Resilient and culturally responsive plantation housing: socio-spatial adaptation in Dunsinane estate, Sri Lanka

Abstract

The tea plantation housing originated in the colonial era, shaped by standardisation, efficiency and minimised cost, resulting in home spaces that are insufficient to support sociocultural practices, climatic comfort and long-term resilience. Although state and donor-led initiatives (e.g., India-funded programmes) have substituted communal line rooms with separate units, formal provision remains inadequate to lived spatial, cultural and infrastructural realities of marginalized plantation communities. This results in informal retrofitting and spatial change by residents, raising concern about the sustainability and responsive housing development. This paper analyses the socio-spatial factors of housing adaptation in Dunsinane Estate, Nuwara-Eliya, with reference to the interplay between cultural and physical limitations. The methodology comprised semi-structured interviews and household surveys (n = 40), field observations, and spatial documentation of domestic modifications. The results show that adaptation is affected by the embedded needs for privacy, social boundaries, hospitality rituals, and religious practices, including layout changes, veranda enclosures, and prayer-oriented spaces. At the same time, physical limitations, including limited floor area, inadequate sanitation, poor thermal performance in upcountry climates, and construction defects also drive housing adaptation. These transformations show the resourcefulness and resilience of plantation communities, exposing the shortcomings of standardized housing plans that treat homes as static rather than adaptable. This study suggests that sustainable housing should allow flexibility, climate-responsive design, participatory planning, and incremental frameworks to reduce unsafe construction and support long-term liveability. The findings contribute to socio-spatial theory while offering practical guidance for culturally responsive and adaptable housing design in plantation communities.