GIZ invited Adreesh Chakraborty to help them integrate their proposal to the architectural and structural systems used at the various structures made by DMRC.

An estimated 52 MW of generating capacity could be installed if all the present stations, future stations and other ancillary areas under DMRC could be utilized.

The design intervention lay primarily in transforming a purely engineered over-layer of photovoltaic panels to an urban image that would not only enhance the visual experience of the industrial curved roofs of the stations, but would also become an icon for DMRC to propagate itself as a responsible and conscious service provider with an eye for urban aesthetics. The panels were designed to breathe in life to the dormant form of the roofing structure as a manifestation of the function of being live and producing electricity as long as the sun shines on them.

The challenge lay in designing a light, cheap, effective, construction friendly and highly flexible structural system that could plug onto existing stations without having to ever stop operations and would also help the solar panels face the sun from any possible alignment. A light structural system was developed that could be clamped onto the existing metal portal frames where they were exposed and keep the existing roofing free from any intervention, thus reducing chances of leakages and ensuring smooth functioning of the stations.

For a case study of an existing station was taken up.  After analysis of the best annual exposure to the sun and the alignments of the station the over layer was conceptualized for optimum performance.

The new stations were proposed with panels incorporated into the roofing structure to form a transparent roof shaded by the array of the Photovoltaic cells. This in turn would also increase day-lighting at the stations.

Collaborators: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Arbutus Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

The ground floor contains a reception and waiting area, conference room, cabins and pantry while the first floor has the executive cabins, workstations, waiting area and conference room. The terrace is accessed from a separate service staircase.

The inspiration for the villa design comes from traditional Indian planning with an open courtyard at the centre with rooms arranged around it. This courtyard transforms itself into spaces with different characteristics for the three houses, but all of these become the central congregational space for each household.

The site planning allows for each house to have its own open space, surrounding it with common tree courts and allowing for members of the different households to freely access each other’s homes without being restricted by the formal entries.

The main academic blocks were required to be naturally ventilated and the design was conceived around a central courtyard, which also acts as the main congregation area for the students. The windows created with double walls and peripheral solar guards become interesting elevation elements of the building.

The building colour was inspired from the local village which gives the place its name and where the traditional houses are all plastered with rich brown mud slurry.

The design process started with a question as to how to best zone the spaces such that the academic areas, public functions and spaces for the faculty each get their own identity while creating seamless movement from one space to another. An important design tool that helped shape the building was day lighting, that would be fit for lecture halls and other academic areas, maximizing the natural light while reducing the usage of artificial lighting within the spaces without exposing the building to solar heat gains. The external finish was chosen to match the rest of the buildings in the existing campus.

The overall plan was set over 3 zones. The first zone is an entrance courtyard opening into a triple height foyer holding the main central staircase and the horizontal connections, which take the form of bridges overlooking the foyer. The second zone is the public block on the side facing the open green of the canteen and housing the main auditorium on the ground floor, the moot court and the labs on the upper floors and an academic block. The third block is the academic block with interspersed courtyards on the periphery and a central students court rising from the first floor onwards.

The ground floor contains a reception and waiting area, conference room, cabins and pantry while the first floor has the executive cabins, workstations, waiting area and conference room. The terrace is accessed from a separate service staircase.

Extremely simple in its design, the overall architecture is a play of spaces, pure volumes, materials and light. The structure was designed in prefabricated bolted systems in steel, so that the whole structure, apart from the foundations and the civil works, if required could be reused for other projects. The interior design doesn’t detach itself from the architecture, rather is a free-flowing extension of the outside to the within.

The language of the building is inspired from Balinese architecture and is defined by a sloping roof covered in Mangalore tiles over the closed areas, while the sloping roof over the semi open deck area is a combination of glass and wood. The rooms on the ground floor, accessed from the deck, have large floor to ceiling windows to provide panoramic views of the surrounding lawns as well as the main residential block. The basement uses a clean palette of muted colours with a play of materials to create the spa area.   

The planning has been done in such a way that each bungalow has its own private space yet forms part of a collective whole. The whole design works around the idea of three axes, visual and physical, which form the main entry drive-ways to the villas. There are no boundary walls around any of the houses, architecturally interpreting the relationship of a joint family while keeping each nuclear family separate in a different house.

There is an unquestionable resonance between the built and its landscape, such that one flows through the other. Each façade of each house has been meticulously designed in accordance with the sun path. Large and thin crowning cantilevers shade the western and southern zones of the house leaving the interior space cool even in summers.

In the heart of each villa is a living room, which has an external rear access for the other joint family members to directly enter while the formal entry is through a luxurious double height space into the drawing room. The drawing room flows out into the landscape and may be used as an extended open deck for parties. This ensures that each villa has its own private space for a party as well as a common central open space for family get-togethers.