Svasa Homes
INTENTION
Envisioning homes for modern Indian royalty.
THE CANVAS
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Basavanagudi, Bangalore
THE LOCATION
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Business families
THE DEMOGRAPHIC
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3 Acres of land
THE LOT SIZE
DISCOVERING DEEP DRIVERS
What are the makings of contemporary Indian royals?
Resulting commonalities from a three month study comprising observational research, sensory cue exercises, and qualitative interviews with thirty high net worth Indian families:
Indian family values
The Indian family unit is rooted in timeless values. Each family member plays a role ranging from nurturing to growing to preserving.
International lifestyle
From education to business to travel, the members of each family displayed a reverence for the world and astute taste and preference for global brands.
Greater good mindset
Be it family business owners, those on the C Suite of large companies, or Tech Founders, leadership and philanthropy were common traits discovered.
COMMON DESIRES
A well rounded life
Wisdom & knowledge
Status & influence
Ephemeral luxuries
A sense of belonging
DEVISING AN ARGUMENT
The wheel of life
A framework rooted in Indian culture prescribing a life of balance.
To create a centered product that spoke to the shared desires of the ideal customer for the brand Svasa Homes, a study of Indian philosophy and literature presented a metaphor. The operating premise of the wheel of life is that for one’s life to embody movement, it must balance eight facets for an individual.
Aligning the framework for a well balanced life to the deep drivers of the ideal residents of Svasa Homes, the ethos of the brand comprised the following pillars.
DEFINING THE BRAND PILLARS
Heritage
Luxury
Community
CURATING A TEAM
Multidisciplinary creative viewpoints
C( )RE Experience
Hiring, grooming and nurturing a team who to be the custodians of the brand Svasa Homes.
Mancini Enterprises
Persuading industry stalwarts to co-create the vision for the community and outdoor spaces.
Gayathri & Namith
Influencing the architects to embed the customer drivers into the design delivery of the living spaces.
TRANSLATING DEEP DRIVERS TO THE PLANNING
Disruptive thinking
ONE PREMIUM SIZE
COMMUNITY SPACE
UNINTERRUPTED SKIES
OUTDOOR SPACE
CULTURAL CORE
To financially engineer a premium product for a premium customer, convincing the leadership to create one residence size was imperative. Every home at Svasa Homes is upwards of 3500 square feet. This made every potential resident affluent and equal, allowing us to curate a community that was discerning of the finer things in life.
Semiotics reflective of heritage in materials reflecting modernity
Defining a community coworking space with antique lanterns from Indian temples.
An infinity pool sensitively designed to open directly from the changing rooms.
A central tropical waterbody reminiscent of the historical Indian family courtyard.
Using high quality Italian marble to inlay patterns inspired by Indian mythology.
ESSAYING THE VISUAL RHETORIC TO EMBODY COMMUNITY SPACES
DESIGN BEYOND THE ASK
Engaging the senses
Strategic innovation to command a premium involved going beyond the tactile asks living space of square footage. Orchestrating moments of luxury, opportunities for upselling, and thinking beyond the norm allowed the team to create visceral experiences in the homes and community spaces.
Modular Indian kitchens
Indian cooking and the sharing of the Indian kitchen space by multiple family chefs is unique. Modular kitchens designed for European efficiency aren’t a viable solution. At C( )RE, we studied people’s existing homes and developed modular Indian kitchens for their future lives at Svasa Homes that leaned into their existing way of being.
Evoking nostalgia
Using sensorial experiences to invoke moments and feelings of nostalgia was a creative strategy. Designing a signature fragrance evocative of the feeling of going home to one’s maternal grandmother in summer vacations, and a signature jasmine lemon sherbet as refreshments were softer aspects of the curated experience.
Celebrating Basavanagudi
The neighborhood, Basavanagudi, is the oldest part of the city. Svasa Homes is the tallest building in its skyline. Working with the local resident bodies and city authorities, cultural institutions and quaint eateries, the team created a coffee table book to celebrate the special neighborhood and its people in their rhythm.
SELLING LUXURY TO THE ONE PERCENT
Why sell when you can storytell?
Customers were at the heart of the concept and strategy of the project. Therefore, there was no need to hard sell, instead an opportunity to tell a story of how we got here with Svasa Homes. Every customer interaction involved a team with three different storytellers. The salesperson as the voice of luxury selling the quality of living, the designer as the voice of heritage selling the ephemeral experience, and one of the members of the family behind the project with experience and wisdom in running a family owned business.
Events and experiences
Even as the building was under construction, we used the space as an evolving stage. Curating experiences that connected classical Indian music with western dance, or hosting talks with tech founders who had journeyed from Bengaluru to the Bay Area, we focused on staying true to the future experience of living at Svasa Homes.
Bring ‘home’ to NRIs
As part of the sales strategy, we sent curated boxes of local delicacies, incense, and copies of the Basavanagudi coffee table book to Indians from Bangalore living and working in different parts of the world. Non-resident Indians went on to make 30% of the resident community at Svasa Homes.
100% premium above market
Thus far, the neighborhood was able to command a pricing of half a million US dollars for a 4000 sq ft home. With Svasa Homes, the strategically designed product, and our compelling storytelling, we commanded a 100% premium in the market. Svasa Homes retails upwards of 1 Mil USD a home.