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January 2008 ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People 19

growth of settlements in these valleys

flourishing by percolating the great les-

sons of nature in the form of climatic,

geological, topographical constraints,

availability of natural materials, flora and

fauna, accustomed to present soil condi-

tions, geographical conditions and trying

hard to survive amidst such harsh physi-cal base, have with ages of time evolved

from patterns of nature itself a unique

technique for existence and this tech-

nique is called vernacular architecture.

One important aspect of vernacular

architecture of hills of Himachal Pradesh

is regarding the conservation of energy.

More research is being carried out in

this field to harness even more benefits.

One such field is the propagation ofsolar passive technology which when

optimally utilized would harness immeas-

urable gains.

DHARAMSALA - KANGRA

REGION OF DHARAMSALA

Kangra region comprises of 14 subdivi-

sions namely Deragopipur, Nagrota

Surian, Pragpur, Rait, Indora, Kangra,

Fatehpur, Nagrota Bagwan, Nurpur,

Bhawarna, Sullah, Panchrukhi, Baijnath,

and Lambagaon and is spread over an

area of 29 kmand population density of

300 persons per hectare. It is located in

western part of Himachal Pradesh state of

North India.

This area has a particular climatic

feature in the form of the area receiving

maximum rainfall after Cherapunji and it

makes it one of the coldest places of

Himachal Pradesh and like Shimla only;the summer capital of the state this win-

ter capital of the state has also made

progress in the field of application of

conservation of energy and mainte-

nance of comfortable temperatures

even in the harshest minimum tempera-

tures of 5c -10 c in months of

December-February. These techniques

have been evolved from vernacular

architecture over the ages. Yet, the tech-

niques need to be modified and some

new parameters need to be included in

it that have remained unknown to the

people of the area either due to lack of

knowledge about these ways or simple

ignorance about their application. The

paper gives an idea to solve this prob-lem of hills of Himachal Pradesh with all

the areas having similar or near similar

climatic and geographic conditions.

TRADITIONAL

CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES

Five styles of construction on hills pre-

dominate the area. These are: fill, cut, cut

and fill steps and erection on poles.

Fill: The gradient is filled to make aneven levelled land to serve as uniform

grounded platform to act as base for con-

struction purposes. But it has certain dis-

advantages as well like it disturbs vegeta-

tion and the material in filling is liable to

erode easily thereby increasing the risk to

stability of structure and uneven settle-

ment of the structure.

Cut: The gradient is cut suitably to

make a levelled and uniform surfaced

ground /platform for the future construc-

tion purposes. It involves cutting of vege-

tation as well. Therefore in case of fragile

ecosystems and ecology, it makes the

structure prone to the risks of landslides.

Moreover the earth recovered from cut-

ting the gradient has also to be disposed

of properly.

Cut and fill: It involves the advan-

tages of both cutting and filling as well. Iteliminates for the need of very deep cut-

ting (up to 3 meters) and also very high

level filling thereby providing stability to

the structure. Moreover it doesn't inter-

fere much with the vegetation cover.

Staggered or stepped: The construc-

tion is made on a platform made of steps

in line with the gradient or the slope ofthe area. The lowest step however needs

to be strongest to take the load of subse-

quent steps. This is also one of common

practices to construct stable structures.

Added advantages include the better

usage of contours, least cutting -filling

operations involved, least disturbing of

vegetation and most importantly maxi-

mum benefit of sunlight.

Filling the gradient

Cutting the gradient

Cut and Fill

Staggered or stepped


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ARCHITECTURE - Time Space & People January 200820

Buildings on poles: Here, the entire

structure is raised on poles. In this case,

less area on ground is covered and used

and it does not interfere at all with vege-

tation and land covers. However it is

preferable to use this technique only in

the area where subsoil conditions are

good and substrata does not involve slip-pery and porous stones since in that case

settlement would take place, making the

structure unstable. Moreover here no

retaining or fence wall is required. It is

therefore economic solution for construc-

tion on sloping gradients.

General considerations in orienta-

tion of built masses on hills:

1. In order to exploit maximum and bet-

ter views, sunlight and wind effects,

built mass shall be oriented along the

profile of the slope.2. Buildings are planned in steps in two

different ways: 1). by placing main

building at back and smaller at front

to avail maximum benefit of the cli-

matic considerations like light, winds

views etc. and 2). By downhill or uphill

planning and orientation of the build-

ing. In downhill, the private areas are

designed at bottom or down level

and public areas are placed at the top

while in up hill planning; the pubic

areas and parking etc. are placed at

the bottom or down level and private

spaces are placed at the top.

3. Generally activity of the building (or

the built mass) decides for the type of

view to be preferred and hence orien-tation is governed. For eg. In case of

valley private areas are avoided view

on the side of roads while less private

areas are preferred on side of roads

4. Access: in case of access, if the entire

built mass is to be placed on the same

level for all entrances to be from same

level, (for varied reasons)then build-

ing has to designed at the same level

using any of the above mentionedconstruction practices.

VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE

OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

Land of traditionally built mud houses,

Himachal Pradesh is the area that has

stored and embodied traditional styles of

nature in all aspects of life, be it making of

structures or methods of livelihood.

Houses are traditionally of mud mortar

and sun -dried masonry, given fine coat-

ings of bhusa or husk mixed with either

cow dung or mud. Sometimes the houses

are also made of stone masonry as lime-

stone is available in abundance here.

Reinforced with heavy wooden beams,

the walls are sufficiently weather and

earthquake, temperature resistant be it a

case of single storey of even double

storey structure. Generally traditional

houses (mainly in villages nowadays) are

double storied, elegantly plastered with

mud plasters.

The floors are also well plastered with

a mixture of mud-cow dung-bhusa or

husk. This makes the floors heat insulat-

ing that helps in maintenance of comfort-

able temperatures inside the areas even

in extreme colds and hot months. Heavywooden beams are also sometimes intri-

cately carved in case of areas of special

importance; like living room, etc. (Plate 9)

Building on poles

Building in steps

Traditional houses made of mud masonry &slates

Sloping roof houses

Plate 9: Intricately carved wooden beams

Carved wooden brackets

Wooden columns and beams


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W a l l s a r e

f i n i s h e d b y

cladding with

wooden panel

f o r i n s u l a t i o n

reasons.

Staircases in

traditional hous-es are generally

of small width of

flights (generally

of 3') and that is also made up of

completely wood with treads plastered

in mud or cow dung and husk. Roof top

is made up of wooden rafters and bat-

tens supporting framework of slates

with slope perfectly maintained.

Sometimes it is double sloped or some-where it is single.

Design of a typical house comprises

of two to three rooms (general size

10'x12') with generally one or two or

maximum of three small sized openings

that are meticulously placed so that no

direct impact on living space is felt. One

small sized kitchen in the house with

sometimes attached chimney, one

bathing space and one small sized

detached toilet that is often at some dis-

tance outside the house are essential part

of a traditional house in hills of Himachal

Pradesh. Sometimes if the owner has cat-

tle, a separate double stored or even sin-

gle storied house is made in near vicinity

of the residential complex. In the lower

storey, cattle is kept while in upper storey,

cattle feed, or husk, etc. is kept.

Large sun spaces in front as veran-

dahs form an integral part of the houses

either be it of stone masonry or typical

mud. Stone masonry houses are also very

much prevalent in the area owing to the

easy availability of limestone.

These are sometimes plastered from

inside with mud or with lime plaster pro-

vided either with wooden reinforcement

or steel reinforcement to strengthen the

structure but in most of the case exteriorwalls are left exposed without any treat-

ment to stone masonry (either random

rubble or ashlar masonry).

In stone masonry also, the roof is gener-

ally made up of wooden rafters topped

with slates or sometimes with steel truss or

other light weight material at the top like

asbestos sheets, G.I sheets or even mud tiles.

Wooden interior & ceiling

Wooden brackets & covering over stonemasonry

Sloping roof of Slates

Wooden Paneling onWalls

Heavy Woodenbeams

Wooden staircase,paneling, beams & columns

Stone Masonry without plaster or exteriortreatment

Harmony of stone masonry with woodenstructural members

Sun spaces or porticos in front

Insulation achieved with heavy woodenpaneling inside


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Shapes for stone masonry structure

vary from complete rectangular forms to

hexagonal rooms at either ends or well

mixture of varied shapes. At some places

sometimes North light truss is used or

roof light is used for ample lighting.

Yet another form has been recently

developed by Didi-Contarctors; an

organization active in preservation of tra-

ditional vernacular architecture of the

hills of the area which is not only cost

effective, but also is easy to maintain,

work with and most importantly resist-ant to all harsh climatic conditions, earth-

quake etc natural hazards and leads to

least damage in case of unfavorable and

unforeseen circumstance and that is

bamboo architecture

INTRODUCTION TO SOLAR

PASSIVE TECHNOLOGY

While in active solar system and energy

conservation methods, special external

accessories are used and attached to the

structure to enhance the heat gain, pas-

sive systems involves design, construc-

tion and orientation of the structure itself

in such a way that the structure itself

becomes the absorbent and retainer of

the solar energy thereby eliminating the

need to use the external methods and

accessories of heat gain. If used at all the

supplementary accessories like curtains,

carpeting etc, is so cheap that hardlyaccounts towards extra energy consump-

tion and energy losses. Therefore the pas-

sive solar technology methods have

proved to be very energy conserving and

cost effective over the methods of active

solar technology. Nowadays, over these

parameters and calculated gains from

such successful experiments in Shimla

like buildings of HIMURJA, H.P. Co-opera-

tive Bank, Shimla, Solar passive building

of State Bank of Patiala, Shimla, propaga-

tion and advocating the use of such

methods and construction of such struc-

ture would definitely be a boost towards

energy conservation aspects for the cold

regions of Himachal Pradesh.

DETAILING OF SOLAR

PASSIVE TECHNOLOGY

Here, natural methods of heat flow, con-

vection, radiation and conduction are

studied and applied to capture heat dur-

ing daytime and its release during night

time. These therefore provide for excess

amount of free energy. A structure can be

injected with solar passive technology in

several ways. These are: Design considerations

Construction considerations

Materials considerations

DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

1. Structure design

Proper planning can make struc-

ture save and conserve a lot of

solar energy in daytime.

Shapes like, square, rectangular, L

&T and variant of these can be

used advantageously. However,

sometimes, owing to topographic

Hexagonal or rectangular shapes of sun spacesin front

Provision of chimney over sloping roof

Linear forms with expansion joints preferred

Massing in hills

Use of North light truss for lighting purposes

Treatment of glass with doorframe to admitlight


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constraints and earthquake

considerations of a region

(Dharamsala), preferably rectan-

gular and square shapes are pro-

posed to be most effective.

Largest area of roof and walls is

exposed to sun in case of rectan-

gular shape. Buffer spaces can be used to

reduce temperature fall of the

main areas/living areas. In this

case some rooms /areas can be

made as antispaces to arrest the

heat loss.

Porticos in the front can be

provided in front that enhance

heat gain.

Attics in the roof can be usedadvantageously to collect and

retain heat in the built mass

under the sloping roof.

2. Orientation

For maximum absorption of solar

radiation; the built mass shall be

oriented along east-west axis and

faced between south to 30 east

of south.

Since north facing wall is least

gainer of solar radiations, it shall

be protected against heat losses

by either painting it with dark

colours to absorb maximum

amount of solar radiations and be

having high thermal mass to slow

down temperature cycling.

Windows shall be small and

well insulated

Heavy masonry work like stone

masonry etc. shall be preferred East and west facing exterior walls

shall be maximum exposed to

solar radiations

Windows shall be given to

greater extent in east and west

facing walls.

South facing walls since are most

absorbent of radiations, shall be

maximum exposed with open-

ings/windows to great-

est extent

3. Landscaping

Proper landscaping can

also add to solar energy

gains in winters while

p r o v i d i n g a s h i e l d

against the same insummers.

In case of north facing

walls, evergreen plants

s h a l l b e u s e d t o

cold winds

In case of east and west

facing walls deciduous

plants shall be used for

shade in summers and

heat gain in winters

CONSTRUCTION CONSIDERA-

TIONS

Solar window s: windows

are efficient way of increasing

heat gain. Double glazing: in it,

the air cavity between the two

glasses acts as an insulation

resulting the overall insulation.

Solar wall: a solar wall con-

sists of thermal storage wall

constructed between the solar

glazing and living space. South

facing glass functions heat trap-

ping material. The solar wall

also reduces the temperature

fluctuations in the room during

daytime and allows the heat to

be delivered into the rooms in

the evening till late hours.

Sunspaces: the green houseatria, sun porches and garages

are known as attached sun

spaces. Thus extra heat avail-

able from these sunspaces can

be used to augment the heat-

ing of rest of the buildings.

Attached sunspaces not only

supply solar heat but also

reduce heat loss from building

Maximum exposure to east facing walls

Orientation shall be east-west axis and faced betweensouth to 30 east of south

Proper landscaping contributes towards solar gains

Judicious and wise use of deciduous and evergreenplantation helps in solar gains


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by acting as buffers between the build-

ings and outside.

Sola r trombe wall: trombe wall is a

modification of solar wall in which

openings are kept at top and bottom.

The heat flow into the room is available

for 2-3 hours after sunset till the wall

surface gets cooled.Air cavit y: air cavity within walls or

an attic space in the roof ceiling combi-

nation reduces the solar heat gain fac-

tor. Heat is transmitted through the air

cavity by convection and radiation.

Skyl ights : Skylights for winter solar

gain and illumination: skylights and

roof windows bring solar heat and light

into the house especially on the north-

ern portion unexposed to the sun, inwinters. The skylight assembly and the

supporting frame must be insulated.

Roof insulation: sloping roofs are

mostly preferred in hills and to make it

more efficient in terms of trapping

solar energy, attic spaces shall be pro-

vided that would act as b uffer zone. Air

cavity in the form of attic spaces in

roof-ceiling combination reduces the

heat loss when false ceiling insulation

is adopted.

Roof covering and drainage: prop-

er drainage of water and efficient roof

covering are most important consider-

ations as leaking roof cannot provide

effectively heat insulation. Over the

steel truss, G.I sheets and slates shall

be used.

Better water/weather proofing :

These measures at the openings would

help to reduce infiltration. Rubber strip-pings at the junctions of shutters and

frames and below doors would help in

sealing of all cracks. Keeping windows

closed and immediately replacing bro-

ken panes help to considerably reduce

infiltration.

Windows: size of windows /openings

shall be small from 1.2 to 1.5 m/ to mini-

mize hest loss due to openings.

MATERIALS CONSIDERATIONS

For walls facing north, preferably cav-

ity wall construction is considered

ideal but wooden paneling can be

used advantageously however walls

facing south shall be not be insulated

against heat loss.

For floors either carpeting or woodenfloors are an ideal solution.

In case of doors and windows, proper

insulation can be done using rubber

gaskets as and where required since

proper insulation can reduce heat

loss more than 50%.

Since timber and plastic have lower

conductivity than steel therefore they

shall be given preference for doors

and windows. In case of roof, covering shall be such

that adds to heat gains both by

absorption and also by retaining

heat trapped and best for this are

slates (readily available in hills) or

light weight roofing tiles like GI

sheets, asbestos sheets, Corrugated

sheets etc.

However roof shall be provided for

drainage of storm water as well by

adequate provision of purlins and

gutters otherwise it will lead to water

retention and ultimately leading to

dampness and great heat loss.

Better weather proofing: better rub-

ber stripping at the junctions of shut-

ters and frames and below doors

would seal the gaps that otherwise

lead to heat loss

In case of areas of extreme concern

in terms of comfortable tempera-ture zones, heavy curtains can also

be used to scale off the reduction

of heat.

CONCLUSION

With the changing needs and require-

ments, our environment is getting

depleted of natural resources at an

alarming rate. Today therefore, is the

need to not only think about our living

styles that consumes, rather wastes, the

invaluable energy reserves but also to

take a closer look at our old rich heritage

like vernacular architecture that not only

blends well with the contextual in fills of

the area but also conserves our

resources for the future generations tocome. With great emphasis on energy

conservation, today many innovations

are being done in the field with com-

mendable work being done especially in

case of solar passive technology propa-

gation but until and unless common

masses understand and inculcate the

very concept of soar gains in the form of

very small and easy steps in day to day

life, much progress cannot be done.

REFERENCES

1. Sharma Vandna, 2005, Unpublished

work, B.Arch Thesis, Mini Secretariat

in Dharamsala.

2. Sharma Vandna, 2007, Unpublished

work, M.U.R.P Dissertation, Planning

for a new hill town in Kangra region.

3. Sharma Aniket, 2007, Unpublished

work, M.U.R.P Dissertation, Industrial

Development Planning for Himachal

Pradesh.

4. http://hpkangra.gov.in/welcome.asp

Ar. Vandna Sharma, Faculty

D e p t t . o f A r c h i t e c t u r e , N I T

Hamirpur, Gold - medalist, B.Arch-

Hons., Masters of Urban and

Rural Planning, IIT Roorkee and

Ar. Aniket Sharma, B.Arch-Hons.,Masters of Urban and Rural

Planning, IIT Roorkee, former

Faculty, Deptt. of Architecture, NIT

Hamirpur & presently Assistant

Project Manager, Jones Lang

LaSalle, Hyderabad.

Photographs: Courtesy the

Authors.


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