A PROPOSAL

FOR
LOW-COST HOUSING

Background of the project:

Nepal lies in one of major earthquake prone areas.
Recently, a powerful earthquake 7.9 magnitude with epicenter
in Barpak, Gorkha, hit Nepal. The earthquake was followed by a
number of powerful aftershocks. As a result of this natural calamity,
Nepali people suffered massive loss of life and property as well
as major infrastructures. Number of buildings have collapsed and
more than one thousand buildings were assessed as having a minor
to moderate damages and number of houses. A rapid
installment of low-cost building needs made as soon as possible
as the affected people are forced to live underneath a small
plastic sheet. In the lack of alternative, many people are still
living in damaged houses which leaves them vulnerable as
aftershocks are hitting Nepal one after another.
In today's scenario, housing has become a major
problem for every Nepalese citizen who have lost their house
and are forced to live in a slum condition. Necessity of a good
shelter is increasing day by day. But many people are not in a
position to build new house due to the sky rocketing cost and short
supply of building materials. The introduction of low-cost house
can minimize these problems and may act as a good and hygienic shelter
to those affected people. Low cost housing is the concept of providing
shelter to people with effective budgeting and following the techniques which
in reducing the cost of construction through the use of locally available materials
improved skills and technology without compromising on strength, performance
of the structure. Low cost house is a concept of proper management
of locally available resources. It is also economic as finishing
works can be postponed to a later time.

helps
along with
and life

Project Introduction:
People are suffering from housing problem since the
earthquake has affected their house and turned down buildings into
debris. They cannot dream of having a quality house as the cost of
construction is increasing due to skyrocketing prices of
construction materials and lack of sufficient manpower for project
design and planning.
Low Cost Housing is a new concept which deals with
effective budgeting and following of techniques which help in
reducing the cost of construction through the use of locally available materials along with improved skills and
technology. It is done by proper management of resources. Basically the project has number of components:
bamboo housing, bamboo based enterprises, energy production and resource rehabilitation. We have designed
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the low cost housing for the single unit family as well as multi-unit family by making the best use of
construction materials i.e. by using the debris, locally available building materials, reducing plinth area i.e.
250-600 sq.ft.
Building cost:
The overall cost of the building is minimized as we make use of the locally available building materials.
The labor cost can also be reduced by putting in place effective time schedule. We are planning to reduce the
cost of the building as much as possible by using number of technique and strategy which are listed below:
Areas from where we can minimize the cost of the building

Reduce plinth area by minimizing the thickness of the wall

Using locally available building materials in innovative ways.
Use energy efficient building materials.
Use environmentally friendly materials which may work as an substitute for doors and windows frames.
Pre-plan every component of a house and rationalize the design procedure for reducing the size of
component in the building.
By using the debris of demolished house.
The overall the cost of building is divided into two parts:
1. Building material cost: 65 to 70%
2. Labor cost: 20-30%

Objectives:

To provide good and healthy environment to earthquake victims

To identify different design parameters of housing
To justify and make solution of the weakness from the collected data and information.
To design a house which is eco-friendly and have all the necessary spaces, including safe evacuation
route.
To provide complete assistance and support to earthquake victims.
To plan an operationally efficient, functional and healing housing environment.
To insure their safety and security.

Project Justification:
Nepal has always been considered vulnerable to earthquake. Recently, Nepal had to face massive loss of
life and buildings due to the earthquake of magnitude 7.9 with epicenter in
Barpak of Gorkha followed by series of aftershocks. More than
600,000 people have become homeless and many more people are
suffering from psychological stress due to damage in their houses and
buildings.
Most of the affected people are in remote areas of the country.
They are living in a tent and under a single plastic sheet i.e. tarpaulin.
Necessity
of
house
is
increasing day by day in terms
of security, climatic condition and
so on. In today's condition, people are unable to construct their house as
soon as possible due to skyrocketing cost of building materials. Hence,
the new concept of low cost house has arrived as a solution for such
problem where most of the building materials used are locally available.
Similarly, cost can be lowered as much as possible by using debris and
by reducing the plinth area but not compromising on basic requirements.
Our small initiation of constructing low-cost houses will increase
living standard of quake-hit people, protect them from bad weather, and
help the children to get out from the psychological trauma caused by the
earthquake.

Methodology:
LOW COST HOUSING
JUSTIFICATION AND OUTPUT

ANALYTICAL

PROJECT SITE VISIT

AND ANALYSIS

FINALISATION
OF
REQUIREMENT ALONG WITH
AREA
DESIGN CONCEPT

MASTER

ARCHITECTURAL
DESIGN

Expected Output:
Create a low-cost building for earthquake victims.

To get maximum benefit from the space available.

To design in an environmental friendly way.
To design the good built environment for quake-hit people.
Design a building that is environmentally sustainable by using natural resources.

The conceptual design:

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Conclusion:
Overall the low-cost house is designated for
earthquake victims in remote areas of Nepal. The cost of the house is reduced by compromising on
building materials but not on structure. Similarly, the final cost of the building depends on nature of
the building to be constructed, availability of building materials, construction management technique
and so on. We need to adopt better planning and design methods. We have qualified manpower with
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the experienced engineer, architect and numbers of volunteer for supervising the works, thereby
achieving overall cost effectiveness to the extent of 30% in actual price.