An adventure in applied science - IRRI books - International Rice ...

An international institute for rice research 31My report at the annual meeting of the IRRI Board of Trustees on 5 February1962 included the following description of the quality of the specifications forthe buildings:“The new materials used have been chosen for durability and lowmaintenance costs. The exterior surfaces of the research center buildings,for instance, require no painting. Floors are covered with vitrified,unglazed tiles noted for their wearing quality. All wood is termiteproofed(Wolmanized). The aluminum frames and mullions are anodizedto prevent surface oxidation. The extra cost of such features asthese should prove an economy in the long run.The staff houses were designed for efficient and convenient livingand, above all, for permanence. Though the houses will require painting,the quality of the construction is as high as that of the Institute’s sciencebuildings.”Although at the time that statement was made the buildings were new, ingeneral the materials selected proved to have the lasting qualities desired.After some time, however, there was evidence that further reductions inmaintenance costs might have been made. For example, rustproof pipes (thatis, if indeed they were known at the time) for the water system, particularly inthe humid tropics, would have saved money and labor, for within 5 years someof the underground pipes in the housing area had to be replaced. Similarly, therepainting of house exteriors was a major continuing expense that could havebeen avoided. Profiting from that experience, I suggested, when I helpeddesign the Asian Vegetable Research and Development Center in Taiwan in1972, that all exterior walls be constructed of reinforced concrete and brick(which was then covered with glazed tile), requiring no maintenance whatsoever.On the other hand, the design of the IRRI structures proved lastinglysuitable and advantageous. In the research center, the administration andlaboratory buildings provided useful flexibility in the arrangement, and laterrearrangement of the rooms (whose uses and sizes changed considerably evenduring the early years). Being independent of the roof, which rested on a seriesof reinforced concrete columns, the interior walls were non-supporting andcould be changed in position as needed. The service building offered similarflexibility within its structural steel framework. (As a matter of record of theoriginal use, as at early 1962, of the interior space of the buildings mostmodified in that respect, the floor plans of the administration, laboratory, andservice buildings are shown in Appendix 9.)Construction of the physical plantThe staff housing and the research center construction projects were handlednot only by different architects but by different contractors and subcontractors.Therefore, they are discussed separately here.The staff housing area. Obviously, the first operation after making thetopographic survey and map was to develop the site and build the roads.