ManavSewa Ashram provides domestic and institutional care and services to people across Nepal who have been deprived of social inclusion, facing mental health conditions and societal challenges, whether in rural or urban contexts, isolated by their families for mental health conditions, victims of social crime, or simply in need of help and care. This is all made possible through the collective efforts of volunteers, people with good faith, community and government support, and a group of dedicated officials of the Ashram. Simply put, it is a place to call home for all those in need. Overlooking the Lamjung mountain range and surrounding hilly landscape, the site lies on a scenic trail from Besisahar to Ghalegaun in Lamjung. The facility is planned to accommodate 100 residents with a male-female-child ratio of 40-40-20, along with Jestha Nagarik Manomanjan Kendra, an elderly care facility for 50 senior citizens with well-facilitated living and medical services.

Rammed earth technology has been used, inspired by vernacular aesthetics and material usage, creating an environment that promotes sustainable practices and a healthy lifestyle within the establishment. Locally sourced building materials and resources have been utilized from the initiation to the operation of the facility for better sustainability in the energy and resource management. Multiple interactions with local communities have taken place since the initiation of the project, focusing on the subject of vernacular ideas and ways of living in such hilly settlements, to better understand the human values, connection with the natural surroundings, and identity of the place. Among those interactions were also those with stakeholders and officials under the supervision and collaboration of experts in related fields of natural building practices and engineering to introduce better building solutions while promoting new ways of designing and using locally available building materials and resources.

Both the facilities are segmented mid-section through the site, with the Ashram planned to the north side and the elderly care facility towards the south while sharing common facilities such as the kitchen, medical and physiotherapy services, and some of the pocket open spaces. The overall planning is inspired by the settlement pattern and its planning in a stepped hilly terrain and vernacular aesthetics, in which the color and material of the buildings and surroundings blend with the warm and grey tones of the landscape. The functions have been categorized according to the privacy of respective areas via stepped planning on the terrain, with administrative, immediate medical and isolation care units on the lowermost levels, while the upper levels are occupied with residential, multi-use areas, and pockets of open space. The design takes advantage of smaller open land to imitate the narrow connectivity and flow of different spaces, as one would find in a typical traditional settlement of the hilly area. The elderly care facility is more interactive with the public as it requires less surveillance compared to the controlled environment of the Ashram and comprises a community hall for communal gatherings and events, provision of sleeping quarters, meditation and multi-use pavilions, along with a community library where one can come and learn about the local culture and landscape. The planning and management of the establishment allow such a cooperative relationship between Ashram and elderly care, creating a shared atmosphere.

Amidst the slowly degrading trend of architecture and practice in the hilly region of Nepal, this design sets an example in modern-day architectural practice to follow in the coming future in the Lamjung region. Ultimately, it will contribute to the larger community. This healthcare establishment also has the potential to become a communal and touristic heritage site, preserving the very vernacular characteristics of the Lamjung region with the introduction of natural building practices in the form of rammed earth. The design aims to create opportunities and share skilled resources with the surrounding communities to promote the concept of natural building practices and healthier habitable spaces in the present-day context of the hilly landscape of Nepal.