Debris House – Wallmakers

 Architects: Wallmakers
 Project: Debris House – Residence for Mr. Biju Mathew
 Location: St.Peter’s Junction, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India
 Photography: Anand Jaju
 Lead Architects: Vinu Daniel
 Team: Archana Nambiar, Jinsy Ann Rajan, Shobitha Jacob, Melvin Davis, Vijith, Abdul
Aseeb, Sagar Kudtarkar, Dawal Dasari, Suhaas, Shekkizar, Srivarshini JM
 Masonry Contractors: P.S. Suresh – Shivranjini Constructions, Pondicherry
 Fabrication Team: Kunjumon James -J.K steels
 MEP: Unni Krishnan, Sajith Lal
 Gross Built Area (square meters or square foot): 194 sq m
 Completion Year: 2015

Nestled in a quaint township, is this rammed earth residence for a family of six. The site was at a
slope with remnants of many demolished buildings.  Maximizing the given area the building is
set in multiple levels to accommodate the family and to meet the client’s dreams in the most
feasible way.

This house employs recycled and eco-sensitive materials in its making with much care all the
while ensuring that the material limitations are overcome and an expressive architecture is
allowed to emerge from the constraints. The Debris wall is built over a discovered foundation and
with materials that are recycled from the site. The coconut shell filler slab enables the architect to
reduce concrete in the same. While the house uses numerous alternate technologies, there is a
certain whimsy and playfulness in its design.

The small court ensures ventilation and the windows made from scrap but with a certain careful
detailing. The levels of the site are explored for connections within and the house maintains a
scale with sensitivity towards the neighbourhood.

As urban influence spreads in smaller towns, many aspire for homes that often mimic the city
with use of glass, concrete, steel and other urban materials that dominate the imagery. By
resisting this omnipresent phenomenon and generating an architecture that is modern and yet,
responsive to the specific conditions of its context will perhaps enable the towns to find their
unique language.

PROJECT TECHNOLOGY:
Considering the local nuances and the economic constraints, the materials were responsibly
chosen; the walls rose out from the earth that was dug out within the site, the debris from the
earlier building is turned to a curvilinear wall that forms the central courtyard and
becomes the central focus of the house which is called the Debris Wall and is also the advent
of a new technology.

Recycled wood is used to create the furniture which derives it form from boxes to store lots
of books for the client who is a school teacher. Further green initiatives include a rainwater
harvesting and recycling system and a responsive passive air circulation achieved through the
careful planning of the courtyard and the facades. The windows protected with meter boxes
from a local scrapyard create a mural on the rammed earth walls as the day goes by. Coconut
shells used as fillers in the concrete roof give a contemporary touch to the structure. The
latter half of the house incorporates Ferrocement shell roofs. Looking at the local context, the
project strikes out, humbly maintaining its commitment to the society and the environment.

DEBRIS WALL:
Using meshed (22 gauge chicken mesh )casing reinforced with 6mm bars at 2 feet intervals
vertically and horizontally, lump sized Debris added with 10% gravel and 5% cement and
5%manufactured sand with water was slightly tamped in 2cm layers to form the set of walls
defining the entrance.
INITIAL EMBODIED ENERGY:
Debris walls consume 5 times less energy than a fired brick wall:
Embodied energy of Debris wall = 850 MJ/m3
Country fired brick Wall = 4,501.25 MJ/m3
CARBON FOOTPRINT
Rammed earth walls are polluting 4 times less than country fired brick walls:
Carbon footprint of Rammed earth wall cement = 110.11 Kg of CO2 /m3
Country fired brick wall = 444.12 Kg of CO2 /m3

FERROCEMENT SHELLS:
Roof is made of precast ferrocement shells lifted and placed in position manually. These wafer-
like structures are steel reinforced arched shells with effective thickness of 1.5cm and they take
equal load of respective R.C.C slabs. They effectively reduce the overall cement consumption by
40% and steel consumption by 30%.These replace the R.C.C Slab in roofing as they are as strong
as 1200 kg/m2

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Further green initiatives include a rainwater harvesting and recycling system and a responsive
passive air circulation achieved through the careful planning of the courtyard and the facades.
The windows protected with meter boxes from a local scrapyard create a mural on the
rammed earth walls as the day goes by. Coconut shells used as fillers in the concrete roof
give a contemporary touch to the structure. The latter half of the house incorporates
Ferrocement shell roofs. Looking at the local context, the project strikes out, humbly
maintaining its commitment to the society and the environment.
 Central-Courtyard

Front wavy wall

View from
mezannaine floor

Living area

Open

Staircase cum
storage rack

Central debris wall

Filler slab with

coconuts

SPECIAL
FEATURES:
Further green
initiatives include a
rainwater harvesting and recycling system and a responsive passive air circulation achieved
through the careful planning of the courtyard and the facades. The windows protected with
meter boxes from a local scrapyard create a mural on the rammed earth walls as the day goes
by. Coconut shells used as fillers in the concrete roof give a contemporary touch to the
structure. The latter half of the house incorporates Ferrocement shell roofs. Looking at the
local context, the project strikes out, humbly maintaining its commitment to the society and
the environment.

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Shrobri – Shuttered Debi Wall Construction Process