The campus for the Society of Technology and Development in Nagwain offers training and housing facility for farmers and cultivators from surrounding areas to help them with better technologies for production and packaging of their produce. While the campus has some rudimentary structures for holding ad-hoc workshops the vision of the society was to make a state of the art facility that could hold residential workshops that could then target a larger number as well as spread in geographical catchment of the same. For this purpose all the existing buildings were to be remodelled as hostels and dormitories while a new building was proposed as the training block that would house up to 70 attendees at a time in the largest hall as well as have space for classrooms and some basic lab facilities.

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The design concept was to respond to the existing structures on site and have a formal approach that did not challenge the existing buildings but complemented them. The form of the new building responded to the hostel block next to it and created a homogenous interstitial space. The sharp drop in contours were also used to create a stepped building and a naturally occurring amphitheater became the focal point of the new building creating an open space for discourse and discussion like a baithak in the hills. The amphitheater ties the masses of the building together through a void that offers opportunities for great views of the valley as well as a space of active interaction and outdoor workshop sessions. The massing and volumetric studies tried to balance the heaviness of building on higher contours by creating a section that scooped out strategic volumes to lighten the visual impact of the building and let it blend into the terrain of the site.

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The building proposed was designed using COMPRESSED EARTH BLOCKS. As a part of the training the institute had procured two CEB block machines in the previous stage of construction. The new building was designed such that all the soil from excavation could be used for the infill walls of the building. The aim of the society of sustainable farming and technological efforts for the same is reflected in the use of sustainable materials and systems of water management, daylighting, material technologies and passive ventilation measures in their building strengthening their ideological and environmental stand.

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Winner, Aces of Space Design Awards 2021 –-Sustainable Design of the Year (Concept)