Gaea : the goddess of Earth
​
HOW CAN AN OFFICE BUILDING IN BANGALORE SET A PRECEDENT FOR PASSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE DESIGN THAT IS ROOTED WITHIN ITS CONTEXT, VERNACULAR AND USERS?
THE GAEA BUILDING
​
BANGALORE, INDIA
Study Level
​
Year
​
Institution​
​
​
Location
BA Architecture Year 3​
2020
​
Manchester School of Architecture // Technologies
​
Bangalore, India​
Located in the tropical Savanna climate of Bangalore, India, The Gaea Building takes its namesake from the Hindu Goddess of the Earth and aims to be a precedent for sustainable office and commercial architecture in the tech-centric city. The building uses passive solar, ventilation and thermal strategies to reduce energy consumption and carbon impact. The design tackles concept alongside environmental impact and intertwines the two seamlessly. Set in the suburbs of ‘India’s silicon valley’, an area outside of the recent gentrification border, the Gaea Building is reflective and sympathetic of its context and takes inspiration from traditional vernacular architecture in Indian and Arabic countries. The design uses Aangan, a courtyard space usually found in larger residential buildings, as well as Cooling pools in the ground floor public space and Jali screens and designs in the external cladding. Each of these traditional features have been modernised and modified within the design to serve both aesthetic and environmental purposes, whilst creating a space that is familiar and welcoming for the local people.
1:50 SECTIONAL RENDER
CLIMATE: TROPICAL SAVANNA
BANGALORE, INDIA
KOPPEN CLASSIFICATION: Aw
​
1. DAYLIGHTING/ SUNLIGHT HOURS
The hot climate is caused mostly by long sunlight hours and a high sun angle. This provides constraints in the sense of preventing overheating and glare in the workspace, but also provides an opportunity to bring daylight into the deep plan lessening the need for artificial light and improving the health of workers, and using passive solar gains to keep energy usage down.
2. VARYING WIND DIRECTION AND PRECIPITATION
The wind direction varies completely from western to eastern seasonally and so a fixed system would be redundant at a certain time of year. Precipitation spikes during the summer so rain shelter will be required seasonally. This provides an opportunity for creative operable design and rainwater collection for later in the year.
3.HIGH ANNUAL TEMPERATURE
The high temperatures of the climate mean the building will need to be cooling dominated and seem active ways of cooling the building. The use of ventilation and green walls could aid in this as well as being greener alternatives to mechanical systems.
GROUND FLOOR AND TYPICAL OFFICE PLAN 1:200
CONTEXT
PRECIPITATION
DEEP PLAN
SUNLIGHT
WIND PATH
COOLING POOLS
RELATING BACK TO TRADITIONS
​
The key conceptual drive behind the project is in creating a building that continues the narrative of the site and does not sit in juxtaposition to the existing typology.
​
The design draws upon the traditional use of an AANGAN which is an internal courtyard typically used in larger residential buildings to provide a secure and shaded retreat for its residents. The courtyard in the case of the office is used to allow natural lighting into the deep plan of the building as well as providing a visual connection between the floors and the ground floor space in which a small internal garden space sits, giving the internal spaces a connection to the outdoors.
​
Environmentally the courtyard enhances the use of passive ventilation allowing cool air into the different floors and hot stale air to rise through the central atrium space.
​
​
RELATING BACK TO TRADITIONS
​
Secondly, the use of Jali screens and patterns in the facade design, gives the building a modern take on a vernacular design, switching brick and masonry for corten steel, which also mirrors the rich orange and red colour palette typical of Indian vernacular. The jali patterns are embossed into the facade skin, while operable jali screens can be slid across the glazed areas during the day to provide adaptive solar shading. The screens provide an element of shading that also created increasing shadows and patterns within the internal floors of the offices.
Environmentally the jali screens, beyond acting as solar shades, help increase wind velocity and increase the effects of natural ventilation within the building.
​
STREET ELEVATION NORTH AND SOUTH 1:200
SITE COLLAGE (ABOVE) SITE COLLAGE ANNOTATED (RIGHT)
TYPICAL SECTION, ELEVATION AND VENTILATION STRATEGY
ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY THREE DIMENSIONAL SECTION
THE ENVIRONMENTAL STRATEGY
Several key aspects of the design contribute and drive the environmental strategy, most importantly of these are the cooling pools on the ground floor of the office. The cooling pools are a traditional and simple form of natural cooling used in Indian and South Asian architecture, but less common today after being replaced by mechanical systems.
The cooling pools evaporate during the day and the cool air rises up the building and through the central atrium to cool the floors above. Equal to their environmental significance the pools create a relaxing and tranquil space for workers and the public to retreat from the heat of the street to. The second crucial element of the design is the use of operable Jali screens, again a typical traditional element of Asian and Arabic design. The jali screens allow for operable shading throughout the day and create interesting and playful shadows internally. On the ground floor, open-air jali screen provide a secure wall that still allows air through and at a higher speed through the small channels of the screens perforated design, increasing the reach and effects of natural ventilation.
​
The internal atrium allows daylighting to reach into the deep plan and serves as a central volume to increase the effects of the natural ventilation strategies. High solar angles mean the sun can reach into this internal courtyard and down into the lower floors of the office.
