In this project overview
The Anilpuram Mandate · The Masterplan · Self-Sustaining Clusters · Food Corridors · Architectural Philosophy · Climate-Passive Design · Modular Living Spaces · Material Innovation · Structural Foundations · Roofing & Openings · Community Infrastructure · The Green Temple · Water & Access · Circular Economy & Precast Facility · Livelihood Generation · Upcycling at Scale
The Anilpuram Mandate
The Sustainable future
● Build a permanent village on safe, newly surveyed government-allocated land.
● Ensure 100% climate resilience and passive thermal comfort.
● Mandate a circular economy approach to all construction materials.
The request from Lokaa Foundation to the government was clear: Not just build concrete boxes. Build a village that respects the environment, utilizes alternative low embodied energy building technques where possible, and provides a beautiful state of living.
The Masterplan
Site Survey & Zoning
● Total land allocated and formally surveyed.
● Careful analysis of natural water runoff, topography, and solar orientation.
● Embankments and retention strategies integrated into the site borders.
We started from scratch. The land was surveyed, borders were marked, and our first priority was understanding the natural topography to ensure this new site works with the monsoon rains, not against them
The 117-Plot Grid
The Village Masterplan
● 117 individual, permanent residential plots.
● Standardized modular plot size: 10.5m x 10.5m. as okaa foundation donated the extra land to achieve this standards
● Ensures equitable land distribution while allowing for customizable home expansion over time.
The masterplan is highly organized yet organic. We established 117 equal plots of 10.5 square meters. This modularity simplifies our precast construction process while giving every family a generous, dignified footprint.
Self-Sustaining Clusters
Community-Centric Clusters
● The 117 plots are divided into 8 micro-neighborhoods or "clusters."
● Each cluster revolves around a central Chaupal (gathering space).
● Fosters micro-community support, shared childcare, and communal resource management.
Rather than a typical urban grid, the village is broken into 8 clusters. Each cluster has its own Chaupal, preserving the traditional Indian village dynamic of communal outdoor living.
Rethinking Infrastructure: Food Corridors
Food Corridors, Not Roads
● Complete elimination of asphalt and wide vehicular roadways inside the village.
● Pathways are designed as "Food Corridors" lined with edible landscaping and fruit-bearing trees.
● Permeable surfaces to ensure groundwater recharge.
One of our most radical design choices was eliminating standard roads. Inside the village, pathways are scaled for pedestrians and bicycles, flanked by agricultural planting zones to provide food security and thermal shading.
Architectural Philosophy
The Yanadi Hut Archetype
● The design language is a direct evolution of the local Yanadi tribal hut.
● Retaining the conical/sloped form for its cultural familiarity and structural efficiency.
● Upgrading materials for permanence without losing the vernacular identity.
We did not want to erase the architectural heritage of the villagers. We studied the Yanadi hut and engineered an evolution of it—maintaining its recognizable silhouette but upgrading its structural integrity.
Climate-Passive Redesign
Passive Thermal Comfort
● 30° Sloped Roofs: Optimized for rapid rainwater shedding and reducing solar gain.
● Stack Effect Ventilation: High-level ridge vents allow hot air to escape naturally.
● No-Glass Policy: Traditional shuttered windows to eliminate greenhouse heat-trapping in the tropical climate.
The homes operate like thermal chimneys. The 30-degree sloped roof paired with a vented ridge allows hot air to continuously rise and escape, keeping the interiors cool without any mechanical air conditioning.
Modular Living Spaces
Scalable Residential Units
● Core living space with deep, shaded verandahs.
● kitchen and washroom units separated by covered "bridges."
● Space reserved for a Puja (prayer/meditation) area.
The homes are designed to grow with the family. The core structure is flanked by modular "bridges" connecting to kitchens and washrooms, keeping heat and moisture away from the primary living/sleeping spaces.
Material Innovation
The sustainable Challenge - Challenging Standard Construction
● Standard rural housing relies heavily on high-carbon cement and fired clay bricks.
● Anilpuram is targeting a near-zero carbon footprint.
● Focus on upcycled, reclaimed, earth based and costrcution debry alternatives.
This is where the engineering gets exciting. The standard government-issue rural home is a concrete box. We are challenging that standard by proving that a village can be built permanently with a fraction of the embodied energy.
Structural Foundations
Upcycling Debris
● Elimination of reinforced concrete footings.
● Utilization of Boulder Trenches.
● Incorporation of Construction Debris (CnD) as aggregate for structural stability.
Even at the foundation level, we are innovating. Instead of pouring concrete footings, we are using traditional boulder trenches bound with processed construction debris, creating a massive, stable, and highly permeable base.
Roofing & Openings
● Roof Structure: Treated Bamboo replacing steel and GI pipes. High tensile strength, hyper-renewable.
● Door/Window Frames: Precast jambs to eliminate the need for new hardwood.
● Shutters: Reclaimed timber sourced from local demolition sites.
Steel is completely removed from our roofing structural system. We are utilizing chemically treated bamboo, creating a lightweight, highly resilient roof channel system that supports the local bamboo agricultural economy.
The Knowledge Centre
● Designed as a laterally stretched version of the Yanadi hut.
● Functions as a school, skill-development hub, and community anchor.
● Features m deep verandahs for passive cooling.
Education is central to Lokaa's mission. The Knowledge Centre scales up the residential architecture into a monolithic earthen structure designed to house the village's educational and vocational programs.
The Green Temple
● Combines South Indian temple progression (Garbagriha to Mandapam) with the conical Yanadi form.
● Built using Laterite aggregate masonry and monolithic earthen arches.
● Surrounded by surface ponds to collect and manage site rainwater runoff.
The Green Temple is both a spiritual center and an ecological node. Designed using sacred Mandala geometry, its surrounding landscape acts as the primary rainwater harvesting basin for the village.
Water & Access
● Water Tower: An elevated GRP tank on circular masonry, enclosed in a conical bamboo roof. The base acts as a shaded community space.
● Entry Bridge: Built with precast debris blocks featuring planter holes, creating a "living" threshold into the village.
Our infrastructure works double-duty. The water tower's base doubles as a shaded gathering space, and our entry bridge is quite literally a "living" structure, with precast planter holes allowing flora to grow directly out of the architecture.
The Lokaa Precast Facility
● We are not just bringing in contractors; we are building an industry.
● A dedicated pre fab facility established on-site to manufacture the village's building components.
● Led by VBA's 20 years of low-carbon R&D.
How do we source all these alternative materials? We make them on-site. The Lokaa Precast Facility is our engine, designed by Dr. Ullas at VBA to process debris and earth into our building blocks.
Empowering the Community
● Training the local population (including the future residents of Anilpuram) to operate the facility.
● Producing blocks, pre-cast elements, and treating bamboo on-site.
● Creating a skilled labor force that will outlast the construction of the village.
This is a livelihood program disguised as a construction site. By training the locals to run the precast facility and treat the bamboo, the money spent on construction stays within the community, creating a new, skilled micro-economy.
Upcycling at Scale
● Sourcing urban construction debris (CnD) from surrounding developments.
● Crushing, grading, and binding the debris into structural elements.
● Drastically reducing landfill waste while securing free/cheap aggregate.
We are solving two problems at once: clearing construction waste from nearby urban areas and utilizing it as our primary aggregate for foundations, wall and bridge elements. It is upcycling at an architectural scale.
Download the detail design document
Cultivate Change: Get Involved
Volunteers and interns are the heartbeat of Anilpuram, bringing the diverse skills and passion needed to build a truly resilient eco-village. Your involvement helps us prototype a low-carbon future where sustainable living and circular economy principles flourish.