View of SUSTAINABLE COURTYARD PAVING MATERIALS

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41 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION IN ENGINEERING RESEARCH & MANAGEMENT ISSN: 2348-4918

Peer Reviewed and Refereed Journal

VOLUME: 08, Special Issue 01, (SDCS-2021) Paper id-IJIERM-VIII-I, February 2021

SUSTAINABLE COURTYARD PAVING MATERIALS Mrs. Afroz Adil

Lecturer, Architecture and Interior Design Dept. Govt. Women’s Polytechnic College, Indore Abstract:- A courtyard is a circumscribed area, surrounded by walls or buildings, and it is open to the sky. Courtyards are more prevalent in dry and hot climates, as an open central courtyard can be an important tool in cooling house in warm weather. Flooring is an important part of a courtyard design and it is often one of the first interior design choices which is later combined with lighting, furniture, sculptures and accessories to bring the open area to life. The performance of the paving plays a vital role. It includes appearance, retention, functionality, durability, maintenance required and affordability. Basically a residence courtyard can act as: a. Visual Element, b. Functional Element and c. Climate Control Element and a good paving material is the key to achieve these three design elements to the maximum.

1. Visual Element: Using the right materials, hues, shapes, textures, and patterns of the paving material can make a courtyard the eye catchy element of the house. Apt choice of paving material can make a courtyard look royal, beautiful, attractive, spacious and welcoming.

2. Functional Element: Paving material should go hand in hand with the function of the courtyard-like anti skid material for an extension of outdoor kitchen or a play zone, or permeable material for rain water recharge area.

3. Climate Control Element: Flooring can be a good absorber, conductor or reflector of heat. For hot regions fast cooling paving materials are the best choice whereas for cooler climatic conditions paving that retains heat for a longer time can be chosen.

The courtyard floor is a significant part of the residential interior design as it requires beauty and convenience, both at the same time. The courtyard paving design and style can be kept in theme with the rest of the interior design of the residence or else it can be chosen in slight variation to give a totally new look and feel to the courtyard. A well thought courtyard paving material should be aesthetically appealing, flexible, sustainable, easily and locally available, weather resistant and easily replaceable.

When we talk about courtyard paving many types of images start floating in our mind. A variety of materials are available for paving the residential courtyard. But the paving which is selected should have few characteristics in regards with its exterior usage.

These exterior paving should be weather resistant, easy to install and maintain, easy and comfortable to walk on, should blend well with the surrounding environment and should help in fast drainage of water.

The courtyard can be paved with a homogenous material or can be designed with a combination of two or more materials, colors, finishes and textures. Courtyard paving material can be classified into Monolithic and Non-monolithic materials.

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VOLUME: 08, Special Issue 01, (SDCS-2021) Paper id-IJIERM-VIII-I, February 2021 42

1. Monolithic Paving:- These paving has a seamless surface. Usually they are cast in- situ. There are no joints on the surface and they are made on a solid concrete base.

Monolithic paving is impermeable. The surface is made by a cement mix as a base.

These paving are not suitable for areas receiving less rain.

A few examples of monolithic paving are:- 1. IPS (Indian Patent Stone),

2. Terrazzo,

3. Brushed Concrete, 4. Stamped concrete.

All monolithic floors are made up of concrete which is not a sustainable material.

2. Non Monolithic Paving:- These paving have joints on the surface. This paving can be permeable or impermeable depending on the material and the types of joints used. Non monolithic paving is of two types:-

1. Surface having rigid joints,

2. Surface having flexible or no joints at all.

Materials available for non monolithic paving are bricks, concrete blocks, PVC blocks, pebbles or loose stones, cobble stones, porcelain tiles, wood, natural stones, etc. The above listed materials can be joined with rigid and solid cement or polymer based mortar, which makes the paving impermeable. The same materials can also be laid with flexible joints of sand or gravel or grass. These flexible joints make the paved area permeable and thus help in water drainage or can be excellent for water harvesting.

But when speaking about sustainability we prefer locally available natural materials which have minimum processing procedure and which can last long, which have minimal waste and create nominal or zero pollution. Bricks are manufactured from clay and need kilns for baking. Concrete blocks are made of cement and cause lot of pollution. PVC is not a bio degradable material. Porcelain tiles again require a long manufacturing process which creates pollution.

Wood is not suitable for outdoor purpose in Indian climatic conditions. Considering this we can narrow down our material list to naturally and locally available stones.

Naturally three rocks are found on the earth: Igneous, Metamorphic and Sedimentary rocks. In India the basic types of stones available are Granite and Basalt (Igneous Stones), Marble and Slate (Metamorphic Stones) and Limestone and Sandstone (Sedimentary Stones).

Visually all the natural stones are beautiful and are available in a variety of shades.

As theses stones are found in nature, no two pieces of stone will be exactly the same. These stones need not to be smooth polished as they are being used for exteriors and need a rough surface. Some of the basic finishes available for exterior use are Honed, Tumbled,

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Flamed, Chiseled, Brushed, Leather, Sand Blasted, Bush-Hammered, Natural Hand Cut, etc.

Granite has bigger grain size which is visible with the naked eye. Basalt is a very hard stone and so cannot be cut into tile form and can only be used as cobbles. Marble has mica content and so it has a natural shine but it creates glare if laid in exposed sun.

Marble, Sandstone and Limestone are a bit softer and so can be cut into any desired shape and size. Sandstone has a gritty surface apt for outdoors, but as it is soft chances of algae development are more if moist.

Functionally speaking all these stones are durable and need less maintenance. They are hard and scratch resistant. They can be replaced easily. If laid in a correct way they can last for ages. Natural stones are porous and so they act as excellent permeable paving. If laid with flexible joints they absorb rain water and thus play a vital role in water harvesting in hot and dry regions.

Climatically all stones act differently. Granite does not absorb heat and doesn’t heat up fast. It is good for moist areas also as porosity is less. Marble is porous and so cannot be used in wet areas and it gets heated up very fast so cannot be placed in the sun. Slate also gets heated up and stores heat for a longer time. Sandstone and Limestone absorb less heat and don’t store it for long. As they are porous they should be avoided in wet areas.

1. JOINTS

Joints can be classified as:-

1. rigid joints done by cement or polymer base and

2. Flexible joints, where joints are filled with sand or gravel or grass.

Rigid joints are non permeable and are good for humid areas, where as flexible joints are good for dry regions where water recharging is a necessity.

Rigid Joint

Flexible Joint 2. CONCLUSION

A complete comparative table showing all the properties of stones in given below:-

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VOLUME: 08, Special Issue 01, (SDCS-2021) Paper id-IJIERM-VIII-I, February 2021 44

If the courtyard of a residence of hot and dry climatic region has to be paved then from the above table we can conclude that granite and limestone are the two stones which can be used with flexible joints for fixing them. The characteristics of these two stones can be compared as:

The advantage with Limestone over Granite is that it doesn’t create glare and is a porous stone. This porosity helps the courtyard to be permeable. Limestone falls out to be cheaper option as compared to Granite or Marble. Also it is naturally textured so even raw limestone can be used as paving for courtyards.

Limestone is less durable than Granite but still it can go on for ages with little maintenances. Heat retention and heat absorption of Limestone is also very low and so it can be installed in hot climates, directly under the sun. Finally we come to the conclusion

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that since limestone is locally available in the hot and dry area of India, is beautiful, is porous and durable and it resists heat; it can be used for paving the residential courtyard.

REFERENCES

1. Time Saver Standards for Landscape Architecture – 2nd Edition.

2. Courtyard Housing – Past, Present and Future – by Brian Edwards, Magda Sibley, Mohamad Hakmi and Peter Land.

3. Manual of Tropical Housing and Building Climatic Design – by O H Koenigsberger, T G Ingersoll, Alan Mayhew and S V Szokolay.

4. Construction Materials and Techniques – by V.K. Kumawat.

5. Engineering Materials – by Rangwala.

6. Courtyard Houses of India – Yatin Pandya.

7. Courtyard Living – Contemporary Houses of the Asia Pacific – Thames & Hudson.

8. Top 10 Courtyard Houses in India – The Architects Diary.

9. https://homeguides.sfgate.com/lay-patio-pavers-dirt-95926.html.

10. https://www.marshalls.co.uk/gardens-and-driveways/blog/how-to-lay-a-patio.

11. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/documents/1/howtoinstallpavers.pdf.

12. https://www.marblewarehouse.com/Marble-flooring-Advantage-and-Disadvantage_b_42.html.

13. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2090447919300826#:~:text=Marble%20is%20comp osed%20primarily%20of,%25%20(MgCO3%20and%20others).

14. https://geology.com/rocks/marble.shtml.

15. https://www.armstone.com.au/blog/how-to-lay-natural-stone-pavers/.

16. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stones_of_India.

17. http://ibm.nic.in/writereaddata/files/07302015125756IMYB2013_Marble.pdf.