ARCHITECTURAL FOCUS
The learning center has been designed as a collection of free-flowing volumes that provide a feeling of space and visual connectivity .
the full height of the building , with an amphitheater rising to the right and a gallery space towards the left .
In section , the building opens up towards the south , which is the ambient wind direction in Chennai . The southern side of the site is raised in the form of a garden in order to harness the south breeze , while also taking advantage of a wind channel caused by the extended road beyond the site . The amphitheater connects the arrival space to the library above as a seamless volume overlooking the raised garden on the south .
The garden can be accessed by a slide that begins at the library . Five classrooms are stacked on either side of the central atrium . Inside this atrium , a metal staircase winds its way up , connecting all the levels . At the fourth level , the staircase comes out of the building and faces the dorm of a spiral stair that leads up to a rooftop cafeteria , which in turn opens out into a landscaped terrace on the south .
The eastern and western walls are composite 400mm wide , made up of a 300mm wide cavity wall with a 50 mm thick XPS infill as the inner layer , with a bamboo shuttered GFRC facade panel as a self-shading skin with a 25mm air cavity . This insulation system virtually cuts off all the heat that falls on these walls .
There is a sense of openness , with no clear demarcation of space or volume - every space seamlessly blending with each other and the gardens beyond . The warm glow of glare-free natural light creates a cheerful ambiance , and the sense of fun is accentuated by the use of color , with a natural breeze wafting through the various levels- all of this provides , in our opinion , an ideal platform for learning .
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From a climate sensitivity standpoint , the eastern and the western walls of the buildings have been designed as insulated cavity walls with minimum opening , while the southern and northern walls have full-length operable windows that allow the ambient south breeze in , and are shaded by vertical aluminum aerofoil shaped louvers .
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