COSTFORD

COSTFORD :- BACKGROUND
• The Centre of Science and Technology for Rural Development (COSTFORD) is a nonprofit
organization founded in 1985 by Mr. C. Achutha Menon, Kerala’s former Chief Minister; Dr.
K.N. Raj, Economist and Chairman of the Centre for Development Studies (CDS); Laurie
Baker, Master Architect; and Mr. T.R. Chandradutt, Social Activist.
• COSTFORD is dedicated to changing the social, economic, and political position of
marginalized and disadvantaged groups in society.
• In the mid-1980s, COSTFORD focused heavily on improvement of housing and made
significant gains in providing alternative philosophy and technologies for providing cost-
effective, energy efficient, and more appropriate housing for culture and climate for all
income groups.
• By the late 1990s, COSTFORD, with the Main Office in Thrissur taking the lead at the District
Centre level, embarked upon second generation programmes in extending assistance to
weaker sections of society.
• By 1997, studies indicated attention needed to be focused on empowerment of women.
For example, they were not properly compensated for their work in the home and often
lacking skills to earn income outside the home.
• The economic potential of women needed to be increased with emphasis on education,
skill-based training, and support services addressing their particular challenges in society.
 CONSTRUCTION PHILOSOPHY
• COSTFORD believes the design and construction techniques used must be either indigenous
to the local architecture or a more refined form of it.
• It is because these techniques, methods, and use of materials date back centuries and are
most apt for that particular place. We believe the Gandhian principle “materials used for a
construction of a house must be available within 5 miles radius of it” forms the major
founding stone of our attitude and construction techniques.
• All clients and agencies receive customized attention to their site, aesthetic, and budgetary
requirements guided by COSTFORD’s hallmark cost-effective, energy efficient approaches to
creating the built environment.
• Natural factors such as building orientation, wind direction, vegetation, drainage, and
contours of the land along with awareness of locally available materials are factored into
project programming.
• In slum rehabilitation and rural development projects, COSTFORD provides detailed survey
and programming assistance that encourages community participation in all phases of
project development starting with evaluation of current housing, water supply, electricity,
access to roads, and sanitation.
• There is also assessment of socio-economic factors such as population, density, community
features, relationships, education, occupations, health conditions, medical facilities, and
other community amenities.
 COSTFORD :- MAJOR ACTIVITIES
COSTFORD’s mission is multi-faceted and includes:

• promoting local level planning and development for empowering communities

• encouraging multi-disciplinary technical support teams
• supporting study of vernacular architecture along with research and development in
architectural design and construction technology
• serving as a conduit for transfer of technology appropriate for climate, culture, and
resources
• fostering human resource development at all levels with special attention to women
• publishing and distributing educational material related to its philosophy and technologies
• conducting seminars, workshops, exhibitions, training programmes, and site visits

 IN SUMMARY, COSTFORD WORKS ON A WIDE SPECTRUM OF ACTIVITIES IN THE

COMMUNITY FOR FOSTERING SOCIETAL CHANGE IN THE DIRECTION OF GREATER
EQUALITY, PEACE, AND THEREFORE MORE SUSTAINABLE WAYS OF LIVING, ESPECIALLY
FOR MARGINALISED AND DISADVANTAGED GROUPS.
 MATERIALS
• COSTFORD strongly believes in preservation of the environmental resources and promotes
the use of energy-efficient materials and which minimize the use of energy-intensive
materials such as cement, steel, and glass.
• They use fired bricks or mud blocks stabilized with lime and rice husks for masonry and also
use laterite, cow dung, and mud walls in construction.
• They also experiment with renewable building materials such as bamboo, which they use as
reinforcement for the foundations with lime concrete or for slabs where they use bamboo as
an exposed form with concrete on top.
MAJOR CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUES
 Rat-trap Bond
 Jali Wall
 Filler Slab
 Arches
 Frameless Doors And Windows
 Rubble Masonry
 Lintel
 Bamboo Construction
 Flooring
 Mud Construction
 Built-in Furniture
 Half Brick Wall
 RAT-TRAP BOND
• This double-wall technique uses bricks on edge with a cross brick between each and
produces a 9-inch thick wall with an insulating air cavity in between.
• Surprisingly, this technique reduces the number of bricks required by 25%, thereby
reducing material used, including mortar (1:8 mix), and overall cost.
• Rat-trap technique is equal to the strength of a solid 9-inch wall in either Flemish or
English bond.
• Finishing of such walls is not generally required and exposed brick themselves are
appealing and form beautiful patterns.
• This saves the cost of plastering, painting, and maintenance. But the sizes of the bricks
vary, so only one surface of the wall can be even. The other face (generally inner) can be
smoothed by patch pointing. By avoiding unnecessary plastering, we can save up to 10%
of the brickwork cost.
DETAILS
 JALI WALL
• Creative bricklaying is a defining visual
characteristic of COSTFORD buildings
with varied arrangements providing
natural ventilation instead of costly and
environmentally damaging air
conditioning.
• Jali walls also provide privacy, security,
cost reduction in windows needed, and
– most dramatically -- aesthetic appeal.
 FILLER SLAB
• Lightweight, inexpensive materials such as low-grade
Mangalore tiles, bricks, coconut shells, glass bottles, etc.
are used as filler materials in filler slabs to replace the
redundant concrete in tension zones.
• These materials are laid in the grids of steel
reinforcement rods (6mm or 8mm dia.), and concreting is
done over them. The concrete mix used is 1:2:4. The grid
size depends upon the design, span, and the material
used. For Mangalore tiles (size 23cm by 40cm), the grid
size is 33cm by 50cm. The slab thickness is 10
centimeters.
• This technique saves energy-consuming concrete. Roofs
and intermediate floors account for 20-25% of the total
cost of the house. This roofing costs 30-35% less than
conventionally used concrete roofing.
• This technique also reduces the unwanted dead load of
roofing. Compared to other roofing systems, it is
thermally comfortable and has no health hazards.
Galvanized iron and asbestos cement sheet roofs
dissipate too much heat and are difficult to live under.
Also, asbestos cement sheets are long associated with
diseases such as lung cancer, hence must be
avoided.
DETAILS
 ARCHES
• One of the most effective ways of spanning an
opening is by constructing arches.
• Arches can be a cost-effective alternative to the
lintels. In addition, they look more appealing than
flat and dull lintels.
• Arches can be of different shapes and sizes depending
upon span and availability of skilled masons.
• Most common arch shapes come in semi-circular,
pointed, corbelled, and bell shapes.
• The easiest of the arches is the corbel arch. It can be
constructed without any framework and needs less
skilled labour.
• Each row of bricks projects 4-1/2 inches beyond the
course below it, until the bricks meet together in the
middle.
• Corbel arches can span openings up to 5 meters.
• Flat brick arches can span openings up to 1.2 meters.
• Skilled labour and framework are two essentials in
construction of arches.
• Arches are provided not only in brick houses, but also
widely used in mud arches.
 FRAMELESS DOORS AND WINDOWS
• Door and window frames are not actually required. They are responsible for almost half the
cost of timber used. Avoiding frames considerably reduces the cost of timber.

• Door planks are screwed together with strap iron hinges to form doors, and this can be
carried by holdfast fittings carried into the wall. The simplest and most cost-effective door
can be made of vertical planks held together with horizontal or diagonal battens.

• The simplest frameless window consists of a vertical plank (9” wide) set into two holes, one
at the top and one at the bottom. This forms a simple pivotal window. Wide span windows
can be partially framed and fixed to walls or can have rows of pivotal planks.
 RUBBLE MASONRY
• Random rubble masonry is extensively used as foundation at places where stones are readily
available.
• An 18” (45 cm) foundation base is adequate for most soils and single or double storey
buildings.
• Depth and size may vary with the addition of number of floors.
• In case of weak soil, the trench can be widened (50-60cm) and the bottom can be laid with
concrete (1:2:4) followed by a 30-35cm wall.
• For the foundation, a trench 50 cm wide is dug and laid with rubble. It can be dry masonry or
mud mortar.
• For higher masonry walls, cement mortar (1:10) can be used. (It is always wise to pile the
excavated soil between the plinth walls to prevent cost of future filling).
 BAMBOO CONSTRUCTION
• For most parts of the India, bamboo is a locally available material and has been used as
building material for centuries.
• It can be easily grown and is one of the cheapest construction materials. A good bamboo cut
into strips has the tensile strength almost equal to that of steel.
• It is used for reinforcement, shuttering, scaffolding, roofing, piles, filler material and much
more.
• Bamboo in lime concrete can be used for foundations, especially in the sandy areas along the
seacoast.
• It is resistant to seawater and remains intact whereas other foundations will crack with
shifting sands.
• For places where stones and bricks are not available, foundation for mud walls can be of
moist soil with layers of split bamboo reinforcement inserted.
DETAILS
 FLOORING

• Flooring is often of terracotta tiles or colour oxides.

The bed is made out of broken brickbats (this saves
wastage of brick), over which a 3” mortar layer is
laid and tiles are placed over it.
• Various patterns and designs are worked out,
dependent upon shape, size of tiles, span of
flooring, and clients’ personal taste.
• These tiles require little maintenance and are
cheap. Also the patterns of tiles are visually
attractive.
• Most commonly, tile shapes include square,
rectangular, hexagonal, triangular or can be
customized.
• Also, electrical cables can be run through these
floors.
• Another method of handling flooring is poured
cement with colour oxide finishes, usually in red,
black, or ochre, and sometimes with red for most of
the floor and black as a border.
 MUD CONSTRUCTION
• When you think of a mud house, do not expect to make the entire house of mud (though it is
a possibility!).
• Bricks use a lot of fuel to burn them; stone needs quarrying, shaping and transporting.
• Concrete needs a great deal of energy to make the cement and then skilled labour to turn
these materials into concrete.
• But in many parts of the world mud is right there on the site as an old, well-tried wall
building material.
• All that is needed is the human-power to convert the ground on which you stand into a wall
to surround and protect you.
• All over the country mud of some sort or other is
found.
• Even if the surface soil is unsuitable for wall building,
there may be suitable mud beneath, or by adding
stabilisers your mud may be made suitable.
• Compare this situation with the burnt brick industry.
• Comparatively few areas have suitable mud for the
purpose of burning mud into a burnt brick. So the
ideal is to find mud on your own site.
• If this is not possible, bring it from as short a distance
as possible, or find the nearest stabiliser available and
then you only have to transport that to your site.
 BUILT IN FURNITURE
• Much of the furniture used by COSTFORD is built-in. These are either of brick or rubble
masonry raised above floor level.
• Raised rubble masonry with finished surface can act as sitting or tables or even beds. Brick
furniture is generally finished with a red or black oxide layer.
• To make it interesting, tiles are fixed to these oxides to form an integrated design pattern.
Bay windows, outdoor sittings, loft beds, study tables, etc. are common examples of built-in
furniture.
• Recesses and buttresses in walls are used as shelves, almirahs and cupboards. Common
thoughts behind this built-in furniture are that, after constructing houses and buildings,
clients are left with very little money to buy costly furniture, so these built-ins save money
and also provide strength to the walls.
Half Brick Wall (Four & Half inch thick wall)
• A four-and-a-half inch or half brick wall is
adequate for small, single storey houses and
is apt for partition walls.
• These walls are adequately strong up to a
span of 2 meters.
• However, an isolated, long, half brick wall
may fall, get knocked over, or get crushed by
roof load.
• The stability of the wall can be ensured by
providing buttresses or recesses.
• Also the junctions of these walls increase the
stability. Thus the stability of these walls
greatly depends upon designing and
planning.
• Half brick walls, apart from being efficient,
are also economic as they use almost half the
number of bricks and even less mortar than
used for full brick walls.
• They also save the labour charges, as they are
less time consuming and easier to build.
 AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
• Two projects of the Centre of Science and Technology For
Rural Development (COSTFORD) have earned recognition
in the national-level competition conducted by the
Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO).
• The HUDCO Design Awards were for COSTFORD’s
environment-friendly and cost-effective housing project
for the Karimadom Colony here, under the category for
Cost-effective Rural/Urban Housing including disaster
resistant housing.
• The Karimadom project came second among four prize
winners.
• COSTFORD joint director and architect P.B. Sajan and his
wife Shailaja Nair’s residence at Powdikonam, near the
city, won the second prize in the category ‘Green
Buildings’.
 Karimadom Colony
• The Karimadom Colony project was entrusted to
COSTFORD by the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal
Corporation as part of its slum eradication
programme, following which the center went in for
Laurie Baker’s cost-effective and environment-
friendly housing concept.
• The project included planting of tree saplings,
cleaning of the pond in the colony, an education
center for children, a building for women’s self-help
groups, bio-gas plants, and play area.
• The total population of the colony is 2341 with a total
area of 9.73 acres.
• There are 632 families residing in the colony out of
which 72 families have been provided with habitable
houses 10 years ago. Rest of the 560 families live in
shacks and in dilapidated houses.
Topography
• The land lies 60 cm below the existing roads. The site
slopes slightly toward the sewage collection pond.
Road Systems
• The road layout is basically a network of 2.m wide pathways. 2m wide pathways are provided
connecting the units and surrounding the residential blocks on all four sides, as the entrance
to various units is from all four sides of the blocks.

Individual Design –
• The proposal is for 28 nos of a ground + three dwelling block to house these families. The
proposed dwelling block design comprises of 20 units with 8 on the ground floor, 6 on the
first floor, 4 on the second floor and 2 on the third floor. 18 nos of dwelling blocks are
overlooking a central open space, which creates a feeling of openness on entering the area
provided.
Water Supply
• For drinking water inhabitants depend on the water supplied by the Corporation. Majority of
the houses do not have individual water supply connection.
KARIMADOM COLONY : PROJECT COMPONENT

Community Facilities Services

1. Play Areas 1. Water Supply
2. Rejuvenation of Pond
Social Amenities
1. Study Center Cum Library 3. Biogas Plant
2. Anganwadi 4. Sanitation
3. Multipurpose Open Spaces 5. Electricity
4. TV kiosks 6. Drainage
5. Market 7. Bio fencing
6. Kiosks
7. Community Cluster center 8. Smokeless Chula
9. Earth Filling
10. Retaining Wall
11. Rainwater harvesting
12. Tree planting and Landscaping in
Multipurpose Open Spaces
 VISALA THE ‘Green Buildings’
• Mocking at the conventional style that reeks of luxury, but severs all ties with Nature, this
experimental house from Costford has its place booked among the rare and true eco-friendly,
green houses in the state.
• Bamboo, casuarina poles and coconut tree trunks holding a house built in mud, covering
2,700 square feet, using recycled and renewable items.
• That too, at just Rs. 750 per square feet covering the labour expenses, electrification and
water connection charges.
• The house has reused doors and windows sourced from demolished ancestral structures. For
the staircase, wood of the mango tree has been used while the pillars of the car shed are
treated coconut tree trunks.
• The other highlights remain the rainwater harvesting facility, solar panels, bio-waste plant,
plenty of open spaces (a mini courtyard reserved for creepers alone) and of course the scenic
landscape outside for free.