Hillside Holiday Home, Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
2 Min Read
15 tons
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
Tags:
COmpleted
Overview
12,500 blocks on a Himalayan hillside
Mr. Sivaswamy and his family wanted a large holiday home in Rishikesh that reflected their commitment to building with a lighter environmental footprint. Their contractor, JRD Construction Co, built the 7,500 sq ft, three-storey home with more than 12,500 Agrocrete® blocks. Completed in December 2024, it stores 15 tons of CO₂ in its walls, one of our largest residential projects.
The brief
Hot summers, cold winters, steep site
A home in the Himalayan foothills has to handle hot summers and cold winters. The walls needed to keep the house comfortable in both seasons. The site sits on a slope above the town, with views across forested hills, so every material had to be carried uphill. The family also wanted the building itself to reflect their environmental values, from the walls up.
Why Agrocrete®
Thermal insulation for every season
Agrocrete® walls give up to 3.5x the thermal insulation of conventional masonry, which helps keep heat out in summer and in during winter. The blocks were chosen for that thermal performance and for their sustainability credentials. They are made from paddy straw, fly ash and BINDR™, our cement-free binder, and are lighter than conventional concrete blocks, an advantage on any hillside build.
What we supplied
12,500+ blocks for 7,500 sq ft
GreenJams supplied more than 12,500 Agrocrete® Solid Blocks for the three-storey home. Solid blocks are our high-strength format, rated at 5 MPa or more and compliant with IS 2185 and IS 1725. Every block carries a 10-year warranty against cracks, dampness and termites, important for a holiday home that may stand empty for part of the year. The order was among our largest for a single home.
On site
Lighter blocks on a steep site
JRD Construction's crews built the home with standard tools and mortar. On a hillside where materials are carried up to each level, lighter blocks meant less effort moving material. Large window openings were framed into the blockwork to take in the views, and services were run along the walls as the floors went up. The building rose three storeys without any change to the crew's usual methods.
The results
A home comfortable in every season
The finished home sits on its hillside with strong insulation against both summer heat and winter cold. For the Sivaswamy family, it is a high-end holiday home that stores carbon instead of emitting it. For JRD Construction, it showed that Agrocrete® works on a large, multi-storey residential build on a demanding site. The family now has a holiday home that matches its values.
Carbon impact
15 tons of CO₂ in a family home
The Rishikesh holiday home stores 15 tons of CO₂ in its walls, making it one of our largest residential projects to date. It sets a benchmark for sustainable luxury living in the hills: a large, comfortable home that sits lightly on the land and gives back to the climate rather than taking from it. The home shows what Agrocrete® can do at scale for private clients.
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