The Honeycomb Shop-Apartment

If the Kotapuri Shop-apartment concept works for low-cost housing, then it is quite easy to develop it further by adopting the Honeycomb concept.

This proposal for a piece of land near Putrajaya shows how the value of the floors above shops can be maximized. 

Ground Floor

First Floor Podium

2nd, 3rd & 5th Floor Plans

4th Foor Courtyard Floor Plan

Instead of the Kotapuri perimeter block layout that creates an internal courtyard, here large recesses in the external elevation form sky-courts on the First Floor and the Third Floor of the building. These elevated courtyards provide light and ventilation to the apartments that are arranged around them.

The provision of private and communal gardens for the apartments make them suitable for family living even though they are just above shops and commercial activities. In this example, there are 5 stories of apartments above the shops at Ground Floor and parking for these apartments at the Lower Ground Level.

If possible, provide all the parking outdoors off the road the circles the block. This would be a cheaper solution than basement car parks.

The layout of the apartments is typical: much like the duplex apartments that have been designed for the earlier examples of high and medium-rise housing.

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