NAME & LOCATION:Ekmattra DBBL Academy, Haluaghat, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

BUILT UP AREA : 606 Thousand 2900SQM

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

The project is an academy for the ‘EKMATTRA’ foundation which provides a home for the destitute children of Dhaka city. It was founded with the vision of creating a place of hope with a sense of freedom and ambience to dream boundlessly.

The site is defined at Haluaghat, a remote landscape of northern district Mymensingh with lush green encircled by seasonal water channels at three sides in the context of a hilly background of Indian border. Built on a 3.4 acre land, the idea of the project was to create a place of learning, rest, and play. The built sheds are positioned to create a free-flowing space transiting from the court of learning to the court of play & leisure. The existing trees are embroidered with the built masses to blend into each other. The water retention ponds at the south and north are to safeguard the site from flush flooding besides acting as a pool of retained water in dry season.

Like the common rural settings of built forms in Bangladesh, the northern courtyard or ‘Uthan’ at the beginning at north facilitate an ‘administration block’ at the east with health centre, multipurpose room and a kitchen which connects with pathways leading to the dining room and the two storied teachers’ quarter at the south. The other ‘academic block’ at the west with vocational training facilities is parallel to the administration building creates the conglomeration space for daily parade and formal gathering. The northern transit by a shift of axis into the southern courtyard contained by two single story boys’ dormitory blocks accommodating 80 boys & their adjacent toilet extensions. The two storied girl’s dormitory block accommodating 64 girls at the north with its common toilet is segregated from this court by a water pond at its south to create a cooler ambience for the living space. The Academy accommodates a maximum of 144 children at a time. The accommodation for the teachers is at a transit towards the dormitories to keep the compound under surveillance. It creates a sense of safety and security without a physical barrier in place for segregation. The complex accommodates a stage for open-air performances with the amphitheater which during leisure time is used as a play area too.

Program:

Administration building

Amphitheatre.

Academic building

Rain water preservation

Staff quarter

Agro farm

Girl’s dormitory

Playgrounds Deck

Boy’s dormitory

Wire mesh boundary wall

Local burnt bricks with exposed flush pointing technique are used as basic walls and floors, while locally available folded metal plate roof with metal framed windows are used. Doors created with colorful plywood panels framed on MS frames. The extended MS metal truss used to create a light roof structure with a buffer gap facilitating light hot air to blown away with the breezes, thus keeping the ‘usable space’ underneath in a comfortable temperature at all seasons. The overhang roof lines also ensure the required shades for the walls and protect them from rain as well. The roof waters are designed to be stored in a large rainwater harvesting tank to support with potable water at the dry seasons.

The project has a unique mode to explore the agriculture-based livelihood, Vernacular architecture and native landscape of the region, to get inspiration for knowledge and ideas to build up aspiration of life, bigger than its dreams. Thus, nature lies in its true sense at the core of its ambience. The objective of the project is to:

Creating a building in resonance with the vernacular architecture of the region, such as incorporating natural cross ventilation by detaching the roof from the main brick structure.

The building was design in a linear fragmented way to break up the massing creating small scale spaces of landscape traditionally called “UTHAN” for the children creating a village like rural fabric. And like all rural villages in the region the building blends with the surrounding landscape.

The project tries to address the human side of the project objective by:

Bridging between the local context & culture with the destitute children of traumatic past.

Bringing back into their life a sense of hope beholding the nature, light, water and breeze.

Training them with skill, but not limiting in scope to strive, ignite with knowledge of nature as to empowering them to dream.

The Academy, aimed to fulfill these with its space, setting, efforts & ambience. The development process subsequently employed local builders, embraced local community and vis a vis contributed to local economy by acquiring most of the construction materials locally.