Projects Abroad

Wood Marsh Architects Designs Rammed Earth House

Saturday, January 22. 2011

Photography by Jean Luc Laloux

Designed by Wood Marsh Architects, this monumental new home in the small town of Merricks overlooks vineyards and Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay. Featuring rammed earth walls, which form the home’s central spine, their design forms shelter against the often harsh coastal environment.


Photography by Jean Luc Laloux

Intended primarily as a holiday and weekend residence, the brief was for a family home that would stand up to the local conditions, requiring little or no maintenance. The client was also keen to ensure that parts of the house could be used, as well as the whole, and as a result discrete openings appear in the central corridor. 

Earth Architecture - Workshops

Saturday, March 26. 2011

On the 7th, 8th & 9th April, 2011 again is a time when we would expect you all to participate in ‘International Rammed Earth Workshop’. Austrian resident DI Hanno Burtscher has been especially invited to pass on his knowledge of rammed earth. You can read more about him, the modules and topic at www.prithwe.com There would be different approach to earth as building material, all the people associated with building material, architects and engineers, nature enthusiasts, clay&ceramic designers, interior designers, permaculture/organic farmers & all others who love nature must come forward and utilize this opportunity to know the mother earth

Other important details:
Workshop Venue: 1 Middle Road, off Napier Road, camp, Pune
Timing: 9am to 5pm
Course Fee: Rs 5999/- 140USD for all 3 days.
Breakfast & Lunch included..

Please write to us for more details. ( visa and staying facility for international & outstation candidates can be organized separately on request)

Regards,
Bharti ( prithwe@hotmail.com)
Prithwe Institute of Building Biology & Ecology
Tel.: 020-26354487 / 020-26343566
www.prithwe.com

Projects Abroad

Dwelling in Beja

Saturday, March 26. 2011

The Dwelling in Beja is a single-family dwelling built of rammed earth and a mixed structure of reinforced concrete and wood with zinc coping. Self-levelling floors of craftwork brick tiles, wood. Traditional render of aerated lime paste and whitewash with the addition of natural pigments. Betão e Taipa was responsible for the entire construction.

Building Stats
Building area 550 m2
Volume of rammed earth 260 m3
Location Beja municipality
Designed by Bartolomeu Costa Cabral, João Gomes and Mário Anselmo Crespo
Date built 2006

Residence Abroad

The Hinterland House

Sunday, June 5. 2011

The Hinterland House by http://www.morrispartnership.com.au/ is a rammed earth house designed to be in harmony with the Australian bush. No fences, screens or garden areas were incorporated to insure as little disturbance as possible to surrounding inhabitants. The local animal and plant life can continue to roam as freely as before the structure was built.



Along with rammed earth, the material palette includes spotted gum, rough recycled timber, concrete floors, corten steel and zincalume. Building environmental features include the earthen thermal mass, double glazing, shading and cross ventilation that mitigates against the need for air conditioning. Sustainability solutions include the use of worm farm waste treatment, solar heating and hot water, and the cellar pantry drawing cooled air through an underground chamber.



The Hinterland House program includes:

· Living/dining/kitchen core
· Clients’ separate bedroom suite
· Separate studio & study
· Separate guest accommodation

Projects Abroad

Cinema Sil Plaz

Wednesday, August 3. 2011

Photography: Bruno Augsburger and Laura Egger

Over two decades ago, the last cinema closed in Ilanz, an Alpine town in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. To satisfy the locals' cinephile needs, a group of people interested in film and culture formed the Filmclub Ilanz in 1989 and, after staging screenings in makeshift locations (including the town hall), they had a stroke of luck in 2004 in the shape of a 19th century former forge, which had just become vacant. After several years of screenings, they decided to revamp the space, with the help of fellow club members Capaul & Blumenthal Architects, to create a fully fledged cinema, which opened last September.

The ETH Zurich graduates have retained the raw character of the building, creating a cosy screening room and bar on a shoestring. Using local clay and a rammed earth construction method - a sustainable, low-tech building technique with sound-proofing benefits - the project was completed with the help of members of the Filmclub, who also conveniently included a rammed-earth specialist and a stonemason. Seating in the auditorium is padded by sheep-skin covered cushions stuffed by Filmclub members. Meanwhile, paint on the walls of the bar and stage area has been stripped back to reveal the original lime plasterwork of the building and floors are kept bare. The bar itself can be lifted by a manual forklift to make space for a dance floor when there are concerts - just one part of the Cinema Sil Plaz's rich programme of events.

Project Abroad

Sunday, August 21. 2011

Photography: ©Harrison Photography

Saint Bartholomew's Chapel, designed by Kevin deFreitas Architects, was constructed to replace a very small and intimate historic chapel that was ravaged by wildfires in 2007. From that fire, only the original adobe bell tower survived, which became the anchor element in the redesign planning.


Photography: ©Harrison Photography
The new design was conceived to reverently knit together “past” and comfortable traditions, while acknowledging and offering something relevant to current and future generations. Thus, emulating or recreating the past literally was not a project goal. Drawing from a limitless well of Native American and Catholic symbols and metaphors, design elements in plan, section, and elevation were conceived to reference and infuse meaning into the chapel, such as the; rammed earth walls, radial walls, butterfly roof, and extensive use of locally sourced materials.

Contemporary Rammed Earth wall-1

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  Click here for more 
http://www.earthwall.net/gallery/

Requiem for a Dream....

Requiem for a Dream....

"Rain Rain go away, Come again another day" is in anethema for any rain water harvester, though it might have been his favourite poem in his/her childhood. The environment is a loan from our children and we can all conserve it in our own ways at our very homes. What we have to understand is that though our efforts might look small in the global context they are certainly contributing to something big for the future. Well, this realisation hit my brain quite recenly, after the workshop on rain water harvesting which was held on the 20th of June by the rain water club. The workshop was aimed at making one understand the different ways of conserving and reusing water.

The workshop was held at the Vishwanath's residence. It began with a simple explanation about how rain water harvesting was being carried out. The rain water from the roof top is collected into a rain barrel after it passes through the first rain separator and a netlon mesh to remove all the sand and other impurities. The overflow from the rain barrel and the rain water gets collected in the overhead tank which further overflows into the sump.

This was followed by a talk on how the grey water(water from the washing machine and the bath water) is reused. The grey water is allowed to pass through 4 plastic cylinders each having reeds (typha) grown in them. Reeds are basically water plants that feed on phosphates. They suck the chemical impurities from the grey water. This is then passed through a sand filter to remove the remaining impurities. This water is used for toilet flushes and to irrigate the ragi plant which is being grown on the roof top.

We were also told about the ways in which solid waste was being converted into useful matter. This was done using the ECOSAN and DAILY DUMP. ECOSAN is a dry toilet that uses very little water for washing and no water for flushing. It infact works on the reverse theory of WCs. The ecosan consists of a hole for collecting the faecal matter (solid waste), one for the urine and a basin for washing. The urine is used as a fertilizer for the ragi plant. The faecal matter is collected in tin cans from time to time. It is allowed to decompose for 6 to 8 months after which it turns into manure.

The DAILY DUMP is used to convert the daily kitchen waste into compost.It consists of three mud pots stacked one on top of the other each with small holes near the rim for ventilation except for the third one. The daily kitchen waste is put in the topmost mud pot.This is done till it fills up. It is emptied into the second one and susequently into third pot where it is left to decompose completely.

Last but not the least - THE TIPPY TAP. The Tippy Tap is a simple device for hand washing with running water. It is made from an old plastic container with a hollow handle. The base of the container handle is sealed such that when the container is tilted the water comes out only out of the hole near the sealed base.The tippy tap is not only economical but also a simple and efficient way of washing hands.

The workshop not only taught me a lot but also inspired me to incorporate these techniques in my house. The conclusion drawn out of the workshop is to take a big leap in improving the current situation of water. Otherwise, we will be left repeating what William Wordsworth had said many years ago

"Water Water everywhere but not a drop to drink"

-- Rohini Raghavan

MUD is the secret of our Energy!

MUD is the secret of our Energy!

Climate change. Global warming. Energy Crisis. Today, these are the words we hear as much as Obama, Osama and corruption. While the big wigs are rattling away ideas and policy changes needed to overcome, or rather slow down this crisis, A bunch of us sit and wonder in what way, however small, we could contribute to save energy.

Before I talk about saving energy, let me describe the different types of energy..

->Embodied energy is the energy that is spent while manufacturing the object. For example, traditional clay bricks require burning in a kiln, which not only consumes a lot of energy, but also pollutes the atmosphere.
->Grey energy is the energy spent for the transport of the materials. The significance of saving grey energy is that it supports local business, and again, the pollution from transport is minimised.
->Induced energy like the stress on the walls, noise, etc are not of much importance.
->Operational energy is the energy spent in day to day house activities.

Now I come to the point. The article "In a mud shell..." tells you how Stabilized Mud Blocks (SMB), Rammed earth walls and Mud mortar are made. Let us look at it from the Energy point of view. As i've explained earlier, materials like bricks, cement and paint contain a lot of Embodied energy, where as SMBs and mud mortar are prepared by a simple mechanical process, and the walls do not require any coat of paint. The strength and durability of these walls are proved to be as good as, and even better than brick walls. So in additional to the natural look of the building, a lot of embodied and grey energy is saved.

With reference to the article "Reqium for a dream", We see how green roofing can be incorporated on our terraces. This patch of mud which can used to cultivate ragi, rice and many other plants serves more than that purpose.

->When this patch is flooded with semi treated grey water, the water that drains out is crystal clear, which makes it an inexpensive water purifier.
->It adds a lot of ecological value as it supports a variety of life,earthworms and birds, to name a few.
->Most importantly, green roofs keep the room below at 7-8 degrees lower than the outside temperature. This eliminates the use of ACs and ceiling fans, saving a majority of the operational cost.

All this can be done by including a basement in the design, the mud that is dug out is used for the construction. These techniques are nothing new or extravagant, Its just a forgotten art.. Energy can be saved in hundreds of other ways, but here i suffice it to say MUD is the secret of our energy! In Laurie Baker's words, "Treat your mud as you should treat your wife and you will have a wonderful house for life!"

--Vivek Shastry
2nd year Civil Engg
NITK Surathkal

Wall Patterns

Sheel does a Gaudi

Broken tile patterns by Sheel avara balaga.......at Sunny's.

Residence - Biome

Sunny's cob house

Sunny's house was designed by Sheel. Sunny is an organic farmer who will be growing his own food on the rest of the plot using harvested water from an excavated pond. The earth from this excavation is used to build the walls of this house. The walls are 18 inches thick. It was mostly built using local labor with some contribution from volunteers over the weekends. The volunteers were students and young architects, who learnt the art of cob building in the process.

The intermediate floor for this house is of precast panels and the final roof is of reinforced concrete.

The house harvests water for drinking and cooking needs and also has a composting toilet.

The construction of this house saw a few hilarious incidents in form of comments from lot of curious neighbours who thought of it to be a brick klin and sometimes to be a temple.