THESIS 2018: HYBRID STRUCTURE

The thesis project focuses on designing a public high school for Suni village in the Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh to promote education through design. By bringing the social practices rooted in the vernacular architecture and taking advantage of the natural affinity of students to be able to perform highly in rough terrains in response to the natural surroundings.

The project also focuses in parallel on developing a bamboo-steel hybrid construction technique that is responsive to the earthquake prone site that makes use of locally available materials as opposed to the modern practice of constructing unsuitable concrete buildings that are considered more “advanced” by the local population. This in turn aims at providing employment for locals while educating them on safe construction techniques.

SITE CONTEXT

The site is located in a valley near the Himalayan city of Shimla. The village is on the banks of river Sutlej which makes for unique climatic conditions in the mountains. The site of the school is edged by the main arterial road of the village and is surrounded by mostly residential and some commercial buildings.

ARCHITECTURAL (SOCIAL) PLANNING

The school is divided into two wings by the cricket/football ground. The separation ensures a controlled interaction between younger and older students for positive mental and physical well-being.

The wings are divided into clusters of classrooms with each cluster sharing a courtyard for two consecutive years. The classrooms are designed with full length pivoting windows that create a dynamic indoor-outdoor space which combined with the courtyards become a fluid outdoor learning space and opportunities for interaction between different classes.

The double storey classrooms have a short upper storey which acts as the activity area for the students to study, read and play indoors. This also acts as a buffer space to keep the lower floor warm during the colder moths.

The classrooms are fitted with operable shutter bamboo windows facing SE-NW for cross ventilation and shading for the summer months.