Hydraform Magazine Edition 1 - 2013

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13
Oriental Odyssey
The eventual goal of the new company was to expand
the reach of the company’s products and services to
cover the entire sub-continent. As with anything new,
it was tough going at first but gradually Hydraform’s
interlocking technology started gaining acceptance
and today the company has a wide presence in the
region.
Naturally customisation to better suit local conditions
is an important part of any expansion programme.
Accordingly, Hydraform India needed to customise the
product and application thereof to meet the requirements
of the local building industry.
The initial focus of the Indian operation was to provide
the country’s government with a robust, reliable and
cost-effective social housing solution that could be
deployed quickly and effectively wherever needed. As
such, Hydraform technology quickly became the preferred
solution for social sector initiatives such as post-disaster
rehabilitation and shelter programmes, mass housing
projects and employment generation, as well as in social
or economic empowerment programmes instituted by aid
agencies and government.
Among the many rehabilitation projects that have
successfully used Hydraform machines, technology and
training are:
• the earthquake rehabilitation project in Gujarat
• the cyclone rehabilitation project in Orissa
• tsunami rehabilitation projects in South India and
Sri Lanka
• shelter programmes in Sri Lanka
• flood rehabilitation and shelter programmes in Barmer
• the flash flood rehabilitation project in Leh
• a host of other initiatives focused on employment,
skills development or resettlement.
In the course of all of this humanitarian activity,
Hydraform building technology and machines have been
chosen by prestigious multinational institutions such
as UNDP, Action Aid, Tata Relief, CARE, HUDCO and
BMTPC. Similarly, many large local corporates have
selected the machines for use in their own corporate
social responsibility initiatives.
Collaboration and growth
Of course, this hasn’t occurred in a vacuum. As is the
case all over the world, the company always works
closely with communities, housing technology institutions,
building materials technology councils, architects,
engineers, professionals and artisans to ensure that
building materials produced by Hydraform machines are
of the highest quality and meet the most stringent quality
standards.
The nett result of these efforts in India saw something
that began life primarily as a social housing solution
develop into a widely accepted and viable alternative
now extensively used in the mainstream construction
sector. Hydraform technology has been used in practically
all types of construction projects: from cluster-housing
to multi-storey housing developments, from industrial
facilities to schools and colleges, from offices and
warehouses to boundary walls around business parks or
residential developments.
One of the most compelling factors – certainly where the
international aid agencies are concerned – is Hydraform’s
capacity to meet green building standards. Although the
existing soil-cement blocks are among the most carbon-
neutral building materials available today, the company
has gone the extra mile by developing solutions involving
the use of post-industrial and -agricultural waste as well as
fly-ash in the construction of its blocks.
At the time of its 25th anniversary, there were well over
400 Hydraform machines working in the sub-continent
and across southern Asia. More up-to-date information is
available on
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