Study of Climate Responsive Passive Design Features in Traditional Hill Architecture of Khyah Village in Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh, India for Indoor Thermal Comfort

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Vernacular architecture of any settlement is characterized by architecture and construction methods developed by the wisdom of the local masons and builders, often the inhabitants themselves, to provide thermal comfort to users in extreme outdoor uncomfortable climatic conditions, by using locally available building materials and by adopting construction technology which both were more responsive to their climatic and geographic condition. This paper will highlight the climate-responsiveness in the traditional architecture of Khyah village in Hamirpur district of Himachal Pradesh, having sub-tropical climatic condition. The plan of individual house, the cluster of houses and the overall settlement itself has been evolved from a process of understanding the local geo-climatic conditions which causes discomfort in both cold winter and hot summer months. Hence, the house plans were kept compact, thick adobe bricks were used for walls, pitched roof with attic and roof-covering of slate were employed and small window openings were provided with heavy timber shutter—all as a mean to retain indoor heat during cold winter months and also to prevent excessive heat-loss and heat-gains. The paper will also attempt to bring out the adaptive synchronized dynamic interactions between the various activities of inhabitants and their spatial environment, as a response to the local climatic conditions, from the physical survey of this traditional hill settlement.