Sustainable Residence with Passive Solar Heating and cooling
H.No. 1494 Sector 40 Chandigarh A TWENTY YEAR OLD HOUSE We ended up as the "replacement architects" for a house being constructed in Ph 2, Chandigarh. The owners were from Patiala, and were not getting the kind of service they were looking - viz. proper oversight of the ongoing construction - starting with a basement. That's when we were pulled into the project - more as in a PMC role rather than pure architecture. First thing - we made sure that the basement walls were properly waterproofed from the outside, along with its protection layers, and with subsoil drainage. Then we ensured that the back-fill was done properly - in layers of of around 3-4" thick (it was a mud-sand mix) And most importantly - we had brick walls starting at the basement foundation levels to ensure that the abutting walls did NOT SINK INTO THE SOIL OVER THE YEARS because of soil settlement. Beams were also placed at the junction of these walls - to ensure stability. At the regular Plinth lev