search
×
menu
login
donate
Pani community centre
Rajarhat, Bangladesh
Written by:
follow
share on:mail linkcopy link to clipboardShare via LinkedInShare via TwitterShare via FacebookShare via Facebook
community centre

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
Category:
education
Phase:
in use
Design:
SchilderScholte architects
Updated:
25 June 2015
introduction

This building in the north of Bangladesh serves as a community center. The architectural starting point was to realize a building using materials and skills from within a 25 km radius from the site. The drive was to encourage locals to become aware on the basic principles of sustainability.

roofed workfloor

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
read more >
< read less
cultural and social context

The Dutch foundation Pani commissioned the architectural office to design an educational building in the north Bengal town of Rajarhat. The architects couple embraced this pro bono assignment coming from ideological motives and knowledge sharing. Thus realizing an environmentally friendly building that contributes to the community in a significant way. We want to improve the hygiene and work on education. Reduce child mortality and ensure economic independence.

The main goal is to train people and become autonomous eventually making the foundation superfluous. This begins with learning the necessary skills required for long-term planning and develop confidence in the future and by gaining knowledge and skills to practice a profession.

Together with the locals we look at what products are needed. Underprivileged are then educated how to make and sell these products locally. The concept is to combine and optimize local techniques with local materials. For this the strategy is to participate in the evolution and modernization of the local construction processes without a rupture in the ‘’know how’’ of the population.

The building techniques use for this project are also very easy to learn and diffused by the main contractor, which will contribute to the local construction modernization.

childern playing at central plaza

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
materials and building techniques

During the design process attention was mainly focused on locally available materials, skills and weather conditions. Bamboo, hand-shaped brick, Mango wood, reused steel, local mortar and wafer-thin recycled corrugated panels are the main materials used in the building. The drive was to encourage locals to become aware on the basic principles of sustainability and durable building concepts. In effect close to zero electricity or fossil fuels were used during construction and other necessities required for erecting this building.

In the North of Bangladesh buildings are almost all constructed with bricks, so we propose also the use of bricks but in an optimized and locally unknow brickwork bond that doesn’t require whole-brick walls for stability, minimizing the costs and maintaining the main advantage, the use of local materials and craftsmanship.

U-shaped brick columns support the South facade of the building, thus creating a row of small vertical windows. Ultimately, this can be understood as a single stone wall, a great saving on construction costs, time and labor. The dimensions are chosen with great care, in such a way that direct sunlight into the classrooms is minimized still providing in optimal daylight illumination. This application of local bricks is less expensive and reduces the use of construction wood by combining bamboo with thin concrete floors. This minimizes the shortage of wood in Bangladesh as well future maintenance costs.

Although bamboo is seen as an inferior material in the region, the architects have chosen to make the whole roof construction out of it. Even the walls and French doors of the workshop are cladded with it! Thus being a reference to the bamboo bicycle frames that are made here.

detail of column

image: © all rights reserved
i
earth and climate

From a bioclimatic point of view the orientation of the building allows to emphasize the natural cross ventilation. The roof of the building is suspended to both sides (East and West) providing shade, protecting the biggest openings against rain and collecting rainwater into the courtyard. Also the use of nearby ponds for natural draft to cool the classrooms was taken into account in the design.

Some biomimicry elements are put on the test here! The interior walls are coloured in light blue, a hue that flies shun. The splay of the classroom windows are painted yellow, a hue that specific insects dislike. Yellow has been also used on exterior walls. It refers to the flowers of the mustard plant, a crop that colors large parts of the country from December to January. Grey and black are the other shades, which in turn refer to the color of the Bengal earth before and after rainfall.

splay of window

image: co | © all rights reserved
i
image gallery
front view of pani

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
childern playing at central plaza

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
central plaza

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
west facade

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
courtyard

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
central plaza with foorbridge

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
work floor area

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
gathering place in front of building

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
central plaza with swing

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
south facade by night

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
classroom windows

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
roofed workfloor

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
detail of stairs

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
detail of corner

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
detail of column

image: courtesy architect | © all rights reserved
i
technical drawings
floor plans

image: © all rights reserved
i
sections + facades

image: © all rights reserved
i
Location
show earth plate boundarieshide earth plate boundaries
Explore more inspirations
Keyword:
local resources (101)
development cooperation (45)
community practice (113)
bamboo (68)
bricks (18)
prev
  •  housing
    Homemade mud house
    Dinajpur, Bangladesh
  •  housing
    Bahia house
    Salvador, Brazil
  •  education
    Tongo school
    Tongo, Mali
  •  education
    Gando Primary School
    Gando, Burkina Faso
  •  housing
    Turf houses
    Keldur, Iceland
  •  meeting place
    wNw Bar
    thu dau mot, Vietnam
  •  work & business
    Bamboo factory Bali
    Bali, Indonesia
  •  education
    Thon Mun Community Centre
    Takeo, Cambodia
  •  health & sanitation
    Salam Center for Cardiac Surgery
    Soba, Sudan
  •  housing
    Entre Muros House
    Tumbaco, Quito, Ecuador
  •  recreation & sport
    Takasugi-an
    Chino, Japan
  •  housing
    Palmyra house
    Nandgaon, India
  •  emergency shelter
    Bamboo Dome Structure
    Ramsar, Iran
  •  meeting place
    Liyuan Library
    Jiao jie he (交界河村), China
  •  education
    Maosi primary school
    Maosi, China
  •  housing
    Mousgoum dwellings
    Pouss, Cameroon
  •  housing
    Río Cedro House
    Río Cedro, Colombia
  •  infrastructure
    Community Bamboo Footbridge
    Davao City, Philippines
  •  recreation & sport
    Geometric Hot Springs
    Villarica National Park, Chile
  •  meeting place
    R-Urban
    Colombes, France
  •  emergency shelter
    Soe Ker Tie House
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  emergency shelter
    Reed house
    Lake Titicaca, Peru
  •  emergency shelter
    Low-cost modular housing scheme
    Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  •  health & sanitation
    Butaro hospital
    Burera, Rwanda
  •  meeting place
    Villanueva Public Library
    Villanueva, Colombia
  •  housing
    E.V.A. Self build eco-village
    Pescomaggiore, Italy
  •  housing
    cappadocia cave dwellings
    cappadocia, Turkey
  •  meeting place
    Esperanza
    El Cabuyal, Ecuador
  •  emergency shelter
    Living Tebogo
    Johannesburg, South Africa
  •  health & sanitation
    Safe Haven Bathhouse
    Ban Tha Song Yang, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Sidi Amor’s eco-village for arts and crafts
    Ariana, Tunisia
  •  education
    Adharshila School Extension Project
    Agara Village, Sheopur District, Madhya Pradesh, India
  •  religion & memorial
    Wenzai True Jesus Church-Our Pray Room
    Changhua, Taiwan
  •  meeting place
    (CON)VIVENCIAS
    Lima, Peru
  •  housing
    Juan Hippolito House
    San Pedro Apostol, Mexico
  •  emergency shelter
    Temporary Dormitories for Mae Tao Clinic
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  • play
     work & business
    Eco-brick goes MUD!
    Arusha, Tanzania
  •  housing
    Le Village Noir
    Gatlang, Nepal
  •  education
    Community School in N'Tyeani
    N'tyeani, Mali
  •  education
    Ali Apple Elementary School
    Ali, China
  •  emergency shelter
    Pallet Garage
    Indianapolis, U.S.A.
  •  recreation & sport
    Cerro Mirador
    San Carlos, Venezuela
  •  housing
    Ciudadelas de Paz - Building for Peace
    Manaure, Cesar, Colombia
  •  urban planning
    Parque El Óvalo - Pamplona Alta (Lima, Perú)
    Lima, Peru
  •  meeting place
    Palomino, Building a Society.
    Palomino, Colombia
  •  housing
    "After the rain comes..."
    Msitu wa Tembo, Tanzania
  •  education
    Bamboo Alternative School
    Bogor, Indonesia
  •  recreation & sport
    sport clubhouse Kalobeyei, Kenya
    Kalobeyei, Kenya
  •  housing
    Kampung Kali Chode, Yogyakarta
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  •  education
    P'Yan School Project
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Kazi na Bobo - community shop built with plastic bottles
    Msitu wa Tembo, Tanzania
  •  infrastructure
    Infrastructure to support the indigenous community
    Santo Angelo, Brazil
  •  housing
    Open Source House Pilot
    Cape Coast, Ghana
  •  education
    LA VIEJA
    Montebello, Cali, Colombia
  •  infrastructure
    Community School in Darmang, Ghana
    Damang, Ghana
  •  housing
    Post-Tsunami Rehabilitation
    Kirinda, Sri Lanka
  •  education
    Kusikuna Eco-Active School
    Apote - Tiquipaya, Bolivia
  •  education
    Upgrading of Nile River School
    South of Giza governorate, Egypt
  •  education
    Children's Centre XEWA SOWE
    Village of Sowé (Glazoué), Benin
  •  health & sanitation
    Kapuna Hospital
    Kapuna, Papua New Guinea
  •  education
    Bamboo Kindergarten
    Tasikmalaya, Indonesia
  •  housing
    Naust paa Aure
    Aure, Norway
  • play
     housing
    Orphanage for former streetboys
    Nairobi, Kenya
  •  education
    Community Learning Centre in Pasman Tol
    Pasman Tol, Nepal
  •  meeting place
    Jabu Centre
    Siteki, Swaziland
  • finalist 2016
     education
    ModSkool
    New Delhi, India
  •  housing
    Batak Toba Houses
    Lake Toba, Indonesia
  •  housing
    A Casa de Abuela Cuentacuentos
    Escobilla, Mexico
  •  meeting place
    Community Learning Center Corralones
    Sacaba, Bolivia
  •  meeting place
    CICADA
    Taipei, Taiwan
  • play
     health & sanitation
    Kamuna agricultural rehabilitation centre
    Kamuna, Cankuzo, Burundi
  •  recreation & sport
    Sport City
    Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico
  •  housing
    Rural Housing Development Program
    Chitrawad, Gujarat, India
  • GC2022 finalist
     work & business
    The Women's House of Imloul
    Imloul, Morocco
  •  education
    Transforming Learning Spaces in Rwanda
    Muhanga, Rwanda
  •  housing
    CASA RANA
    Tamil Nadu, India
  •  education
    Njoro Children's Library
    Mailisita, Kilimanjaro , Tanzania
  •  emergency shelter
    SBAM.it 2011
    Massarosa-Stiava (LU), Italy
  •  meeting place
    Palomino Border
    Palomino, Guajira, Colombia
  • play
     meeting place
    Sunzu Village Community Center
    Burera, Rwanda
  •  infrastructure
    Bamboo Bridge in Solo
    Solo, Indonesia
  • play
     meeting place
    StadtGoesFuture-Culthäusle
    Filderstadt-Plattenhardt, Germany
  •  housing
    BAMBÚ SOCIAL
    El Rama, Nicaragua
  •  education
    Trade School in Guatemala
    Cerro la Granadilla (San Raimundo), Guatemala
  •  meeting place
    Community Center in Jatimulyo
    Yogyakarta, Indonesia
  • GC2021 finalist
     agriculture & fisheries
    Cocina CoLaboratorio
    Ejido Loma Bonita, Mexico
  •  meeting place
    Tusen Restaurante
    Ramundberget, Sweden
  •  education
    Bamboo Panyaden School
    Chiang Mai, Thailand
  •  meeting place
    Iche_Food for thought: a hub for glocal innovation
    San Vicente, Ecuador
  •  health & sanitation
    Hygiene Station for Cattlefield Village School
    Yunnan, China
  •  education
    Jubilant Tree School
    Moshi, Tanzania
  •  meeting place
    Farmers' Innovation Center (BLF)
    Angangba (Nagaland), India
  •  housing
    House of Plenty
    Nijmegen, Netherlands
  •  education
    Impact Pavilion Ibadan: Connect, Learn, Thrive
    Alaka Community, Ojoo, Ibadan, Nigeria
  •  education
    Training Center for Mae Tao Clinic
    Mae Sot, Thailand
  •  work & business
    Sembalun Bamboo Youth Development Centre
    Lombok, Indonesia
  • GC2021 finalist
     education
    A School Built By the People, For The People
    Jorhat, India
  • play
    GC2022 finalist
     education
    Book House
    China
  •  infrastructure
    Taxi Rank
    Magagula Heights, Katlehong, South Africa
  •  education
    Ithuba Community College
    Ekurhuleni, Gauteng, South Africa
  •  urban planning
    The Self-made Dwelling
    Dharavi, India
next