COSTFORD's attempt was to try and integrate this housing layout with the rest of the village. The layout was organized by staggering the placement of the 47 odd housing units to create pockets of community spaces and changing vistas along a circulation spine that was crossing the plot. As compared to the long rows of conventional housing the uniqueness of this plan was the openness of the design and the way the individual housing units offset each other. They attempted to create little private rectangles of land in between the houses where the people could dry their nets and the kids could play. Moreover, the staggering profile of the street ensured that the cyclonic wind met no resistance and was allowed to pass over the houses.
The individual housing units had to be made in a given fixed area stipulated by the government. But, here too COSTFORD crested numerous plan options, all within the given area. Wherever felt necessary, a second storey was added to free up ground space and create visual interest. The plans essentially consisted of a living room, a bedroom and a kitchenette, with the provision of a small open backyard for their outdoor cooking requirements. Since a good part of a fisherman's life is spent out of doors adequate spaces were also provided outside, as front yards, for mending nets and cleaning and drying the fish.
The materials used for construction were exposed brickwork laid in a rat-trap bond and concrete filler slab roofs. The exposed brick jali work catches the breeze and circulates it within. As opposed to the sloping roof that Mr. Baker had provided in his designs, COSTFORD provided well-drained flat terraces over the houses, which provided more recreational spaces and made provision for future vertical expansion. In 2000 the construction of leach pits outside the toilets was undertaken, which was completed in 2001.
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