Ankur Architects was one of ten main UK architectural practices participated in the Mumbai Dialogue organised by Dialogue Group UK. The main participants were NLA & UKTI Groups with the involvement of Peter Murray (NLA) and Peter Bishop (LDA). The site, 18 acre cluster built over 100 hundreds ago requires a complete redevelopment/regeneration. The main focuses were to uplift the Local Community in south Mumbai by improving residential, commercial, civic amenities, infrastructure and adhering to the brief. Brief: 4000 one bedroom flats for social housing. 1000 Homes for sale 2000 Commercial Units Option 1 Strong building frontage created on the east edge to shield against main busy Road. General massing up to an average height of 7 storeys. Tall building clusters strategically positioned on the north east corner to creating markers for the development. Option 2 Prominent central public realm spine flanked by tall buildings on either side. Gateway buildings designated on the north. Height of building clusters kept to a low scale near existing religious buildings. General massing up to an average height of 8 storeys. The road pattern of the site is characterized by the strength of the north-south routes and secondary west-east links. The existing grids are maintained and enhanced along Dhabu Street to create a green pedestrian route within the centre of the site. Cultural and buildings of religious significance are maintained and the spaces around it are enhanced to connect with the public realm. Design Principles: Creating main pedestrian street on North-South axis, linking important buildings on site. Creating communal courtyards and place making majority of the units to benefit with dual aspects. Retaining existing block layout and adopting to the existing routes. Proposal for block by block phasing development. Average height of housing 8 storeys Redevelopment of the public realm within the vicinity of the main mosque. The treatment of the sections responds to the climate of Mumbai where temperature could soar above 40oc. The main emphasis is to allow continuous air circulation on the west east axis enabling air flow to circulate freely over courtyard spaces and on landscape podium levels to provide comfort cooling. The commercial interface is maintained at ground level and residential accommodations above the podium landscape levels, maintaining the existing functions. Design Principles: Cross section designed to provide maximum air flow on the west east axis to provide thermal cooling. Maintaining the ground level function as a commercial usage and upper levels as residential. Provide solar shading shutters with designs that are within the cultural context. Provisions of adequate courtyard spaces between building blocks. Provision of ?sky gardens' and landscape podiums on first level of residential blocks.