This project replaces an existing dilapidated guesthouse with a new multifunctional building. The new structure restores and enhances a historic Paati – a type of covered public space – that was damaged in the 2015 earthquake. Wrapped around the Paati with its carefully restored 100-year old carved wooden columns and insets is a plinth design with a water tank at the center. The tank is used to collect and store water to enhance disaster preparedness. Above the tank is an open room for community use. When needed, the seismically-sound structure can also be used as emergency shelter. The roof collects rainwater, which is distributed to exterior taps for washing and laundry. For drinking water, a bio-sand filtration system inside the complex purifies water for a second set of taps. Through this system, the building provides safe water to the community – something the municipal system lacks.

The jury considered the design to be highly commendable in providing a space equally suitable for everyday life and times of crisis. Out of the need to provide basic infrastructure, it produces social space, drawing on the traditional role of water collection as a social activity. Its social sustainability is further strengthened by its operators: a local women’s cooperative, whose control over the water will have an empowering effect. In a region struggling to provide access to clean water, the social and infrastructural solution is also highly transferable.