1.

Debris House – by Wallmakers

General info -
 Architects: Wallmakers
 Project: Debris House – Residence for
Mr. Biju Mathew
 Location: St.Peter’s
Junction, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, India
 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.
 Living Room
 Staircase cum storage rack

Kitchen
 Central Courtyard Front Wavy Wall

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 -

o 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.
o 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
o 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
o
Central debris wall

 RAMMED EARTH –

o The other walls of the building are made of rammed earth directly from raw earth with 5% cement
stabilization.
o Not only is the technique highly effective but it is also very strong with dry crushing compressive
strength ranging from 6mpa-8mpa.
o INITIAL EMBODIED ENERGY -
Rammed earth walls consume 4 times less energy than a fired brick wall:
Embodied energy of Rammed earth wall = 1,112.36 MJ/m3
Country fired brick wall = 4,501.25 MJ/m3
o 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
 Shrobri – Shuttered Debi Wall Construction Process

 Ferrocement Shells –

o Roof is made of precast ferrocement shells lifted and placed in position manually.
o 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.
 o They effectively reduce the overall cement consumption by 40% and steel consumption by 30%.
o 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.
Filler slab with coconuts

2. THE MUD HOUSES OF BANGLADESH

Housing Type - Adobe / Earthen House

 In Bangladesh, a mud house is one of

the traditional housing types that are
used by poor families mainly in rural
areas as well as in the outskirts of
small cities.
 This building type is typically one or
two stories and preferably used for
single-family housing.
 It is more predominant in less flood-
prone areas, i.e. in the highlands or in
mountainous regions.
 Locally this type of housing is called a
Kutcha. About 74% of the
total houses of Bangladesh are
Kutcha houses, most of which might
be considered as Mud houses.
 Socio Economic Factors -

o Number of Housing Units and Inhabitants – Each building typically has 1 housing unit(s). There
might be two units if a combined family live in the house. The number of inhabitants in a building
 during the day or business hours is less than 5. During day/business hours those persons who are
working are absent so that less than five persons stay in the house. The number of inhabitants
during the evening and night is 5-10. All family members return from their work back home at
night. Consequently the number of occupants during night will be more than 5 people.
o Patterns of Occupancy - One family possibly with a married son and his wife typically occupies one
house. In rural areas, one family has at least 5--8 members.

Lateral load path –


The structure contains a complete load path for seismic force effects from any horizontal direction that
serves to transfer inertial forces from the building to the foundation.
 The plan shape of this type of construction is generally rectangular with lengths between 20-30 ft and
widths between10-15 ft.
 The main structural elements are mud walls which carry the load of the roofing. Many houses have open
verandas at the front with roof supported by posts. The opening area is about 30 percent of the total wall
area.
 The construction of doors can be done in two ways. Either by providing doors with heights equal to the
wall height, or by a discontinuous construction of the wall at the location of the opening according to
their dimension.
 The door frames are provided afterwards. In case that doors are provided with height less than the wall
height, a wooden plank is provided over the opening with support of 6" on both sides.
 Afterwards the construction of the wall is continued leaving the opening.
 In case of the construction of windows, the walls are raised up to window sill level and then the walls are
discontinued at the location of the opening.
 When the walls are raised up to the top level of the window, wooden planks are again placed over the
openings with support of 6" on both sides. The remaining wall is constructed as described before
 Rodda construction -

Piled earth is made compact by hitting

Prepared earth is taken from the plinth with wodden mallet
and staged on it

Rodda layers are left for drying For 10 to 15 days After it gets strong another rodda layer is added

TOO MANY OPENINGS PROVIDED IN ONE WALL

 Structural System:

 Mud walls are the main structural elements of this type of construction. They carry both lateral and
vertical loads.
 The floor generally consists of compacted earthen materials

Construction Economics