Musharaff Hebballi Roll no. 24Academy of Architecture

Vasai-Virar rural program

Architecture Design

Case Studies

Architects: 24H > architectureLocation: Chiang Mai, ThailandProject Year: 2010Project Area: 5,000 sqmPhotographs: Ally Taylor

Panyaden School

school concept:core principlesŸ inner peace and wisdom through Buddhist approachŸ Self sufficient individuals through the application of

common sense and traditional knowledgeŸ Environmentally mindful practicesŸ Independant and creative personalities through holistic

principlesŸ Academically cmpetitive through modern bilingual

curruculum

The school itself shows the way of being environmentally conscious and including sustainable green practices in its everyday life.The school is situated in a beautiful fruit orchard and designed in harmony with its surroundings producing an atmosphere that inspires learning and insightfulness. Additional to Thai and native English speaking teachers, experts in creative arts and traditional wisdom such as painters, musicians, specialists in local agriculture methods, in cloth weaving and northern cuisine.

Panyaden is a private bilingual school with a that will accommodate 375 students. In the lush green surroundings of a former fruit orchard, where Thailand’s highest mountains meet the flat rice fields, Panyaden School contracted 24H to design its environmentally friendly school buildings. Located south of the city of Chiang Mai, this 5,000 sqm primary school consists of an informal arrangement of pavilions organized along pathways inspired by the shape of the tropical antler horn fern.

niche for play and study

aerial view

This original design has since evolved organically to its final form which is still in keeping with its original purpose of creating buildings from the earth’s elements and shapes that are an ode to nature’s beauty.

Panyaden School

The curved contours of the bamboo roof structure mirror the mountains at the horizon of the site.

The sala pavilion type is used for common functions such as the assembly hall and the canteen. Columns consist of bamboo bundles reaching up from their stone foundations to the bamboo canopy, giving a feeling of walking through a majestic bamboo forest. Other salas designed and created by the local team (playground, around the swimming pool, Buddha sala etc) resemble birds or leaves. All designs are inspired from elements found in nature.

There are two main types of buildings the classroom pavilion type and the sala pavilion type. The classroom pavilion type has load-bearing walls from rammed earth, dividing the building into 3 classrooms. The outer walls are made of adobe. Glass windows framed by recycled local hardwood, while glass bottles and washing machine windows bring natural light into the classrooms. Cupboards and shelves are all integrated in an adobe wall curving around the sanitary block.

Children`s play area

The sala pavilion used for lectures

Workshop for children

The whole school is made of rammed earth and bamboo that has been treated both to withstand and complement elements.Organic vegetables and rice is grown on school property.waste water is treated and biogas produced. This is an environmentally friendly school with an insignificant carbon footprint.

Panyaden School

There are three nurseries and kindergarten buildings, 2 primary school buildings, a dance and music pavillion, a sensory motor room for little ones, an IT /library/ science building, a workshop to teach woodwork and clothmaking, an agricultural teaching and support pavillion, a swimming pool, a kitchen and dinning hall, a small and big assembly hall.

Cluster of pavilions

Artist impression of the school

Above: view of the classroom Bzelow: site plan

Exterior view

Rammed earth is ideal for hot and dry climates because of its great capacity to store heat. Therefore it is perfect for Chiang Mai during the dry season where we have hot days and cool nights. The heat gets absorbed by the rammed earth walls during the day and is released into the surroundings during the night. In this way, it balances out the temperature of the surrounding area.

In the case of a high moisture content in the environment, rammed earth is very suitable as it has good moisture absorption. The humidity content of the earth when it is dried out is very low. The earth can absorb up to 30 times more water than concrete which means that in the long and heavy rainy season, the rammed earth walls will absorb the moisture of the environment, and balance out the moisture content, providing a mold- and fungus-free space.

Panyaden School Materials and construction

Bamboo truss on rammed earth

A concrete building is like an oven in which an air-conditioned interior space is inevitable. On the other hand, rammed earth has an excellent thermal mass because of its high density, and the high specific heat capacity of the soils used in its construction. It can store the heat during the day and release it slowly into the surroundings during the night. This energy-saving feature is one reason why we built our classrooms with this technique.

Rammed earth

worker coating rammed eath wall and floor

Load bearing rammed earth walls

Rammed earth walls in classroom

Bamboo in stone

Panyaden School Materials and construction

For using bamboo in construction, It should be elevated from the ground, covered by a roof and cantilevers to protect it from rain exposure.For the construction of Panyaden School, borax treatment is done to the bamboo. Borax* is a natural salt and is environmentally friendly.

Bamboo framework

Rubber insulations on bamboo roof

Layers of BambooThe bamboo trusses are first coated with 2 – 3 layers of rubber tree oil ( ‘naam yang’ needs to be thinned before use because of its viscosity). The oil helps to protect the bamboo from moisture.The layering of the trusses begins in the following order once they have been bolted to the rammed earth walls:

Ÿ The under-structure consisting of a woven bamboo net.Ÿ Over that net is the first layer of interlocking split bamboo stems/shingles.Ÿ Then comes a second layer of structural bamboo on which the outer roof is fixed.Ÿ A layer of split bamboo is installed on that outer roof.Ÿ Next is special thick and viscose rubber insulationŸ Finally, an outer layer of split bamboo is overlaid. This is further treated with rubber oil to protect

and insulate the bamboo from the rain.

Adobe:Its mixes vary widely with available soils and local customs. In general, adobe bricks are made of clay, sand and organic materials such as rice husk or saw dust.

Panyaden School Materials and construction

Mobile and Flexible One advantage of adobe is that you can make it in one place and install it somewhere else. Another is that you can shape the bricks in any form and thus create swinging organic forms.

After a supply of adobe bricks has been made, wall construction can progress very quickly. Building with adobe is much easier and faster than with rammed earth. There is no need for formwork or any expensive equipment, just mix some mud and stack them up like any other brick.

The adobe building technique allows us to be flexible with the desired wall shape but it has a lower load bearing quality than rammed earth

personal views: the design of the structure is in perfect harmony with its surroundings, the materials and techniques used in construction are traditional yet effective maintaining a balance with nature.The main motive of the school to impart traditional knowledge being close to nature is well translated.The pavilions have interesting spaces created within some places which open up the view still maintaining the enclosure of a class room. The pavilions have various functions right from meditation classes to serving as a canteen.