Built for Auroville Foundation with funding from HUDCO, MNES, & UNCHS/Habitat at a cost of 30 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Appropriate architecture design of 1200 m2
• Appropriate building technologies
• Renewable energy sources (Solar and Wind)
• Built in collaboration with Suhasini Ayer, Architect

Received International Award:
"1992 Hassan Fathy Award for architecture for the poor"

UNIDO (United Nations for Industrial Development Organisation) requested CRATerre-ENSAG in 1990 to built a rural primary School on the outskirts of Kinshasa, former Zaïre, as the first step of technology transfer with this country.

School built in 4 weeks:
2 week course for the block production
2 week course for the construction

Walls
Compressed stabilised earth block (CSEB), (5% cement)

Roofing
Wooden beams, with corrugated metal sheeting

A school in Pondicherry for 700 children

Built for the NGO Volontariat with funding from Volontariat & EEC at a cost of 50 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Appropriate architecture design of 2200 m2
• Appropriate building technologies (stabilised rammed earth foundations, CSEB walls and ferrocement items)

Built for the Auroville Foundation with funding from the Government of India & the Auroville Foundation at a cost of 15 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Appropriate architecture design of 635 m2
• Stabilised rammed earth foundations and walls
• Cloister arch domes (5.76 m span, 2.25m rise), built with CSEB and without formwork
• Segmental vault (10.35 m span, 2.25m rise), built with CSEB and without formwork

Built for the collectivity of residents with funding from the residents, Auroville International centres, & the Auroville Foundation at a cost of 75 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Appropriate architecture of 1448 m2, on 2 or 4 floors, with 23 apartments
• Appropriate building technologies
• Renewable energy sources (Solar and Wind)
• Ecological water management
• Biological waste water treatment
• Finalist for the 2000 World Habitat Award, by BSHF, UK

Built for the UNCHS/Habitat through CRATerre with funding from UNCHS & the Government of Finland at a cost of 1000 USD

Main Features:
• Earthquake and cyclone resistant house of 9 m2
• Walls built with hollow interlocking CSEB
• Cloister arch dome (3 m span, 60 cm rise), built with CSEB and without formwork

Built for the Isha Foundation at a cost of 11 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• 22.16 m diameter, 7.90 m rise, 54 to 23 cm thick
• Section: segmental ellipse
• Dome, of 570 tons, built with fired bricks with the free spanning technique (without formwork)

Designed as a low-cost, readily-built shelter for disaster-struck areas
Built as a demonstration for HUDCO & the NGO Abhiyan at a cost of 0.65 lakh rupees

Main Features:
•Disaster resistant house of 23 m2, built with hollow interlocking CSEB and interlocking ferrocement channels
• Built in 66 hours at Delhi, and awarded gold medal by ITPO for the quality of the demonstration
• Built in Orissa for the rehabilitation of the zones affected by the super cyclone of 1999
• Built in Gujarat in 62 hours for starting rehabilitation programmes of the zones affected by the 2001 earthquake

Built for the Auroville Foundation & the Auroville Building Centre/Earth Unit with funding from HUDCO (India), KFW (Germany) & personal donations for a cost of 50 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Various stabilised earth technologies on 655 m2
• Stabilised rammed earth foundations
• Walls built with plain or hollow interlocking CSEB and stabilised rammed earth
• Various vaults of various shapes and spans, built with CSEB, with the free spanning technique
• Waterproofing done with alternative stabilised earth plasters
• Biological waste water treatment

Built for Ar-Riyadh Development Authority (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) with funding from the City of Riyadh for a cost of 440,000 USD

Main Features:
• Transfer of technology from Auroville to Saudi Arabia
• Various stabilised earth technologies on 420 m2
• Walls built with plain CSEB and stabilised rammed earth
• Semicircular vaults and domes of 3 m, built with CSEB, with the free spanning technique
• Minaret of 18.05 m high built with CSEB

Received the "Prince Sultan Bin Salman Award For Urban Heritage", from Al-Turath Foundation, Riyadh

At the request of the NGO Volontariat, the Auroville Earth Institute built a showroom in Pondicherry in collaboration with a local contractor.

Main Features:
• Vault material: Compressed stabilised earth block (CSEB), 5% cement
• Vault thickness: 34 to 7 cm (from springer to apex)
• Vault weight: 30 tons
• Waterproofing: Stabilised earth plaster and Terra cotta tiles

Built to be a retreat space for the fathers living in the Friary of St. John ashram and guests visiting them.

A pointed groin vault, which was built with the Freespanning technique (without formwork), served as the roof for this building.
Hourdi blocks laid in the walls created openings, which produced a diffused light, plenty of air circulation and sufficient protection against rainwater. This building was completed in 2006, within 4.5 months.

Main Features:
• Foundations: Stabilised rammed earth
• Walls: CSEB (5% cement)
• Pointed Groin Vault: Built Free-spanning with CSEB (5% cement)

Designed by Ar. Anjana Rai of the Earth Institute and built by the Earth Institute team at the request of the Intercultural Network for Development and Peace.

Main Features:
• 278 m² multipurpose training centre
• Built with CSEB and ferrocement channels
• CSEB cloister dome with a 6.20 m span

Built for Dr. Karan Singh, the chairman of the Auroville Foundation for a cost of 20 lakh rupees

Main Features:
• Temple for Lord Shiva Nataraja
• Built with CSEB: pointed cloister dome of 6 m square
• Pyramid of 10.65 m square, with the same proportions as the Great Pyramid of Egypt

The 30 m² model house was built in the community of Simunye, close to Johannesburg. This house served as a demonstration for the 4000 houses that were envisioned to follow in this rural community.

Main Features:
• Foundations: Stabilised rammed earth, rammed with a motorized roller
• Walls: CSEB (stabilised with RBI 81)
• Roofing: Wooden beams, Corrugated metal sheeting

Satprem Maïni, director of the Auroville Earth Institute was invited to Nepal by the NGO Backward Society Education (BASE) to build a two classroom school in Jantanagar, Bardiya district. The 97 m2 school is earthquake resistant, climate responsive and was built through significant community participation.

The concept design of the school was done in collaboration with Mr. Sonam Wangchuck who worked for MS Nepal and was an adviser to BASE. The working drawings were done by Mr. Nirmal K. Tharu who works for BASE as a social worker, site manager and supervisor. They were trained in Auroville in April 2008 for CSEB production and use, design for earthquake resistance and ferrocement channel making.

Precasting of the school was completed in 5 months under the supervision of Sonam and Nirmal. The foundations were built by the community in 2 days, prior to the visit of Satprem Maïni. Under his training and supervision, the superstructure of the shool was completed in 20 days, including the finishes.

Built as a low-cost and movable housing option for 2.1 lakh rupees in response to Auroville's growing population:

Main Features:
• 30 m² dwelling made from CSEB and ferrocement roofing channels
• Constructed in 64 hours by a team of 16 Earth Institute workers and 10 to 15 volunteers from the Auroville community

Built for the collectivity of residents with funding from the residents and some outside donations for a cost of 2.17 crore rupees

Main Features:
• Appropriate architecture of 1,752 m2, on 2 or 3 floors, with 17 apartments
• Appropriate building technologies
• Ecological water management
• Biological waste water treatment
• Geothermal cooling system

The Earth Institute expanded its facilities in 2012 with this laboratory and dormitory building. The laboratory provided dedicated space for precise testing on materials and techniques, including soil properties, mechanical behavior of CSEB, Poured Earth concrete, waterproofing methods, thermal insulation, among others. The dormitory room can house two interns or staff members with superior comfort due to the natural ventilation and thermal insulation.

Main Features:
• Foundations: Stabilised rammed earth (5 % cement)
• Walls: Compressed Stabilised Earth Blocks (5 % cement)
• Segmental vaults: Built Free-spanning with CSEB (5 % cement)
• Thermal insulation: Thermocrete on vaulted roofs (plaster with Polystyrene balls, cement and earth)
• Waterproofing: Stabilised earth plaster

After initial concept sketches done by the Sri Vast Ashram team, the design of this three-room building was elaborated by the Earth Institute, with construction led by Earth Institute architects and masons.

Main Features:
• A pointed dome with a span of 6.01 m and a lantern for ventilation and natural lighting over the central space.
• Cloister domes over the rooms to either side of the central dome.
• Primarily constructed from CSEB with stone arches under the central dome and ceramic tiling over the domes.

This community centre, funded by Spiti Projects and designed by the Earth Institute, is located in the Spiti Valley in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh. With difficult road access, a barren landscape with limited natural resources, and extreme winter conditions, this building was constructed using the Valley's traditional earthen building techniques combined with passive heating systems and seismic reinforcement.

Main Features:
• Raw rammed earth walls compressed using the light ramming technique of the region to retain air pockets within the earth composition for added insulation
• CSEB composite U-Beams & Bamboo reinforcement for earthquake resistance
• Trombe wall for passive solar heating
• Composite roof for improved waterproofing with the changing climate and reduced use of wood

The Earth Institute has undertaken the design and construction of Phase II of the Sharanam Center for Rural Development in Pondicherry for the Sri Aurobindo Society. Phase II includes dormitory facilities as well as a conference hall seating 56.

Main Features:
• Single- and double-story dormitories with CSEB walls and vaulted roofs
• Conference hall with Poured Earth Concrete walls and a conical vault with a maximum span of 15 m
• Optimized for natural ventilation and rainwater harvesting