DRUK WHITE LOTUS

A case study on hill architecture features of the school

building.

Location: Shey, Ladakh, India

Latitude/Longitude: 34 N, 77 40 E, alt. 3,700m
Design team: Arup Associates and Arup
Client: The Drukpa Trust, a UK-registered charity under the
patronage of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, initiated the Druk
White Lotus School project in 1997.
Building type: residential school from nursery t0 high school.
Capacity: 750 students

Design :

Complex is organized within a nine sq. grid

arrangement and surrounding circle of a
mandala , a symbolic religious significance.
There are four principal areas, which are
connected by way of a spine type route.
The first is the site entrance and the bus stop
from the road to the south , which gives the
pedestrians access to the second , the day
time teaching areas.
The third element along the spine is the
residential accommodation for some pupils and
staff rising to the north.
The fourth area, comprising the water and
energy infrastructure, which is located
separately alongside a service track to the
west.
Typically single storied buildings are arranged
around a series of primary and secondary
routes in a plan.
Tightly planned and enclosed around shaded
courtyards the day time teaching area is
oriented 30 degrees from south towards east
to favor the morning sun.

Design Strategies
Super-insulation.
The roofs are constructed of local poplar rafters, willow sheathing topped with
mud and rock wool and felt insulation. The weather skin is sand and aluminium
sheets.
Air locks.
The entries to the classroom buildings are all air locks to act as a buffer between
the winter cold and the warm interiors.
Day lighting.
The classrooms are designed for optimum daylight. In the wider Nursery and
Kindergarten Building, the light from the direct solar gain windows is balanced by
top lighting from north- and south-facing clerestories and a splayed ceiling. No
electric lighting is typically used in the classrooms.
Natural ventilation.
All the rooms have well-shaded operable windows that allow natural crossventilation that provides a cool, glare-free, high quality teaching environment.

The splayed roof acts

as an indirect daylight
source in the
classroom.

The courtyard is subdivided

into a series of outdoor
classrooms. Planter boxes
await deciduous tree

The pump house at the wellhead is

powered by a sun-tracking PV array.

Roof construction uses local poplar

rafters and willow sheathing.

Strategies
Migration.
The courtyards between the classroom buildings are subdivided into smaller
spaces appropriate for teaching during mild sunny days. The buildings and
trees provide shade and wind protection to these spaces
Water use.
Its a desert, so water is precious. Groundwater is extracted from a 105-foot
deep well and pumped by PV power to a 6,000-gallon tank located on higher
ground than the buildings it serves.
Materials.
An emphasis was placed on using local materials. Soil from the site was used
in the roof construction and the mud bricks for the inner walls were hand made
in Shey. The granite blocks of the exterior wall are formed and finished from
stone found on the site or gathered from the surrounding boulder field .
Nearby monastery plantations grew the willow used in the roof construction.
7

Seismic Design &

Safety
The major October 2005 earthquake in adjacent Pakistan was a wake-up
call concerning such risks in Ladakh. Druk White Lotus building structures
use timber frames to resist seismic loads and ensure life safety in the
event of an earthquake. The timber frames are independent of the walls,
and steel connections and cross-bracing provide earthquake stability.

An internal view of
the library building

Interior of a class
room filled with
natural light
Detail of wooden
construction of
classrooms and stone
walls

Open planted courtyards

in front of class rooms
also used as daytime