Jayesh Ganesh, architect and friend of the AlterNEXT family from Bangalore, visited in the last week of November to conduct a building workshop on sustainable building materials and construction techniques. This was the second workshop, and we took the first steps towards implementing the Campus Masterplan that was developed by friends and fellow architects Jayesh Ganesh and Uday Goswami through a participative approach involving the local community.

This time we did hands-on work on building footpaths, walls, and flooring. When working on buildings, one main concern is passive cooling (something we also pursued under the Knowledge Hub project), so that the inside of buildings can stay relatively cooler without using air conditioning. We learned how to build a rat trap wall, which works like a thermos flask because there are empty spaces within a double cavity wall. Using two types of locally available bricks, different designs can be created, less cement is needed, and plants can be integrated too.

We created several samples of flooring using local stones and tiles in order to build in a sustainable as well as low-cost way. Half-bricks are used for simple framing of footpaths. After two days of heavy work, we have created an open-air classroom and meeting space that we are calling “Naya Gurukul”. Thank you Jayesh and everyone who helped us with the workshop!