Ambani's Home is Cheap Compared to This Swiss Mansion

Mukesh Ambani's $1 billion home Antilla, which is possibly under investigation right now, has some serious competition. There's another billion-dollar home that's reported to be coming up in Switzerland. And this one makes Antilla seem modest, with its astonishing $12.2 billion construction cost.

What's making this Swiss villa the most expensive in the world is some seriously bling interior decor. It seems  the owner is some kind of bling king, for over 200,000 kg of precious metal, including gold and platinum, has been used to bring in the 'bling' element.

The glitzy decor, mostly fixtures and fittings, has been designed by Stuart Hughes (who else could it be). He teamed up with Kevin Huber of exklusivHAUS, a firm that adds customised features to homes.

The other exclusive features of the villa include a bar, which is further raised by using meteoric stone with shavings of original dinosaur bone from the 65 million-year-old Raptor, the T-REX. 

The uber-opulent den accommodates eight rooms with special stone wine cellar and a garage with only four parking places. It took the team about five and half years to build this mansion. Although the exact location isn't out yet, we're pretty sure access too it is going be quite a luxury too.

Images via exklusivHAUS

http://luxpresso.com/news-lifestyle/ambanis-home-is-cheap-compared-to-this-swiss-mansion/6878

Ambanis’ Antilla , World's Most Expensive Home,Valued At A Cool $1 Billion (VIDEO)

To everyone’s surprise, price tagged at $ 2 Billion, Antilla (named after the mythical island) is in India and is World’s First Billion Dollar Home. Indeed, like its name, it houses stuff that surrounds myth!

Owner is India’s richest, Mukesh Ambani of Reliance fame whose net worth was 43 Billion in March of this year and was the 5th richest in the world.

The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the 70 million dollar triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air.

When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing four years of design and construction, it will be 27 story and 550 feet high (height which normally houses 60 floors) with 400,000 square feet of interior space. Click on the picture to see the video.

However, all of this has not been without its share of controversies. Antilla is being built on land sold to Ambanis’ to be used as orphanage by Waqf Board.The land measuring 11793 sq yards was sold in 2004 by the trust for a charitable purpose of looking after the destitutes and orphan children belonging to the Khoja Mohammedan community. The land was given to the Maharashtra State Board of Waqf by Jivagi Raje Scindia in 1957. The MoU was signed with four companies namely Antillia Commercials, SaphireRealtors, Rockline Constructions and Baun Foundation trust.

The Waqf Board has told the Supreme Court that it sold the property thinking it was to be used for an orphanage and that commercial buildings are not allowed on Waqf land.Property having a market value of Rs 400 crore was sold only for Rs 21.05 crto M/s Antillia Commercial, a company of Reliance group of Industries. Rs 16 crores were also paid to Waqf Board for No Objection Certificate.

The Supreme Court on Friday decided not to intervene in the construction of the building on Waqf board land in Mumbai and has directed the matter back to the Bombay high court.

Critics have also said that showing off such extravagant wealth in a country rife with poverty is insensitive and ethically questionable. This is excessive and ostentatious given that more than 65 percent of Mumbai’s 18 million residents live in tenements.

Features which have made it the world’s best:

• The first six floors will be reserved for parking alone, and that too for cars belonging only to Mukesh’s family. Space for a total of 168 imported cars has been earmarked here.
• Where possible, the designers say, whether it’s for the silver railings, magnificient crystal chandeliers, woven area rugs or steel support beams, the Ambanis are using Indian companies, contractors, craftsmen and materials firms.
  
• Elements of Indian culture juxtapose newer designs. For example, the sinks in a lounge extending off the entertainment level, which features a 65 seat movie theater and wine room, are shaped like ginkgo leaves (native to India) with the stem extending to the faucet to guide the water into the basin.
• The top floors of entertaining space, where Ambani plans to host business guests (or just relax) offer panoramic views of the Arabian Sea.
• No two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. If a metal, wood or crystal is part of theninth-floor design, it shouldn’t be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.
• Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla’s living quarters begin at a lobbywith nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges.
• Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby “entourage room” for security guards and assistants to relax.

• On the health level, local plants decorate the outdoor patio near the swimming pool and yoga studio. The floor also features an ice room where residents and guests can escape the Mumbai heat to a small, cooled chamber dusted by man-made snow flurries. Each family member has a separate gymn here.

• For more temperate days, the family will enjoy a four-story open garden.In profile, the rebar-enforced beams form a “W” shape that supports the upper two-thirds of the building while creating an open-air atrium of gardens, flowers and lawns.
• Gardens, whether hanging hydroponic plants, or fixed trees, are a critical part of the building’s exterior adornment but also serve a purpose: The plants act as an energy-saving device by absorbing sunlight, thus deflecting it from the living spaces and making it easier to keep the interior cool in summer and warm in winter. An internal core space on the garden level contains entertaining rooms and balconies that clear the tree line and offer views of downtown Mumbai.
• Antilla’s shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects. At Antilia, the overall plan is based on the square, which is Vaastu’s basic geometric unit, and a garden level occupies the tower’s midsection, the point where all energies converge according to the Vaastu Purusha Mandala.
• The 27-story building is eco-friendly, with hydroponically grown plants cooling the building and filtering its air, limiting the need for air-conditioning. With vertical gardens, you can use the whole wall almost like a tree and increase the green area of the site by five or 10 times over what it would be if you just did a green roof.

The four floors at the top, just below the hellipad that provides a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city’s skyline, is where Mukesh with his wife Neeta, their three kids and Mukesh’s mother Kokilaben, will reside. Nearly 600 people would attend to the six in the family.

The residence tower stands on Mumbai’s Altamount Road on an acre site where real estate costs as much as $1800/square foot. Mumbai is the densest city of India with almost 30,000 people per square kilometer.

The architects, Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, were picked up by Nita Ambani, who was recently in news for being gifted a $59 million air jetby her husband on her 44th birthday! The jet, like their new home, was fitted with a plush bar with mood lighting, a master bedroom, showers and a state-of-the-art entertainment cabin.

The architects and designers say,”You are looking at the model for the buildings of the future.”

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Antilla, World's Most Expensive Home,Valued At A Cool $1 Billion (VIDEO)

A ballroom lit with chandeliers of solid gold. A 50-seat theater and nine cocktail lounges. Three helicopter pads and six underground floors of parking.

These are just a handful of the amenities one can reportedly find at Antilla, the newly-completed Mumbai home of Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani. Valued at a staggering $1 billion, the 27-story, 400,000-square-foot home -- which employs a housekeeping staff of 600 -- is beingbilled as the world's most expensive home. According to MSNBC, a glitzy housewarming party is planned for the end of the month and promises to be a much-sought-after invite among India's elite.

One less-than-savory aspect of the home which designers have yet to tout -- Antilla, named after a mythical island, also provides a bird's eye view of Mumbai's slums, home to 60 percent of the city's population. Named by Forbes as India's richest man and the world's fourth richest, Ambani has been slammed for building a "soaring monument" to the divide between the country's rich and poor.

Watch MSNBC's full report on the home here:

Update: This article originally stated that the house was built for $1 billion. It is currently valued at $1 billion, but was built for less

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/05/antilla-worlds-most-expen_n_779409.html

Ambanis Reluctant to Move Into Antilla

Image courtesy: Reuters

For over a year now, Mukesh and Nita Ambani have been dilly dallying about formally shifting into their Rs. 4000 crore new home even though Nita has moved her trousseau into Antilla as a symbolic gesture of grah pravesh.

It has been learnt that though the towering home on Altamount Road is regularly used as a venue for film screenings, sundry parties and informal get together with friends, the Ambanis are clearly in no hurry to vacate their current Cuffe Parade residence, Sea Wind.

Society watchers believe the procrastination can be blamed on the adverse attention their lavish residence has attracted of late. While there is no official confirmation on whether the Ambanis have completely shelved plans of relocating into arguably one of the world's costliest home there is speculation that they may still be scouting for another suitable property.

When the US consulate moved from Bhulabhai Desai Road to Bandra Kurla Complex, they put Lincoln House - estimated to be worth over Rs. 600 crore - on the market. Almost immediately, rumours of Mukesh Ambani being one of the many private bidders started doing the rounds.

Mukesh Ambani's Home - "Antilla"

While visiting New York in 2005, Nita Ambani was in the spa at the Mandarin Oriental New York, overlooking Central Park. The contemporary Asian interiors struck her just so, and prompted her to inquire about the designer.

Nita Ambani was no ordinary tourist. She is married to Mukesh Ambani, head of Mumbai, India-based petrochemical giant Reliance Industries, and the fifth richest man in the world. (Lakshmi Mittal, ranked fourth, is an Indian citizen, but a resident of the U.K.)










Forbes estimated Ambani's net worth at $43 billion in March. Reliance Industries was founded by Mukesh's father, Dhirubhai Ambani, in 1966, and is India's most valuable firm by market capitalization. The couple, who have three children, currently live in a 22-story Mumbai tower that the family has spent years remodeling to meet its needs.

Like many families with the means to do so, the Ambanis wanted to build a custom home. They consulted with architecture firms Perkins + Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, the designers behind the Mandarin Oriental, based in Dallas and Los Angeles, respectively. Plans were then drawn up for what will be the world's largest and most expensive home: a 27-story skyscraper in downtown Mumbai with a cost nearing $2 billion, says Thomas Johnson, director of marketing at Hirsch Bedner Associates. The architects and designers are creating as they go, altering floor plans, design elements and concepts as the building is constructed.






The only remotely comparable high-rise property currently on the market is the $70 million triplex penthouse at the Pierre Hotel in New York, designed to resemble a French chateau, and climbing 525 feet in the air. When the Ambani residence is finished in January, completing a four-year process, it will be 550 feet high with 400,000 square feet of interior space.

The home will cost more than a hotel or high-rise of similar size because of its custom measurements and fittings: A hotel or condominium has a common layout, replicated on every floor, and uses the same materials throughout the building (such as door handles, floors, lamps and window treatments).

The Ambani home, called Antilla, differs in that no two floors are alike in either plans or materials used. At the request of Nita Ambani, say the designers, if a metal, wood or crystal is part of the ninth-floor design, it shouldn't be used on the eleventh floor, for example. The idea is to blend styles and architectural elements so spaces give the feel of consistency, but without repetition.






Antilla's shape is based on Vaastu, an Indian tradition much like Feng Shui that is said to move energy beneficially through the building by strategically placing materials, rooms and objects.

Pricey Pad

Atop six stories of parking lots, Antilla's living quarters begin at a lobby with nine elevators, as well as several storage rooms and lounges. Down dual stairways with silver-covered railings is a large ballroom with 80% of its ceiling covered in crystal chandeliers. It features a retractable showcase for pieces of art, a mount of LCD monitors and embedded speakers, as well as stages for entertainment. The hall opens to an indoor/outdoor bar, green rooms, powder rooms and allows access to a nearby "entourage room" for security guards and assistants to relax.

Ambani plans to occasionally use the residence for corporate entertainment, and the family wants the look and feel of the home's interior to be distinctly Indian; 85% of the materials and labor will come from outside the U.S., most of it from India.