A dummy apartment can help create your dream interior

Choosing your next home is a pretty big deal. What do the potential homeowners do when realtors give them a tour of "for sale" apartments? They put on a poker face and think: This place looks okay, but will it meet my expectations?

An apartment in this concrete jungle known as Dhaka costs a fortune. The decision to purchase a new home mostly leans on our gut instinct. We only get to see the empty rooms of a mint apartment, not the bigger picture.

How could a buyer possibly project his interior plan in an empty place? Even if you get a good deal, your interior might fail to strike a chord with the crib, so to speak.

As the demand for real estate spikes in Bangladesh, more and more skyscrapers are on settling on the horizon. Many housing projects now offers clients to experience mockup apartments, where they get to see a full-scale model of the living space.

TV, a furnished dining space, even kid's toys - everything a real home offers - can be seen inside such mockup apartments. To put it lightly, it's like the "Model United Nations" of living spaces.

The mockup apartments aren't for residential purposes. The very reason it exists is to let clients see what their next home could look like in reality.

Architect Shakhawat Hossain Rocky, director of Cubeinside Design Ltd, spoke to The Business Standard about the whys of mockup apartments. Shakhawat and his associate architects Arif Uz Zaman and Mehri Farnaz has recently worked on a mockup apartment unit named "Rupayan Majestic" for a premium mega gated community project called Rupayan City Uttara. This premium condo complex is designed by Architect Mohammad Foyez Ullah, Principal Architect of Volume Zero Ltd.

"Clients only see blank space," Shakhawat described the moment when someone steps into an empty apartment. "Due to the rise of big housing projects, mockup apartments are becoming food for thought before buying an apartment," said Shakhawat.

In a concrete jungle of twenty million souls, living space is very marginal. Architects like Shakhawat know they have to make peace with this drawback. "Maximizing utility in this limited space is what we could do for mockup apartments," Shakhawat continued.

What happens when a client walks into the mockup apartment at Rupayan City Uttara? To this, Shakhawat said, "The client feels a sense of ease. Now that every interior item is visible to him, choosing the dream home is one step closer."

The buyer could be of any professional background, but Shakhawat and his colleagues tried to create an interior that would speak of a uniform theme, regardless of the client's psyche.

As Shakhawat put it rhetorically, "We tried to speak a universal language. Whoever the resident is, we believe he will be able to resonate with it."

The design team of the mockup interior have adorned the apartment with cherry-picked furniture. "We wanted to keep the design as minimal as possible," says Shakhawat.

As we were talking about organic vibes, Shakhawat added, "See the texture of the master bedroom wall? It's handcrafted."

One key feature the architects wanted to cross out was that the apartment must get enough daylight. Hence, the interior was designed in such a way that light can pass easily. The overall ambience ensures an eye-friendly aura.

Shakhawat believes this mockup apartment is an x-factor- to convince the client that they won't regret buying it. "The clients are mostly impressed," he added.

The outdoor view will allow the client to see the open space around the complex

"A mockup interior is a 360-degree experience for a client. Once clients step into to see the mockup unit, they discover a whole new dimension of living standard- that Rupayan strives to achieve for its premium projects," says Architect Monjurul Kabir Mithun from Rupayan Group.

"This mock condo is designed with all amenities. We tried to explore the real condo-living experience within this city. Open space on three sides around the buildings, playground, parks, landscaping with lush greenery and water features or avenue roads - all can be seen from the mockup interior, giving the client a true essence of what it is like to live here."

"We have about 63% open space in this premium condo complex. The mockup condo is the best way to experience what Rupayan City Uttara, a premium mega gated community has to offer," he added.

When in doubt, a visit to a mockup apartment can be the reason for you to say "yes, I do" to your potential home.

All the photos were collected from Cubeinside Design Ltd.