Stacking/planning

The ground floor of the center is kept open to accommodate community activities for senior citizens, a crèche, women’s development training etc. The space is planned like a veranda opening up to a private courtyard on the north side and partly opening up to adjoining lanes on the other 3 sides, shaded by first floor overhang. The middle floor dedicated to children’s sleeping areas is more enclosed to create a secure and personal environment. Protected by a façade of operable nursery installed louvers on the south, recreational bands are provided towards the east and west with the north side opening up to the private courtyard below. The top floor houses all the storage spaces, study areas and caretaker’s sleeping place. It shelters the children’s living space underneath from direct sun.

The envelope – North South East West

The north facade is a dead wall shared with an adjoining house so all services are planned against it, keeping the remaining envelope open for ventilation. A vertical nursery is planted on the south to buffer the living areas from the scorching heat. It also functions as a small-scale industry yielding returns in the form of 15% of the center’s maintenance cost. This nursery is installed in adjustable terracotta louvers making it easy to access and maintain the plants. The sun shades, made out of thin folded plates of concrete, on the east and west are used as private recreational areas by converting them into play-stations, furniture etc, giving the center an additional 25m2 of usable area. Central courtyard helps with passive cooling and natural light, reducing the operational energy load.

Construction efficiency

Wall in-fills consist of custom designed terracotta hollow blocks with one side left open to use as shelves. Fabricated by a terracotta factory in a neighboring slum, this new construction system helps to involve local artisans. The load bearing members (i.e. the columns, slabs, staircases etc.) are made out of fair faced concrete making it maintenance free and help consume the least amount of floor area compared to any other building material. A raft is used instead of isolated footings, creating an extra underground volume at the nominal cost of retaining peripheral walls, with this space used as a 55,000L rainwater harvesting tank. The courtyard and stairway leading to the first floor merge to form a playful stepped pavilion which acts as an extension of the community space.