Construction of Low Cost Housing in Developing Countries

1
Construction of Low Cost Housing in Developing
Countries

• Proper housing is an important need for every
  human being.
• Types of accommodations depend on
• -the proper utilization of resources and economic
  well being.
• -the income level if any!
• -the high cost of building materials.

2
How to achieve low cost

• To find out cheaper building materials and
  improved construction technique so that the
  finished house will be the reach of the poor
  people.
• This my be achieved in two ways by using cheap
  local materials and by developing new concept of
  house-making.
• The problem of low cost housing is a
  characteristic of the area so some low cost
  houses built at certain developing countries may
  not be considered low in other areas.

3
Housing for urban poor

• High rise buildings containing small apartments
  where the low income groups could take advantage
  of these reasonably low houses.

4
Houses in Rural Areas

• Traditional houses are made of mud walls, bamboo
  poles, split bamboo and large leaves collected
  from the forest.
• An improvement is the house made from timber
  column, timber truss and specially prepared straw
  covering. In hot places these coverings keep the
  houses cool.
• The construction technique is not difficult and
  local people have built such houses on self-help
  basis.
• Houses are generally built on an elevated land.

5
Prefabricated Timber Houses

• Prefab timber houses are making a headway in the
  building industry.
• Such mass production could reduce the cost as
  low as possible.

6
Geodesic Dome

• Geodesic dome (a domed or vaulted structure of
  lightweight straight elements that form
  interlocking polygons) houses can be designed to
  provide low cost, self-help homes. The simple
  timber frame construction uses fixing straight
  poles of bamboo. A number of such domes of
  different sizes may be connected to make a
  complete house.
• Living space costs less that half of the
  conventionally designed houses and excellent for
  areas with high rainfall.

7
Igloo Type Dome

• Bamboo fiber is found to have good structural
  characteristics and can be used as cheap
  reinforcement. It is like an extra thin shell
  with core reinforcement as steel or bamboo mesh.
  Combination of different sizes of this shell can
  give enough private spaces. The design and
  construction of shell is not easy. Parabolic
  shape will create enough rigidity to maintain
  itself without bending and stay in position even
  when a strong wind is blowing.

8
Precast Housing Units

• This unit is made up of brick wall and
  hyperbolic-paraboloid shell as the roof element.
  The foundation and walls are first constructed on
  an elevated land. The precast roof elements are
  placed one after another with a gap between them.
  Light planks are supported underneath the gaps
  and one inch thick concrete is cast over all gaps.

9
Corrugated R. C. Slab Unit

• The light corrugated sheet flies away during
  storm. Relatively heavy R.C. slab units can be
  used in the form of corrugated covering. The
  bamboo poles or timber columns need to be
  replaced by brick walls to carry the slabs. In
  this type of construction locally trained people
  can cast slabs and use them for the roof
  covering.