Good Earth Malhar-Footprints an Eco-village

Good Earth Malhar-Footprints is the first community at Malhar. Spread over 7 acres, it has been kept free of vehicular movement, with homes arranged around a network of streets and landscaped courtyards.

This offers many advantages to the residents , while ensuring that the car is within a short walk from the home. The cluster spaces and interconnecting streets are exclusively pedestrian, offering a safe place for residents to walk and children to play.

The community of 96 homes evolved out of a process which explored the idea of an urban village. The intention was to evoke the vernacular, the organic, within the rigid requirements and weave concepts of sustainability seamlessly into the design. The spirit of innovation and prevailed across various realms.

Planning:
• The cluster plan emerged as a basic unit of the layout. A group of 9-16 houses around an open space, with a shared parking lot at one corner. The open space in the cluster was of the proportion of a large courtyard, rendering the cluster human in scale and a pedestrian-only space.
• A hierarchy of spaces was used to create a sense of place within the layout. The variations of levels created interesting transitions, and the relationship between levels, broke the scale and monotony of the layout

Architecture and Landscape

• To counter the “cookie cutter” effect, a variety of type designs have been worked, which meet the challenges of logistics, and yet retain the need for individuality.

• The Spaces respond to the requirements, but encourage multi use, and are culture sensitive. They prompt values of conservation and economy of design.

• Landscape: The emphasis was on creating awareness about the plant and animal life, and natural processes, through the design of the landscape. Creating biodiversity through the planting of indigenous species

Sustainability

 Materials which were low in embodied energy were given a priority over others. The main building material was compressed stabilized earth blocks. The soil for these was obtained from the site. The use of Steel and cement was reduced, and replaced by stone, mud and timber.

Climate – The scale of the cluster parks, and the proximity of the buildings, shaded most of the walls, reducing the heat absorption by the walls. Air corridors created in the transitions between clusters, drew breeze into the layout, keeping it well ventilated.

Open Space: The total open space in the project was 60% of which the soft-scope comprised 48% of the total site area.

Features

Sustainability drives our design and choice of materials such that you and your environment forge a relationship for life. We use a combination of the modern and the traditional in our materials, techniques and details, creating a unique aesthetic that has a global flavour while being decidedly Indian. We integrate traditional crafts into our designs for their inherent value and to promote skilled crafts persons.

Craft Traditional crafts like carpentry, stonework and  masonry are slowly dying out as they cannot adapt to newer material, technology and requirement. But the value they impart to a space cannot be overlooked. We make a conscious effort to integrate these crafts and their skilled crafts persons in the building process. In all our work, we emphasise human resource rather than material.

Energy Design for natural light & ventilation: All the homes have been designed with adequate natural light and cross ventilation. Large windows, wide verandahs, air channels for circulation, and thermally  conducive materials, are all features which reduce the necessity for artificial light and ventilation. You will be the proud resident of an energy efficient home.

Design for solar energy: Sunlight will be greatly sourced upon at Malhar to light up your homes during the day and to heat water. This in turn leads to lowered power consumption and greater savings on your energy bills. Provisions for connecting solar water heaters and photo-voltaic panels for power will be made on the roof.

Material

Our choice of material is based on a balance of local availability, efficiency of manufacturing processes and durability over time. Natural materials make your homes more comfortable and age beautifully. Wherever possible we use recycled materials and always use resources optimally.

Earth blocks: Soil excavated from foundations, basements, tanks and water bodies is stabilized  using a small percentage of cement and moulded  into blocks. We use resources from the site itself  thereby reducing the amount of materials being  transported in. These blocks are specifically  designed for the structure and quality control is done on-site. Besides being engineered for strength and durability, walls made of these are aesthetically pleasing when detailed well.

Stone: Another locally available material with  excellent insulating properties and aesthetic beauty. Today building with stone is a craft that is slowly disappearing with the increasing dependence on factory-made synthetic materials, and therefore the need to revive its use.

Wood: At Malhar, wood is more than just an aesthetic source. To promote its use as a renewable resource, we intend to plant timber species within the community. A warm, intimate material, it replaces high energy consuming steel and aluminium typically used for doors and windows). We believe in recycling old timber—from houses that are demolished, from packing cases, and from plantation timber—as opposed to forest timber.

Natural floors: As flooring materials, wood, stone and clay are good for you and your family’s health. They offer better insulation and comfort than synthetic floors. Besides they age beautifully as the years go by.

Paints: We only use paints that are non-toxic, lead-free and low in VOC. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC), commonly found in most indoor and outdoor paints, give out low-level toxic emissions into the air for years after application. Lower VOC paints preserve both the indoor and outdoor air quality of your home and help your family breathe easy.

Water

Rainwater harvesting and recharging:

At Malhar eco-village, true to its name, rainwater conservation takes on a special significance. Rainwater is harvested and the ground water is recharged through well spread out percolation channels across the development. Roof water will  also be channelled through pipes, passed through a series of filters and collected in the water tank. With intermittent rains in Bangalore, this supplements the supply through bore wells. We are also contemplating digging a small open well at the bore wells to direct the rainwater to it.

Water recycling: An on-campus sewage treatment plant recycles all waste water generated at Malhar. The waste water from the kitchens and bathrooms is collected and treated in a centralized treatment plant to emerge clean. This water is then used for gardening and for toilet flushing.

Waste

Waste management: We propose to have an efficient garbage disposal system that separates solid and non-biodegradable waste from the organic waste. Organic waste can be composted and the compost reused as manure. Some of the non-biodegradable waste can be incinerated. For the metals and plastics, one could look at recycling agencies which can pick up the waste.

Ecoscape

Integrating ecology with landscape: Creating an environment for the land to rejuvenate becomes an  important aspect of planning, especially

for the psychological and cultural values they impart. Trees and plants will be mostly local and of a variety that can withstand low water conditions. The environment will be interactive and engaging and Malhar will be a veritable encyclopaedia of plants and trees including the medicinal variety. Relive the nostalgia of your own childhood as your children discover insects and birds, climb trees and create imaginative worlds in the nooks and corners of Malhar. While you also experience the change in seasons as expressed through the flowering and shedding of the trees.