Mixed-Use Development, Bramhapura Railway Colony

The project develops railway land at Bramhapura Colony in Muzaffarpur, offered by the Rail Land Development Authority on a 99-year lease. ARCH-EN DESIGN is designing it for the developer. Of the 80,590 square metres of the colony, 63,337 are leased for development, with a permitted built-up area of 174,177 square metres. The development also rebuilds the existing railway colony of 152 quarters.

Towers on a podium

Five residential towers stand in a U around a raised deck. Beneath the deck, a podium of shops faces the approach road, its upper floors stepping back in curved terraces lined with planting, so that the street front reads as a series of green ledges rather than a single wall.

A garden between the towers

The roof of the podium becomes the shared garden of the homes: lawns, palms, planted beds and a covered pavilion, enclosed on three sides by the towers and open to the road on the fourth. It is lifted above the traffic and the shops, and is reached directly from the residential cores.

Arrival on foot

A broad forecourt with wide flights of steps leads up to the shops, while ramps take cars down to the basements, so the frontage is left to people on foot. A separate low building with a planted roof stands at the entrance to the site.

Green façades

Balconies with planters and trailing greenery run up the towers, giving shade and privacy, and pergolas cover the terraces on the roofs.