Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in India and someone who often features in the Top Ten Richest Men of the World list, caused quite a stir back in 2010 when he purchased his new home. Set in one of the poorest parts of Mumbai, India and surrounded by slums, he purchased the land for an incredibly low price, well under market value. In fact, the land was bought for 215 million rupees, which is the equivalent of 4million dollars. It may sound a fair amount, but when you consider that the land could easily house hundreds, if not thousands, of families, it’s a mere snip.
However, what caused the greatest criticism was the fact that Ambani spent approximately $1billion dollars to build the home of his dreams for himself, his wife and 3 kids. So, an area that could easily have given shelter to thousands of homeless people, which is ever so apparent in the surrounding streets, now actually houses a mere 5 people (and of course their 600 staff members). With that being said, the Ambani’s have been involved in several high-profile developments in India, including a school, an Indian Premier League cricket team, the first ever all Braille newspaper in India, and also a township, which will house over 12,000 people. These projects brought billions into the Indian economy, as well as provided jobs for thousands of people. However, you may be interested to hear some of the amazing facts about the Ambani’s home – Antilia.
Antilia |
1) The Ambani’s home can better be described as a tower, as its 570 feet frame is one of the major sites in the city’s landscape. 2) The building looks as though it may have 40-50 floors, but actually only boasts 27 floors. This is because many of the floors are either double or triple the height of the others. 3) 6 whole floors are dedicated to housing the Ambani’s fleet of 168 cars. 4) You will find a private car service center located on the 7th floor. 5) The actual family residence will be found in the top four floors, which provides stunning views over Mumbai.
Antilia |
6) There are a total of three helipads for Ambani to land any of his fleet of helicopters on. 7) There are nine separate elevators in the building – the Ambani’s have access to their own private elevator, whereas others have been created for staff or guests.
8) The property boasts a theatre which can seat up to 50 people and this leads directly onto one of the many terraced gardens inside Antilia.
9) The main theme that runs through the building is that of the sun and a lotus. The shapes were created using materials such as marble, extremely rare wood, mother-of-pearl and a vast array of other extremely expensive and rare materials. 10) The property houses an “ice room” which helps to create an experience resembling snow and the winter, which is something that most people living in Mumbai will never get to see. So the next time you have a few million dollars spare for a housing project, hopefully you can steal a few ideas from the Ambani’s!
- License: Creative Commons image source
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
- License: Image author owned
This guest post is by Shane Jay, a home improvement enthusiast. He uses guest posting to share his knowledge and opinions about buildings and architectural wonders. His day job is at Stone Port, a marble flooring tiles provider in Toronto.