Philippe Starck DURAVIT designer range bath ware in Altair Colombo

Q: What’s the story behind selecting the name Altair?

A: ALTAIR is the 06th brightest star in the night sky, and has for centuries guided navigators and seafarers. We feel that Altair Colombo would similarly be the guiding light to the Architectural and Construction Industries for decades to come.

Q: How did you convince world renowned Architect, Moshe Safdie to accept the assignment?

A: Yes, getting the living legend Moshe Safdie to accept an assignment in this region was indeed an achievement. The credit goes to two of our promotors who met with Mr. Moshe Safdie, presented the credential of our group who had already completed 50 million sq.ft. of Real Estate (with 20 Million under active construction) and invited him to visit the ideally located site in Colombo.

Moshe in visiting was overwhelmed by the location, was already comfortable interacting with the group and on being assured “Carte Blanche” on design readily accepted the assignment.

Q: Don’t you think that there are too many large developments coming up?

A: The problem is the negativity and lack of vision that makes certain analysts compare Colombo today with what it was 20 years ago rather than looking forward and comparing Colombo with other capital cities.

Jones Lang La Salle, the global property company estimates that 98% of completed condominia have been absorbed and that 47% of what is in the pipeline have been sold, and preliminary studies conducted by the Central Bank have echoed these findings.

So what is really needed is more developments, not less.

As for large developments, these have an obvious advantage of economies of scale, opportunity for technology and skill transfer, developer experience and in most cases direct foreign investment.

Q: So what is so special about Altair?

A: Well, quite apart for its’ uniquely iconic structure which promises to be the future Picture Post Card for Sri Lanka, it is such an inspired design and challenging build which would make it the subject of study of architectural and engineering faculties well into the future.

What is additionally special though from an user point of view is that the design, in breaking away from the established mold provides occupants with natural light and cross ventilation and optimization of spaces which is not possible within conventional designs.

Q: What are your thoughts on the current status of the Condominium Industry in Colombo and do you feel it is sustainable?

A: There is an old adage which says that the most perennially sustainable industries are that of food, clothing and shelter, Real Estate obviously is within these and finds comfort not only in age old beliefs but in very current economic and market conditions. Colombo faces a scarcity of buildable lands and the only method by which available land resources could be optimized is through vertical living, ie; condominia.

Add to this the less than satisfactory road network that prevents  urban expansion and the very low level of urbanization in Sri Lanka and you have a market condition that demands an ever increasing ratio of condominium apartments viz a viz conventional housing.

To quote a fellow industry professional, condominiums currently account for about 3% of housing in the city. That statistic alone provides the answer to your question on sustainability.

Q: What was the reason behind selecting Duravit  as the sanitary ware brand for Altair?

A: The South City Group is driven by the creed of exceeding customer expectation. So whilst our initial indication to customers was that we would provide them with a perfectly acceptable luxury brand of sanitary ware, we pushed ourselves to providing our clientele with a brand that has consistently won international acclaim.  We scoured  the market for sanitary ware that would incorporate aesthetically pleasing designs, brand heritage, robustness and functionality and came up with what was seen to be the best choice , ie: Duravit.

Q: Which particular models within Duravit have you selected?

A: We extended ourselves further and reached out to the Philippe Starck range which is custom designed for Duravit and epitomizes designer elegance in sanitary ware.

Q: What was the contribution of Access Lifestyle?

A: Our relationship with Altair customers does not end at handover of the apartments. We hold ourselves responsible to ensure continuous levels of customer satisfaction and the only way to ensure that is to team up with a group of people or an organization that shares a common customer orientation.

Our personal and professional relationships with Access allows us to rest easy in this regard and their representation of Duravit was an integral factor in our choice of sanitary ware.