COLOUR STYLES

Each of the colours in this edition of Colour Styles is represented with its impact on the body chakras and brings together a plethora of colour combinations. The lotus characterizes different groupings according to the 60-30-10 principle to achieve a balanced healthy colour palette. The flower is divided into three shades – the center petal gives the highlight or the accent colour (10%), the two adjacent petals represent the main colour (60%), while the extreme petals show the secondary colour (30%).

White Purity: Pundarika – White Lotus: White contains all colours of the rainbow and projects a powerful ray of confidence, assertiveness, truth and mental clarity. It is an excellent colour to use if one has mental negativity or lacks faith in oneself. Always versatile and adaptable, whites can be combined with a dash of bright colour to liven up one’s space.

Violet Vision: Sahasrara – Crown Chakra: The colour of wisdom, the colour of meditation and the colour of luxury; violet in its darkest values is dramatic, elite and sophisticated. Associated with the crown chakra, it balances physical and spiritual energies, thus increasing intuition and introspection. It is often used in the treatment of epilepsy and nervous disorders. It also aids in strengthening the nervous system and helps in purifying the body. Being the colour of mediation, violet works the best in libraries, bedrooms or a study. Used as an accent colour it gives the room depth and richness. Lavender and lilac, the tints of violet, impart a restful quality to the space.

Intuitive Indigo: Anja – Third-eye Chakra: Indigo has a calming, sedative effect on the mind. Related to the brow chakra or the third eye; indigo enhances a sense of responsibility and stability. Indigo is a great colour for the bedroom as it is believed to cure insomnia and soothe stress. It is a colour related with intuition, imagination, fearlessness, loyalty and empathy. Indigo needs to be balanced with a complementary colour as too much of indigo can generate a feeling of depression and loneliness.

Tranquil Blue: Vishuddha – Throat Chakra: Blue creates calming, tranquil effects that harmonize our conscious awareness to the subconscious mind. Associated with the throat chakra it is believed to enhance communication skills and aid artistic expression. Blue is also believed to bring relief from migraines, itching, jaundice and eye irritations. This serene and calming colour is said to bring down blood pressure and slow down respiration and heart rate. Blue is a perfect colour for the living room; one can opt for warmer shades such as turquoise or cerulean.

Tender Green: Anahata – Heart Chakra: Synonymous with the colour of nature, green acts as a balancing agent in healing as it stabilizes all the vibrational influences around us. The use of this colour promotes an attitude of acceptance and can inspire and nurture our ideas and feelings. This colour is extremely beneficial to someone with low immunity or high stress and is also know to aid relief in ailments like asthma or bronchitis and is effective in treating hyperactivity in children. It is also a great colour for balancing blood pressure, the nervous system and the heart. Green is ideal for the rooms where you wish to relax after a stressful day, like the living room or bedroom.

Yellow Warmth: Manipura – Navel Chakra: Awakening, inspiring and stimulating, like the rays of the sun, yellow awakens our mind and spirit. A strong colour psychologically, yellow enthuses confidence and optimism. It can be thus effectively used for more lethargic conditions such as laziness or lack of enthusiasm. Associated with the stimulation of internal mind, yellow helps break through inhibitions and creates a more fun and carefree attitude towards life. One can use yellow almost everywhere – cheerful yellow for a teenager’s room as it sharpens memory, deep gold for a dining room as it aids digestion, buttercup yellow can be very effective in a child’s room.

Orange Pleasure: Svadisthana – Sacral Chakra: Orange is associated with the sacral and regulates circulation and metabolism. Orange is in fact quite similar to yellow in the effect it has on us. The only difference is that orange works more closely with the emotional strength compared to the psychological effects of yellow. It is said to alleviate depression, kidney and lung problems and is beneficial in treating pancreatic and digestive problems. Orange is a great colour for office spaces and entertainment areas as it increases creative energy and concentration. It is also a good colour for an exercise room.

Energizing Red: Muladhara – Root Chakra: Red is linked with our root chakra and provides the power from the earth. It is a great colour to be surrounded by when you are feeling drained out of energy or down and out. A highly earthly and magnetic colour it can stimulate the core emotions of human being – love, passion and warmth and can create a sense of balance between your emotions and expression. Different shades of red had different effects – a bright red is used to increase vitality and inhalation, while a dark ruby is associated with enhanced vigour and willpower. It’s a great colour to use as an accent in a living room to create warm and cozy atmosphere, or in the dining area where it stimulated appetite. However, one needs to be cautions as an excess of red can over stimulate and promote aggression.

RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT IN INDIA

With time, perceptions have changed and developers have begun opting for professional management services by International Property Consultants (IPCs). They now see them as more than just manpower vendors and accept property management as a specialized and cost-saving service. This change in mind-set is evident by the increasing number of housing societies that are now engaging IPCs for professional property management services.

Today, the market for property management by IPCs in India is valued at around INR 1000 crores, and it will grow by at least 20% annually. The maximum demand for these services is in the NCR region, which has seen a massive supply of projects and has an equally staggering number of projects in the pipeline. The second highest demand comes from South, primarily Bangalore and Chennai. In Mumbai, these services are preferred more for the commercial office buildings and high-end residential societies.

Making a Decisive Difference

Usually, limited integrated service providers venture into managing of residential condominiums and ensure that the (Resident Welfare Association) nominates members for responsibilities of maintaining and employing security & housekeeping companies directly to reduce the cost. This is a redundant model. Companies like JLL have core expertise to manage these services, across local geographies with international synergies for best practices. In other words, IPCs specialized in property management provide a one-stop solution and additionally support in various technical aspects to professionally and cautiously manage safety, security, cleanliness, etc., and maintain very strict adherence to statutory requirements. This ensures both tangible and intangible benefits.

For residential property management to become feasible for both the client and the agency, the total saleable area of the project would be around 300,000 sq. ft. for a mid-level housing society. The general list of services includes the following:

ü  Electro-Mechanical (E&M) Services

ü  Housekeeping Services

ü  Security Services

ü  Club-house Management

ü  Events Promotions Management

ü  Promotion Displays / Space On Hire

ü  Help-Desk / Concierge Services

ü  Hardscape / Landscape Management

ü  Garbage Management

ü  Events & Promotions Management

ü  Vendor Management

ü  Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) Management

In the case of cities like Mumbai, there is demand for enhanced services which includes additional aspects such as club house management.

Residents’ Responsibilities

Though professional property management in residential complexes encompasses a multitude of functions and services geared towards providing a comfortable and hassle-free experience for tenants, there is a certain onus of responsibility on the tenants as well. Without such cooperation, the smooth functioning of the project is bound to be compromised sooner or later.

To encourage this participation, two sets of guidelines are handed over to tenants. The first is the fit-out guidelines list, which highlights the do’s and don’ts that residents need to adhere to while undertaking fit-outs in their apartments. The basis of these guidelines is to avoid structural damage to the building. These guidelines also include a set of instructions pertaining to how to bring materials into their flats without causing disturbance to other residents. The other set of guidelines is an Occupant Handbook. This highlights the list of do’s and don’ts to be followed during occupancy. This handbook is typically modified, depending on the requirements of the developer and the society.

Cost To Developer or Society:

The average cost of professional residential property management is Rs. 2-3.5/sqft for normal projects and between Rs. 5-7/sqft for premium housing projects. In the case of housing societies, maintenance charges or common area maintenance charges (CAM) are worked out to include all expenses required for operating and maintaining the society. Besides day-to-day expenses, the expenses also include AMCs, insurance and sinking fund. The developer may typically add overhead expenses for infrastructure and resources provided by them to maintain the society. CAM charges are generally kept fixed for a period of 1 year and any upward or downward revision of the same may be done in subsequent years annually, with surplus or deficit being credited or debited to align CAM as per expenses.

Savings and Other Benefits:

Significantly, the increase in interest in buying into or tenanting residential buildings that feature professional property management services – as opposed to buildings that do not – is between 30-40%. The cost savings to developers / project owners who opt for professional property management services rather than relying on their own capabilities depend on the type and age of the building. However, a saving of at least 5-7% is generally achievable in the initial stage. This figure cumulatively increases as the various processes being implemented edge out redundancies and increase efficiency.