A day at home in One Avenue

Life at One Avenue is organised around two things: a building with people at the desk around the clock, and a view of the yacht marina that changes through the day. The homes Binga has let here have been furnished three-bedrooms, most of them 3+1 plans, and this is roughly how a day in one of them goes.

Morning

The main bedroom in the flats Binga has handled is en-suite, and so are the others, with a guest bathroom besides. In the 3+1 plans, the extra room has a fourth bathroom of its own. In a family of four with a helper, or three colleagues sharing, that is four people getting ready without a queue.

Breakfast is in the open living and dining area, with the kitchen alongside. On the marina side, the water is the first thing you see. The service balcony takes the laundry, so the main balcony stays clear for coffee.

Downstairs, the reception is staffed 24 hours, and there is a concierge. Deliveries, visitors and the occasional locked-out moment can go through a person rather than a keypad. Access control and CCTV cover the building, and there is manned security day and night.

Getting out

The developer describes the building as a short walk from the Hulhumalé ferry terminal and from Central Park. For anyone working in Malé, the ferry is the calm option. By road, the concierges quote fifteen to twenty-five minutes from Hulhumalé to Malé across the bridge. Cars and motorbikes have two dedicated floors of parking, which in Hulhumalé removes the daily search for a space.

Four residential lifts serve the homes, and the commercial lift for the shops is kept separate.

The middle of the day

The shopping mall and retail spaces are part of the building, so small errands do not require going anywhere. For anyone working from home, the plus room of a 3+1 can be set up as a study with its own bathroom, well away from the living room.

Children have a private garden and a playground on the second floor, inside the building and off the street. For a parent working at home, that is an easy place to send the children for an hour.

Evening

Central Park is a short walk for an evening stroll, according to the developer, and the marina is right in front of the building. Most residents, though, will find the evening happens on the balcony. The listings for homes Binga has let describe sunsets over the marina from the living room and the main bedroom. In the 3+1 on the waterfront side, bi-fold doors fold the living room open to the balcony, and floor-to-ceiling glass carries the view into the room.

The building settles. The reception stays lit. The marina goes from gold to dark.

Who this day suits

Families who want a three-bedroom with a room for a helper and enough bathrooms for everyone. Expatriate professionals and colleagues sharing a flat, who want every bedroom en-suite. Anyone who prefers a building with a staffed desk to one run by a keypad. And tenants who commute to Malé and want the ferry close.

It suits less well those who want a pool or a gym at home: the facilities list does not include either, and the concierge will say so plainly on the first call.