Building a new school for 800 pupils in the northern Indian Himalayas calls for a balance of economic, social and environmental factors. How has this been achieved?
Engineers and architects at Arup and Arup Associates have unveiled the first phase of an 'appropriate technology' school project in Ladakh, northern Indian Himalayas. The building uses the latest environmental engineering analysis to optimise the efficiency of local traditional materials and building methods.

The Druk White Lotus School, aims to act as a model for building in seismic areas with limited natural resources and for future school developments both from a construction and education point of view. The project is an initiative of the Drukpa Trust, a registered UK charity under the patronage of HH the Dalai Lama.

The school has been designed and built using materials that optimise beneficial sunshine, shading, insulation, and natural ventilation for cooling and fresh air. The school will generate its own energy and reduce local emissions by using solar panels to take maximum advantage of Ladakh's high and consistent exposure to direct sunlight and lack of rain. Photovoltaics will feed battery packs in an energy centre that provides the energy for lighting, powering water supply and even computers.

Resident pupils will be kept warm during cold nights by ventilated cavity walls made of mud brick and glass that store solar energy collected during the day, which is then radiated into the rooms at night.

One of the main challenges for the design team is that Ladakh is in a highly seismic zone. Traditional buildings are not seismically engineered but with the application of simple structural principles and the use of timber frames to resist seismic loads, a huge improvement in earthquake safety for the school buildings has been achieved.

Water is a limited resource in the region and the design team has created a water distribution system that will reuse water for irrigation, directing the little rain that falls to planted areas. Ground water is pumped by solar power to a tank at the top of the site. Drinking and irrigation water is then gravity fed to gardens and water points. Health and sanitary conditions have also been improved in an affordable and low-tech way by the introduction of ventilated improved pit latrines, which do not use water, but rely on a solar driven flue to eliminate smells and insects.

The building project will continue to expand to cope with the student intake over the coming years and eventually provide education for 800 pupils from the ages of three to 18. When finished the school will include a health clinic, library, open-air temple, computer and science lab, vocational workshops, dining hall and residential accommodation for pupils and staff.

  Rory McGowan, project director for Arup says: "We had great ambitions when we began this project in 1997 believing that high-powered engineering software and the latest thinking in design can be applied just as easily to Ladakh as to a London office block. We've collaborated with local people to build a school that balances economic, social and environmental factors."

Arup project engineer Jim Fleming adds: "There were many dedicated people in Ladakh and the UK; the Trust, engineers, architects, advisors, builders and the local community involved in the success of the project. Good communication and the presence of the design team on site each year were key to this."

Teaching commenced in autumn last year to nursery children in a Montessori program of studies in the completed nursery and infant school. The second stage of the project will include a junior school, residential courtyard, dining hall, and kitchens, and is currently under construction with a completion date for 2004.

To find out more go to www.arupassociates.com/drukwhitelotusschool/home.htm

Source

Building Sustainable Design