School in Rudrapur - Aga Khan Award for Architecture
Aga Khan Development Network
 

School in Rudrapur

School in Rudrapur
 Location: Rudrapur, Bangladesh (South Asia)
Architect: Anna Heringer, Eike Roswag
Client: Dipshikha Non-formal Education, Training and Research Society for Village Development
Completed: 2005
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School in Rudrapur Project Brief

This village school adapts the traditional materials of earth and bamboo to make them more durable. In terms of the earth construction, the most important technical advances were introducing a damp-proof course, adding a brick foundation and mixing straw into the loam. The potential of bamboo construction is demonstrated by the ceiling (a layering of bamboo sticks, bamboo boards and earth) and the first-floor walls and roof (a frame construction consisting of beams - four layers of joined bamboo sticks - and vertical and diagonal poles). The project was hand-built by local craftsmen, pupils and teachers working in collaboration with European volunteers.

  • The site is near Dinajpur, in the northwest of the country close to Indian border. The school is in the village of Rudrapur.

    © Birol INAN

  • The school is located in the compound if a Bangladeshi NGO, Dipshika, which means "Sparkle of light", and is dedicated to helping children in rural areas learn to read and write.

    © Birol INAN

  • Local traditional building materials have been combined with learned construction knowledge to produce a building that is not only sustainable but also a much-needed facility for the village children.

    © Birol INAN

  • The lower portion of the school consists of rammed straw-reinforced mud walls finished with battered mud; the upper floor is a framed bamboo construction with slatted bamboo for walls, windows and doors.

    © Birol INAN

  • Rhythmically spaced vertical bamboo trusses are juxtaposed with horizontal bamboo slats to create a powerful imagery.

    © Birol INAN

  • With the encouragement of the client, the architect took up the challenge of using local materials to explore a new building dynamics in the design of a mud-wall construction.

    © Birol INAN

  • © Birol INAN

  • The roof is a frame construction consisting of beams - four layers of joined bamboo sticks - and vertical and diagonal poles.

    © Birol INAN

  • The classrooms at the ground floor are enclosed by a mud-wall, with apertures and doorways strategically positioned to allow light and wind penetration.

    © Birol INAN

  • The three classrooms in the ground floor are connected to caves through holes.

    © Birol INAN

  • Colourful cotton drapes hung at ceiling level and in doorways soften the harsh walls of the mud structure.

    © Birol INAN

  • The children sit on mats at the rammed-earth floor, as it is tradition in Bangladesh.

    © Birol INAN

  • © Birol INAN

  • The main beneficiaries of this project are children. Adults in the village think it is great that children have a nice place to study.

    © Birol INAN

  • The first floor opens the view wide across the paddy fields.

    © Birol INAN

  • The panels, made of small bamboo stocks, provide shadow and air.

    © Birol INAN

  • The classrooms on the first floor have walls of slatted bamboo that allow diffused light into the spaces as well as natural ventilation.

    © Courtesy of Architects

  • Floor plans

    © Courtesy of Architects

  • Elevations

    © Courtesy of Architects

  • Sections

    © Courtesy of Architects



2007 Award Recipients