Adi’s residence, 2013 – Tiruttani, TN
A 600 sft residence for a friend, built under a tight budget of 6.5 lakhs. Client resources were his connections with the community, as a result of his farm agricultural work for two years prior to the construction of his farmhouse. A small team of local helpers with little construction experience were mobilized for a 2 month period to learn and build with vaults and domes.
Local brick makers who make country fired bricks were hired to make adobe bricks with a custom sized mould developed specifically for the project. These adobe bricks were made out of excavated soil for a sump tank one site and sun dried before use. No cement / lime stabilization was chosen. A small percentage of the bricks were fired locally on site on a custom made kiln to be used as a waterproofing layer.
8 local helpers also participated in the training, hosted as an open hands-on workshop for architects and engineers for 2 weeks. Post the training period, based on the speed of construction achieved at its peak, 4 of the most proficient heplers were commissioned to build the remainder of the structure at a generous sq ft rate.
Local methods of building huts was explored, with the helpers themselves building the huts with the local thatching
The project was completed in a period of 12 weeks, including waterproofing and red oxide flooring. The client is still residing at this particular residence.