 Christmas week, crossing the Akkulam lake. Are you seeing what I’m seeing?
I’m talking about the prodigious highrise boom witnessed in Trivandrum now-a-days… 
Saraswathi Nilayam, when topped out in the virgin 80s must’ve definitely created a huge interest. Though a 10 storied apartment complex is too humble to be classified a ‘highrise’, (Emporis laysout a figure of 12 floors/35m for a highrise) it must surely have made some old jaws drop. So did the Spencer Building on MG road, even now a class apart when it comes to design. In fact Samarias Centerin PMG was among the first true highrises, crossing that 35m mark. It had a congruous neighbour in Co Bank Towers, a true highrise with a trendy architecture and novel features like the escalator. Hotel Fort Manor in East Fort, the SCTIMST(Sree Chitra Hospital) and co which were early lamp-bearers of the highrise culture.
Surely we all can recognize these august landmarks of erstwhile Trivandrum.
The apartment culture, which evaded the city and suburbs in recent times, has pushed the limits to a different level. Trivandrum’s peculiar geography and proximity of the International Airport meant that highrise construction within the core city areas had severe height restrictions. As you may have observed, the array of commercial structures opposite Secretariat have topped out at exactly the same height. The Kowdiar-Vazhuthacaud belt did create a slew of tall residential buildings, with SI’s Windbrook Place (17 floors) holding the ‘gigantism’ record for a while.
With the apartments dotting the city like Pine trees in a conifer forest, Trivandrum started checking the options to crack its population density problem. With the urban land costing a premium, 20+ storied structures, well over 60m height became a norm especially along the IT Corridor.
The only hinderance to the city ushering in true skyscrapers towering over 100m, was the proximity to the Airport but things have changed at the stroke of a pen. The AAI (Airport Authority of India) waived the limitations vis a vis heights a few months back, and it means that structures can zoom upto 3 times the heights permitted earlier!
In plain words, close to/over 50 floors is now possible even along the Akkulam shores! Difficult to believe? We already have 36 floor multiple towers under construction in Akkulam. And still taller ones are on the drawing board, so let’s keep our fingers and toes crossed!
What we now need is our authorities rising upto the challenge and upgrade the infrastructure crucial to promote this model of highrise development. And going skywards is definitely going to be the one option for the future, if we are looking at the ‘green’ aspect of it 
Image Courtesy: Flickr
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Author: scorpiogenius (4 Articles)
scorpio, but far from a genius. XY chromosomal, travel addict, media-holic, big-city maniac, fun loving and absent minded. That's me in a nutshell! :)
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Good one, Scorpio!
has the work on 36 floor heera project commenced???
Yes, it’s started. Please check their website.
Yes. Good research!!
I would prefer a horizontally bigger and ‘planned’ city with a good network of broad roads to a vertical one in lesser area. High rises would mean more number of people and vehicles in whatever small roads we have. Chennai (horizontal) Vs Mumbai (vertical) is an interesting comparison, with Chennai being a much lesser congested city
chennai has horizontal development because Barren land is available there. where as in mumbai or in our own trivandrum we don’t have any land left.
I prefer a vertical city with better infrastructure.
A horizontal one will require eat more energy and spits more pollution. Ofcourse a vertical city will need better roads, better sewage and water system. But it will take up only a very little land space, and in turn save some forest/agricultural land.
It is always better to focus on vertical development on a city like trivandrum. Because you can save land and thus can efficiently utilize our land. For example. the heera 4 pillars on Killipalam consists of 545 apartments. And you can see all of them concentrated on a smaller area. Imagine all these 545 families moving out to independent villas….It leads to a huge loss of green spaces and poor utilization of land.
So vertical development should be given more promotion. I expect home grown builders to build taller buildings.I expect at least 10 50plus storied buildings within 5 years.
I’m glad that that stupid kochi cant grow taller like Trivandrum. As you all know it was actually a swamp reclaimed into a city. So taller buildings means soil liquification will take place faster so there are more chances for buildings to get sunk in the soil. Also according to seismographic studies the maximum intensity of earthquake that could happen in kochi is 6.3 while in Trivandrum is 3.4 . So our city is more safer for tall buildings.
Could you give some more info on that Seismic data? All Kerala districts fall under the Seismic Zone III, and its interesting to know more about this info you’ve posted. Any pan-India information? Please give the source if possible. Thanks
Yes. I would like to see some credible source on that information. And please avoid swearing words in comments.