A family's week at Renaatus Irumathi, as the building is designed

Most apartment buildings in Greater Malé are designed for adults and tolerate children. Renaatus Irumathi reads the other way round. Its shared spaces include a childcare centre, a children's pool, a family theatre and a community garden, and taken together they describe a week that a household with young children could run largely from home. This is that week, as the building is designed; no homes here have yet been let.

Weekday mornings

The first errand of the day in many Hulhumalé households is the drop-off. At Irumathi the developer places a childcare centre in the building, described as safe and stimulating, with engaging activities and learning, a few steps from the lift. For a parent, that turns a trip across the island into a walk down a corridor.

The second errand is the one nobody plans for: milk, bread, a forgotten school item. The ground and first floors hold a convenience store and a café. If one parent works from home, the co-working space sits on the same floors, which keeps the working day inside the building while the children are downstairs.

Waste leaves through disposal points on each floor, so the morning does not include a trip to the bins with a toddler on one hip.

Afternoons

After collection, the roof. The developer describes an infinity pool with a separate children's pool and a sun deck. A shallow pool of their own is what lets young children swim while parents sit nearby rather than stand in the water beside them.

On the days it rains, and in the Maldives it does, the private family theatre is the answer. Premium seating and proper sound for a film on a wet Saturday afternoon, without a trip anywhere.

Evenings

The vertical community garden is described as a place for fresh air and meeting neighbours. In a building of 69 homes across two blocks, a household with children will quickly know the other households with children, and a planted space is where those friendships start. For a parent the rooftop gym, with its sauna and steam rooms, is a way to fit exercise in after bedtime without leaving the building.

Weekends and occasions

Birthdays are the test of any family apartment. Irumathi's ocean-view event space and terrace are designed for gatherings, which means a party for a seven-year-old need not take over the living room or require a restaurant booking.

Beyond the building, Hulhumalé is the planned island across the bridge from Malé, with wider streets, parks and the beach. Irumathi's position on the eastern shore puts the open ocean on one side of family life.

Who it is shaped for

On the evidence of its facilities, Irumathi is shaped for families with small children, for parents who work from home at least part of the week, and for households that host. It is less obviously designed for a single professional who wants a small flat and no shared amenities to pay for.

What to check when homes come to rent

Whether the childcare centre is run by an operator, what it charges and whether places are guaranteed to residents. The pool and gym hours. Whether the theatre and event terrace are booked, and at what cost. The concierge asks these questions for every tenant, and will ask them here when the first Irumathi homes reach the market.