THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How about a dead building giving life to a new one? That’s what a group of architects in the capital are currently engaged in. Exploring the potential of reusing parts of buildings, the architects under the banner Studio Commune have launched an online repository of used building parts. Their aim is to reduce costs for those struggling to put a roof over their heads and also help reduce the huge amount of demolition waste.
The repository has been named ‘b-organ’. The building parts - be it fixtures from the kitchen or toilet, tiles, bricks, taps, pipes, doors, windows - can be donated voluntarily and used free of cost by those who find construction costs unaffordable. Many from the weaker sections of society have benefited from the initiative.
One such person is Ambika, 55, from Thrikkannapuram in the capital. The sole bread-winner of a five-member family, she was given `5 lakh by the government to build a house. Though Ambika managed to start the construction work, it was stalled after she ran short of funds.
That’s when Studio Commune members decided to voluntarily get the job done for her.
Various architects in the capital came forward with help in the form of materials. Soon, toilet fittings, tiles, doors, bricks and kitchen cabinets started flowing in. A group volunteered to paint the house using leftover collected from different sources. A mason helped the team complete the house at a nominal rate.
“An estimate of a newly-constructed house reveals around 20 per cent of the project cost goes towards flooring, plumbing, electric connection and fixtures. If carefully extracted and handled during demolition, building waste materials can become important resources for reuse,” said Soumini Raja, who founded Studio Commune along with Vishnu Kurup.