Page 29 - HUDCO DESIGN AWARDS

PARAYARUMALAYIL HOUSE, VAZHAVATTA, WAYANAD, KERALA

Structural Components Cost Efficiency Factors
❑ The maximum wall thickness is 8 cms thus increasing the Use of locally available materials saves costs by upto
usable floor area 50%
❑ The roof thickness is 8 cms Doors and window frames were reduced in size thus
❑ The concave curves of the sunshades act as gutters for saving 30-40% on wood.
rain water thus allowing rain water to be collected into The costs for the house was estimated as Rs. 700/Sq
a ground pit. This saves upto Rs. 30-40,000 on a rain ft. This is very economic in Kerala’s context, where the
water harvesting unit. costs for conventional buildings is Rs. 1500-2000/sq
❑ The air ducts allow maximum circulation and cooling of ft. The total cost for the house is Rs. 17,40,000. In a
the interior conventional context for such a concrete house the
total cost would come up to approximately Rs.
35,00,0000. Thus in comparison this house has saved
half the costs.
Shuttering needs are almost nil. This reduces the total
construction costs tremendously by almost 80%.
Disaster Resistance:
The major portion of accidents and deaths during
disasters such as earthquakes are caused by the
collapse of the concrete and beams over the
inhabitants. In such houses because the bamboo and
arecanut splits are woven as a mesh and will not
collapse vertically.
The weight of these materials is light and will not cause
major damages on collapse.
More than just being another house Parayarumalayil is
thus a complete innovation. This can be considered as
a flagship construction using alternative materials and
has the potential to become a new model in the
construction