“Unusual” is a word we often use to describe things on Utopia! Even before you enter UTOPIA, you will see the unusually landscaped park to your left. Rammed-earth walkways, bamboo plants and various hues of flowering shrubs and trees as well as bird-baths have made this spot a haven for little birds of all hues. If you look to the right, you are bound to see an unsual mural painted on the walls of the building.

This building is the Office and Security Complex at Utopia and the mural is a sample of the Tribal Art from the Sundarbans, painted by Sanjay Singh, using just one colour, the earthy one on the white wall!

As you enter the unpretentious gate, you will see a landscaped park to the right. This fairly large landscaped park was designed keeping the Utopian children in mind. It was visualised squatting on the haunches so that we could look at it from their eye-level.

The result is an adventurous place for little feet and minds among the rocks, pathways and medium-sized trees, many of them with smells and colours designed to tickle a child’s curiosity! Not one rock has been displaced on Utopia nor has any rock been added to make this wonderful garden for the children! This is also a wonderful spot to party!

To the left, you can immediately spot Dinesh and Sarita Nayar’s home. Built entirely with local material on an extremely rocky plot of land, the house is a very low-maintenance building with just 3 litres of paint on it. It is wonderfully energy-efficient and has many features worth thinking about like hedges of Ayurvedic plants, open-brick construction, the use of air as an insulator, etc. Whenever you are here, a visit is worth your while.

Moving down the road, you come upon a parking lot that could house about a 100 cars. We are hoping residents close to this area will park here and walk or cycle home. It will also serve as a parking lot for people who are only members of the Club, Olde Bangalore. The parking lot has two bore-wells on either side and the floor of this area is designed to recharge groundwater supplies by harvesting rainwater and enhancing capacities in the subterranean streams leading to these wells. The Parking Lot will also have a small kitchen, Dining Space and Rest areas for the drivers! We have this sneaking suspicion that the hot Dosas and Idlis churned out of here are going to tempt many Utopians to order home-delivery from here!

From the parking Lot, a right turn will lead you into Olde Bangalore, the Club at Utopia!

A bit about the Civic Amenities on Utopia! Utopia is a residential project with plots in 2 basic sizes – 3500 and 5000 sq.ft.
The dimensions of the plots, 50x70 and 50x100 not only give each Utopian an equal frontage of 50 feet but also allows us to build back from the road by offering an unusual depth. The civic amenities on the project have been completed and are in the  process of being spruced up before being handed over to a committee to be formed by elected Utopians in early May 2007.

Each plot has 3 plug-in connections – one each for water, sewerage and electricity. This would obviate the necessity to cut across the roads when people begin to construct their homes. Each plot also has 4 – 5 trees, planted unobtrusively. Along with those in common areas, these 2000-odd trees are already beginning to give Utopia a wonderfully wooded look which will only get better with the years!

Besides the 3 connections in each plot, other common amenities include the street-lighting system, rain-water harvesting systems, black-topped roads and parks. The large Central Park includes a Beach-Volleyball court, a Basket-ball Court and a Tennis Court. Around the Central Park, the roads are wider than normal to facilitate the parking of about 50 – 60 cars. We feel this area has the potential to become the heart of all community activities. The touch and feel of the civic infrastructure on Utopia is truly classy in its unpretentious simplicity!