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Reflecting on previous speculative urban proposals.

This multifaceted, self-build project addresses housing and food insecurities faced by the Bangladeshi community on Commercial Road High Street in East London. Through a community kitchen, vertical farm, social housing, and self-built rammed earth construction, the project aims to repair local socio-economic and ecological disparities while empowering residents through community engagement and material localism.

See more design and research work at the Seva Works website (link in bio)

#adaptivereuse #selfbuild #earthenconstruction by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Reflecting on previous speculative urban proposals.

This multifaceted, self-build project addresses housing and food insecurities faced by the Bangladeshi community on Commercial Road High Street in East London. Through a community kitchen, vertical farm, social housing, and self-built rammed earth construction, the project aims to repair local socio-economic and ecological disparities while empowering residents through community engagement and material localism.

See more design and research work at the Seva Works website (link in bio)

#adaptivereuse #selfbuild #earthenconstruction by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Pushing earthen construction further.

Architecture in the Sahel region, a transitional zone between the arid Sahara and the humid savannas to its south, might take shape through the intelligence of its own materials — where laterite / banco bricks anchor the ground and stabilised earth vaults rise to form sheltering spans.

By reading structural logic and material sequence as design language, the approach considers how local sourcing and vernacular methods can generate resilient forms of construction that evolve with community skill, climate, and resource cycles. taken in Sahel by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Designing with earth-based practices in Nepal.

Across Nepal’s diverse terrains, earthen construction continues to bridge traditional knowledge and contemporary need — from the vaulted brickwork of Taragaon Museum in Kathmandu, to the layered adobe and thatch of Tharu housing in the Terai region, to emerging speculation for rammed earth and bamboo shelters in public spaces.

These varied expressions share a quiet intelligence: the ability to build comfort and durability through local material cycles, human skill, and climatic sensitivity. At a time when rising temperatures and resource pressures demand new forms of infrastructure, such methods point to an architecture of continuity — rooted in context, yet adaptable to the future.

Image 1: Recent public space proposals using rammed earth shelter structures in Chandragiri, Nepal
Image 2: Nepali Tharu housing case study from the G20 Compendium on Traditional Housing
Image 3: Taragaon Museum, Kathmandu, using earthen vaults as primary structure taken in Kathmandu, Nepal by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Design lives in the details.

Regenerative construction strategies might be applied within the Sahel by combining locally sourced earthen materials, bamboo, and other bio-based components into adaptable building systems. It considers how construction logic can emerge from local climate, material conditions, and cultural practices to shape spaces that build community agency, strengthen skills, and extend traditional knowledge. By working with what is already present, the aim is to create new forms of educational infrastructure that minimise carbon cost and maximise local value.

Image 1: Facade construction
Image 2: Detailed plan perspective taken in Sahel by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Adapting everyday construction to endure rising urban heat.

As extreme temperatures increasingly shape life in dense neighbourhoods like Sultanpuri, Delhi, attention turns to how existing homes can evolve to withstand changing conditions. Incremental adjustments to roofs and walls begin to remediate heat impacts on residents, with measurable reductions in indoor temperature offering a quiet yet profound improvement to daily living.

These subtle shifts in construction practice point to a broader transformation already underway — one where resilience is not imposed through large-scale redevelopment, but emerges through the accumulated intelligence of local material, self-build labour, and bottom-up adaptation.

Image 1: Typical masonry brick & corrugated metal roof home in Sultanpuri
Image 2: Sultanpuri urban plan
Image 3: Typical shop structure in Sultanpuri
Image 4: Roof retrofit detail studies for flat and sloped roof homes
Image 5: Roof retrofit implementation using different material strategies

@seeds_india @g20org @urbanheatstudio @unep @iclei_southasia @architecturefoundation @archdaily @fa_platform @materialdriven @designcouncil @riba @build_up_nepal_ @craterre_ @massdesigngroup @buildxstudio @kounkuey @intbau @localworksug @architectsjournal @dezeen @wuf_unhabitat

#architecture #urbanresilience #heatadaptation #climateresilience #vernaculararchitecture #sustainablehousing #lowcarbondesign #communityarchitecture #retrofitting #designresearch #climateadaptation #urbandevelopment #designforchange #resilientcities #inclusivearchitecture taken in Delhi, India by @sevaworks_

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9 months ago

Climate-resilient architecture in the Sahel region might emerge directly from its materials and methods – from the gradual layering of earthen structures to lightweight bamboo roof systems assembled on site. By treating construction sequence as a design tool, it asks how local sourcing, vernacular knowledge and community-led building processes can shape resilient and regenerative infrastructure whilst strengthening skills and ownership within communities that build it.

@ebukigram @architecturefoundation @becoming.regen @craterre_ @alt_march @buildxstudio @article25 @abari_nepal @asso_voute_nubienne @aruparchitecture @seeds.red.lab @hunnarshalaofficial @massdesigngroup taken in Sahel by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago

The Sahel is a vast semi-arid region stretching from Senegal to Sudan, forming a fragile transition between the Sahara Desert and the humid savannas. Its ecosystems and livelihoods, long dependent on agriculture and pastoralism, have been severely destabilised by overgrazing, deforestation, and unsustainable land use, leading to soil erosion, desertification, and devastating droughts such as those of the 1970s and 1980s. As the Sahara continues to advance southwards, the region faces escalating pressures of extreme heat, land degradation, and food insecurity.

In this context, earth-based construction and climate-resilient infrastructure offer critical pathways forward, rooted in local materials and adaptive design strategies that work with the Sahel’s challenging environment rather than against it.

Image 1: Sahel, semiarid region of western and north-central Africa extending from Senegal eastward to Sudan
Image 2: Recent G20 Compendium of Traditional Housing Designs incorporating Natural Cooling Techniques suited to local climates – research support provided by Seva Works
Image 3: Satellite image / speculative site in the West African Sahel

@craterre_ @buildxstudio @localworksug @asso_voute_nubienne @kounkuey @abari_nepal @massdesigngroup @materialdriven taken in Sahel by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago

Reflecting on previous speculative urban proposals.

This northwest London-based project marked an early exploration of how Seva Works approaches questions of material and spatial transformation. Conceived as an alternative to demolition-led redevelopment, retrofill proposed a hybrid of retrofit and infill as a way to preserve and adapt existing industrial building stock. Rather than treating buildings as disposable, the project explored how small-scale, systemic interventions could extend their life, enhance performance, and embed new uses within the urban fabric.

This line of thinking continues to shape Seva Works’ current work, where regenerative strategies and material innovation remain central. Prefabricated mass timber systems and lightweight glass envelopes, tested here as low-carbon interventions, anticipate ongoing investigations into how emerging materials and construction logics, from timber to earth, can couple adaptation and reuse with strategies of climate resilience.

#Retrofill #UrbanRegeneration #AdaptiveReuse #MassTimber #LowCarbonDesign #MaterialInnovation #RegenerativeArchitecture #SustainableCities #ArchitectureResearch #SpeculativeDesign #circularconstruction

@becoming.regen @_heat_island @waughthistletonarchitects
@archisource @ug07_bartlett @nlalondon @architecturefoundation @archdaily @_woodforgood @thinkwoodcommunity taken in London, United Kingdom by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago

Reflecting on previous speculative urban proposals.

This northwest London-based project marked an early exploration of how Seva Works approaches questions of material and spatial transformation. Conceived as an alternative to demolition-led redevelopment, retrofill proposed a hybrid of retrofit and infill as a way to preserve and adapt existing industrial building stock. Rather than treating buildings as disposable, the project explored how small-scale, systemic interventions could extend their life, enhance performance, and embed new uses within the urban fabric.

This line of thinking continues to shape Seva Works’ current work, where regenerative strategies and material innovation remain central. Prefabricated mass timber systems and lightweight glass envelopes, tested here as low-carbon interventions, anticipate ongoing investigations into how emerging materials and construction logics, from timber to earth, can couple adaptation and reuse with strategies of climate resilience.

#Retrofill #UrbanRegeneration #AdaptiveReuse #MassTimber #LowCarbonDesign #Materiallnnovation
#RegenerativeArchitecture #SustainableCities #ArchitectureResearch #SpeculativeDesign #circularconstruction

@becoming.regen @_heat_island @waughthistletonarchitects @archisource @ug07_bartlett taken in London, United Kingdom by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago

The Seva Works website is now live. A space where research, design, and making meet — exploring earth, climate, and community as drivers of architecture. Reach out if you’re interested in engaging Seva Works or working together.

Link in bio. by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago

Seva Works’ previous material design-research has investigated the tectonic capacities of rammed earth / earth-based construction methods, with a methodology focused on using physical mockups to iterate and analyse at a component-scale.

This material research aims to position earth, an abundant and often traditional resource across different climate zones, as an ecologically reparative alternative to contemporary building construction processes. Speculating on self-build and modes of socio-technical engagement, earth-based design practices may offer ways to work towards more democratised and decarbonised material futures.

See link in bio for more.

@becoming.regen @_recollective_ @taragaonnext @abari_nepal @craterre_ @asso_voute_nubienne @build_up_nepal_ @earth.institute @ebukigram @localworkstudio @material_cultures @studioannaheringer @basehabitat @erden.at @boltshauserarchitekten @socialdesigns_ @barefootsocialarchitecture @_social_constructs_ @nyamistudio

#earthenarchitecture #materialfutures #decarboniseconstruction #selfbuild #rammedearth taken in London, United Kingdom by @sevaworks_

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10 months ago