Architecture BRIO

Feature on Learning Pavilion by Architecture BRIO in Midday

2011-07-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday Midday published an article on architects working with communities and NGO's in India. The article featured projects by 'Architecture for Humanity', 'Scott Gerald Shall', 'Vaibhav Kaley', 'Sandeep Virmani', 'the Cohesion Foundation', and 'Architecture BRIO'

(experts from article published on 10-07-2011)

Indian architects are collaborating with their foreign counterparts to give back to the community while sticking to doing what they are good at.
Conjuring walls that move, schools set deep inside sand dunes, and bamboo homes that come up in 20 days but last 20 years are just a few of their altruistic innovations Author: Yolande D'Mello

Learning while climbing a platform

SHEFALI Balwani and Robert Verrijt have been spending a large part of their day in playgrounds. But it’s not all fun and games. The Mumbai architect and her Dutch partner who started Architecture BRIO in 2006 are drawing up plans for an open-learning centre for Magic Bus, a not for profit organisation that works towards empowering underprivileged children through sport. The company works with the Magic Bus Centre for Learning & Development in Karjat, at a 20-acre outdoor campus that plays host to their programme of learning using outdoor activity, to design a play area that will educate through sport.

Verrijt, who previously worked in Sri Lanka now works out of BRIO’s Khar office. On the Thursday morning we meet them, they are busy working on how to incorporate a Jacob’s ladder and a jungle bridge in a plan that will connect the playground to the pavilion. “We wanted the design to have an open theme. So the structure cannot have closed rooms. We need open platforms that the kids can climb onto,” says Verrijt.

Two timber decks will be connected with a jungle bridge and swings. These will become a part of the activities that include moving from point A to point B while dealing with physical hurdles along the way. In the discussion that follows, children are asked to identify real life difficulties that would arise while trying to get an education given their circumstances –– these would include family pressure to work, etc. The deck will be sheltered with a plexiglass roof. The brief given by Magic Bus stressed the need for a space that would reflect the play element, while allowing kids to explore their creativity.
A day at Magic Bus, that set up its Mumbai chapter nine years ago, starts off with setting goals for the kids. A song sets off a chain of activities that the kids partake in, going through a series of games, and winding up with a discussion with a mentor-volunteer. “Our programme aims to teach children aged seven to 18 leadership
and livelihood. It’s activity-based learning that’s different from conventional classroom studying,” says Pratik Kumar, COO, who oversees the NGO’s functioning in Maharashtra, New Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.

The deck will be sheltered with plexiglass. “We intentionally didn’t create a building with walls like one would usually do for a school building. We looked at what was most critically required for the building,” says Verrijt. This way they avoided building walls and windows and yet build a structure that is ventilated naturally.
The project, funded by UK-based Laureus, a foundation that promotes learning through sport, will see completion next month. “ The limited budget meant that we had to come up with innovative ways to reduce cost without compromising on quality,” explains Verrijt, adding, “We have a timber deck with a demountable steel structure supporting a roof of a high quality material which can last over 30 years. This way the NGO can save on maintenance costs.”

Architecture Brio has also been nominated in 2009 for the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity for their design for a staff dormitory that will follow the design of a three storey structure built in a composite of bamboo, concrete and steel that they hope may be realized in the future.

visitors at House on a Stream

2011-05-13T22:12:00.000-07:00

Unsolicited Architecture Workshop

2011-02-03T02:14:00.000-08:00

Architecture BRIO conducts workshop in "Unsolicited Architecture" event at Studio-X in Mumbai on 12 and 13 February 2011

Learning of the Grid

2011-02-03T01:54:00.000-08:00

Architecture BRIO gives a lecture on the Magic Bus Learning Pavilion at "Learning of the Grid" at Studio-X in Mumbai on 21 January 2011
A roundtable discussion about the state of education in India. Speakers will include local architects, planners and educators from in and around Mumbai.

Anie Kurtin & Ravi Raj
URBZ - Rahul Srivastra & Matias Echanove
Mobile Creches - Vrishali Pispati
Ashta no Kai - Armene Modi
Architecture BRIO - Robert Verrijt

House on a Stream

2010-07-14T03:06:00.000-07:00

...and then the rains start. the monsoon dramatically changes the landscape. From a pale brown red to vibrant greens. The construction at the "house on a stream" site in Alibaug continues...

Arcam Exhibition in Mumbai - "Building India- Indian Visions Dutch Methods"

2010-07-14T02:06:00.000-07:00

The travelling exhibition "Building India- Indian Visions Dutch Methods" was successfully opened at Sir JJ College of Architecture. Mumbai on the 9th July 2010. The exhibition was originally on show at the ARCAM Gallery in Amsterdam, and currently travels across various cities in India. The exhibition presents a general introduction to present-day India, to the current state of architecture and urbanism, and the building task for the next ten years.

The main part of the exhibition focusses on India’s future, seen through the eyes of young Indian architects. Five architects were asked to present their city, allocating key projects that are important and representative of the architectural and urban culture of their city.
The chosen projects are explained in short texts and shown in photo’s, drawings, and visuals, revealing their significance to the city.

The exhibition tries to give an objective sense of how the major cities in India are developing. The highlighted projects however show something else. It is not a mere reflection of the rampant developments of the last years. They show a critical involvement of the architects. Most of the projects have in common a relationship between the Architecture and the street, or the public domain. In Mumbai, the battle around the Mill areas, the Dharavi slum redevelopment project and the Bandra Bandstand public promenade highlight that there are forces within the city who care about public interests. A positive voice for the future of Indian Cities.

At the occasion of the opening of the exhibition 'Arch-I Platform' organized a panel discussion with Rajeev Mishra, Quaid Doongerwala, Neera Adarkar, Rajeev Thakker, Rohan Shivkumar, Robert Verrijt, Anne Feenstra and the students of JJ College. The discussion was a step forward to discussing the future of the city of Mumbai in a holistic manner.
The Hon. Dutch Consul General Ms. Marijke van Drunen Littel inaugurated the exhibition.

The exhibition will be on show from 9-07-2010 to 16-07-2010 at JJ College of Architecture, D.N. Road, Mumbai

(photographs by Arch-I Platform)

Architecture + Design Interview with Robert Verrijt

2009-09-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

Large scale European architecture companies have been moving into Mumbai over the last decade more and more to develop various projects. Indian architecture companies however have also been increasing, in size, in volume and in projects. While Mumbai is growing rapidly, the two architectural worlds seem somewhat distanced from each other. The young architecture practice Architecture BRIO fits right in between these two worlds. Not 100% European and not 100% Indian. Architecture + Design sat down with Robert Verrijt to have an extended talk with him about a variety of subjects that come up on the way “between Delft and Mumbai”.

What was your motivitation of starting a practice in India?

I received my architecture education in the Netherlands during a period where Super Dutch architecture dominated in the classrooms and more importance was given to new design concepts then to the act of building. I enjoyed the design process taught there, which was witty and intellectual, but it seemed to miss soul and emotion. It was therefore that I chose to work for several years after my study in Colombo, Sri Lanka at Channa Daswatte’s office, who had just started his own career after being a partner in Geoffrey Bawa’s practice until the latter death. Here the opposite design practice prevailed: the isolated location of Sri Lanka and its natural richness assumed an attitude where the materiality, light and experiential characteristics of architecture and its surroundings were instead celebrated. The construction site was the drawing board and drove the design process, rather than a concept. This appealed to me, and it moved me to stay in the subcontinent. I decide to set up my practice together with my partner Shefali Balwani in her hometown Mumbai.

Apart from being your partners hometown, is there any other reasons why you are specifically located in Mumbai?

Mumbai is a city located on a peninsula on the west coast of India that acts as a bridge between India and the world. It gives us precisely the right ingredients to practice an architecture which deals with global issues through a strong conceptual approach and benefit from the joys of working within a tradition of craft and workmanship. Mumbai has a thoroughly Indian identity, but is on the other hand, a world apart from rural India. The locations of the projects currently in the office reflect a balance between urban sites and rural, which by the way are rapidly urbanizing as well.

Although your partner is Indian and your practice is based in India, does your work still reflect your Dutch background?

Mainstream architectural production in India is bold, eclectic, festive and full of aspiration of a new modern world. Many clients demand a unique iconic building with vibrant colors and an assembly of shapes and forms fashioned in imported styles. Our work, situated in this context searches for uniqueness in a different way. It becomes unique through a celebration of the ordinary. We are interested in the ordinary because it talks about how people live, what works, and what doesn’t, and what should be improved. The work starts with the search for a concept, which is appropriate for its location and brief. The organization of program, which in most architectural practices in India forms the driving force of the design exercise, is instead interpreted and tweaked with the intent to support the concept.

Could you illustrate that with an example from your own practice?

This is clearly reflected in our project ‘house by a river’. Here the concept enhances the positive characteristics of the site. It is located on a steep hillock with a small flat plateau and faces a river meandering in a lush landscape. The project responds to this condition by increasing the surface area of the flat land, by tucking the house half inside the hill below a blanket of grass. With all three facades looking over the river landscape, and thermally insulated by the grass roof on the terrace it both optimizes the advantage of a superb view at the top of the hill as well as creates an extra area for entertainment and play on the roof. Rather than displaying a certain opulence, often associated with these types of weekend houses, this project almost disappears into its surroundings.

A quest for an Indian cultural identity forms the basis of most of the architecture in India today. In the period after independence this quest was fueled by a determination to get rid of it’s colonial past. But both in the academic circuit as well as the media and popular opinion it remains a topic of discussion. Indian cities are increasingly becoming centers connected to the global network with a type of global corporate architecture that starts dominating its skylines. Some are pleased with the first signals that Mumbai might become like Shanghai, and others cry out for a different direction in which the uniqueness of Mumbai remains a quality. How is your work related to this question of identity?

In our practice we are aware of this tendency, however it does not play a major role, since we believe that culture is something very fluid. India, or at least urban India, is undergoing a rapid transformation. The influences of foreign media, lifestyles and an increased exposure creates a variety of new subcultures, which are very different from what is seen elsewhere. Although regrettably all over India thousands of local traditions, languages, crafts, and workmanship do deteriorate, new skills and new traditions also evolve.
Architecture BRIO operates within this realm of a changing world. However, at the same time Indian culture is reflected in our work. Even if we would try very hard for our projects to be ‘not Indian’ or let’s say ‘Dutch’, it would be impossible just because of the climate, people or the construction industry in which we operate.

Does the same apply for the projects you have been doing outside of India?

With all our projects we strive to say something about the character of the place. In our winning EUROPAN competition entry, designed with Floris Cornelisse for a residential complex in Enschede in the Netherlands, the configuration expressed a robustness and massiveness referring to the industrial past of this former textile town. We felt a certain cohesiveness had to be created between all the urban fragments surrounding the complex. By remodeling the conventional proportions of a residential building block and reworking the plan typologically to fit in those blocks, the project, maybe at a subconscious level, started belonging to the city. Our projects in India similarly have elements which are very specific to its context.

Could you relate this method with your project for an NGO in Karjat?

This project is a design of an outdoor learning campus for underprivileged children, and is located in a valley below the Karjat Dam. The design of the dormitory derives its typology from that of a colonial missionary bungalow. This typology native to the Indian Bengali region and transformed by the British, responded to the local climate by its large shaded verandas promoting ample ventilated spaces.
Other than its climatic function, the other purpose the veranda served was that of a place for relaxation and socializing. To keep within budget the building plan needs to be compact. The linear plan of the missionary bungalow allows for an efficient way of distributing private spaces along a common veranda, where people can interact. In order to reduce the footprint of the building, a two-storey section proved to be the most efficient. By placing half of this structure on stilts on the edge of a ridge, an extra covered space is created for recreational purposes. This continuous veranda surrounding the building on all sides, allowed us to integrate the construction material of bamboo with the functional aspects of the building.
However, the typology was reinvented. Where in the missionary bungalow the structural frame is placed on the inside of the veranda, and the columns surrounding the veranda merely support the roof, in this project the columns are proposed to be made of bamboo carry the whole weight of the building. By placing the columns on the periphery, the joints, which in bamboo construction are the most critical and complicated, were isolated from the infill construction, which allowed for a floor plan that could be organized freely. The spatial experience through the building is therefore full of surprises.
The interior of the dormitory would reveal itself as one moves through the building. A staircase cutting through the building, frames the exterior beyond, creating interplay between inside and outside. This staircase leads you down to a large double height recreational space. Suspending the two-storey structure over the ridge creates this space below. The top floor is surrounded on all sides by a veranda. Along the colonnaded passage the dormitory rooms are located. At the end of the passage a large shaded deck overlooks a most spectacular view over the trees, towards the Matheran mountain range in the distance.
The public circulation and verandas would occupy the interstitial spaces between the external bamboo columns and the internal mass. The large covered verandas and the relatively narrow width of the building envelope allow for comfortably ventilated and shaded semi-indoor spaces. The bamboo enclosure creates a dialogue between the interior and the dramatically changing landscape.

Do you think that climate of Mumbai has any influence on the way you design of conceive spaces?

Indians love air conditioning. A quarter of the year the weather is indeed too hot to handle. However the rest of the year a comfortable temperature and breeze makes the outdoor very pleasant. Something which is increasingly hard to do in urban areas (since people have become too accustomed to air conditioning - the buildings don’t allow for windows to be opened) is to maintain a strong relationship with the outdoors. In all our designs therefore the distribution of enclosed air-conditioned areas and outdoor areas whether in the form of a courtyard or verandas play a major role.
In the clubhouse situated in a dense urban locality of Mumbai our aim was to create a structure surrounded by courtyards in which the existing trees would be highlighted. We insisted that all rooms have large open-able windows or sliding folding doors. For example the lounge room dividing two of the courtyards has large glass sliding doors shaded by the abundant surrounding foliage, such that in the comfortable seasons the spaces of the two courtyards could become one space used for parties and gatherings.
We are curious to see how many times of the year the air-conditioning will be actually used in the clubhouse and hope that the energy consumption will be dramatically less than in conventional club buildings.

clubhouse under construction

The Dutch construction industry is highly organized and regulated. Does the availability of materials or construction methods in India restrict you in any way? Or does the less regulated, evolving construction industry in India allow you instead more freedom?

Nowadays there is a great variety of materials and products available in the market. However the highly sophisticated products or intelligent building systems are mostly out of bounds for our projects since they have to be especially imported. On the other hand raw materials such as a variety of natural stones, or for example bamboo are very affordable. Good workmanship is still available but has its price, since a lot of the skilled labor has moved to the Middle East.
Our proposal for the staff dormitory of an NGO at the Magic Bus Campus was driven by the choice of material. Bamboo being extremely strong, still underexplored and a rapidly renewable material was the logical choice for the NGO, which wished to express the need for not only a sustainable society, but environment as well.
A lot of research went into the design of the bamboo construction. In collaboration with our engineer Vilas Gore we decided to combine two bamboos, with a diameter of 90mm and join them together by steel strips to form the columns. The columns are placed in small intervals of 1.5 meter for it to be able to carry the load of the structure. This structure is therefore also kept as light as possible. The floor for example is a combination of a bamboo under layer and a very thin layer of concrete. Of course this also has the advantage in reducing the requirement of un-renewable resources such as concrete and steel in this project.
Developing this construction method and executing it is a major challenge. Working within the Indian construction industry with hardly any standard details, this means that everything has to be reinvented from scratch, which is a lot of work. At the same time however it allows you to rethink a construction system completely. We hope that the construction of a first prototype will take away the skepticism and prejudices, which are surrounding bamboo construction and allow for the material to be used much more widespread.

This interview appeared in Architecture + Design (september 2009) in a special issue on Dutch Architecture.

first we build...

2009-02-27T00:10:00.000-08:00

"First we build our buildings and then the buildings build us." Joachim Fest

Lebbeus Woods on the Problem of Slums

2009-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

former slum on tulsi pipe road, mumbai

The architect Lebbeus Woods has written an exceptional essay in three parts about slums and the possible roles that an architect can play in this seemingly unsolvable problem.

..."From a safe distance, it is tempting to demonize, or romanticize, slum dwellers. On the demon side, they are parasites, unclean, unwanted, unhealthy, attached to the body of organized society. On the romantic side, they are outsiders, struggling subversively within the system, surviving by their wits and stubbornness, masters of that indispensable human quality, ingenuity. Each view is an extreme of the reality, and each serves the purposes of different interest groups occupying higher social strata. Consequently, both views in effect accept the existence, and persistence, of slums."...

part 1: The Problem
part 2: What to Do?
part 3: One idea

Mumbai Slums: Model for the World

2009-02-09T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Mumbai shanty town featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire offers a better model than does western architecture for ways to house a booming urban population in the developing world, Prince Charles said yesterday.

Dharavi, a Mumbai slum where 600,000 residents are crammed into 520 acres, contains the attributes for environmentally and socially sustainable settlements for the world's increasingly urban population, he said. The district's use of local materials, its walkable neighbourhoods, and mix of employment and housing add up to "an underlying intuitive grammar of design that is totally absent from the faceless slab blocks that are still being built around the world to 'warehouse' the poor".

The prince's comments are likely to be seen as a criticism of western developers who export plans for large-scale, often high-rise buildings to developing countries.

"I strongly believe that the west has much to learn from societies and places which, while sometimes poorer in material terms are infinitely richer in the ways in which they live and organise themselves as communities," he told planners, charity workers and government officials.

"It may be the case that in a few years' time such communities will be perceived as best equipped to face the challenges that confront us because they have a built-in resilience and genuinely durable ways of living."

"Many developing countries look to the west as a model but that cannot be the model. These [western] buildings use too much power and would not be affordable for us. In India the population has gone beyond all control and it is wrong to expect western development to help us."

slum rehabilitation on tulsi pipe road, building blocks set apart by not more than 3 meter

slum rehabilitation on tulsi pipe road, each home has an area of 225 sq. ft.

read more on: The Guardian

Adjoining Dharavi, the unique fabric of the "Tulsi Pipe Road" Slum has been cleared by the BMC (Mumbai Municipal Corporation) in May 2007. The seven kilometer stretch accomodated 1200 shanties. Some of the slum dwellers have been relocated to the anonymous concrete building blocks in the periphery of the city.

Inhabitat writes about Architecture Brio's Bamboo Veiled Dormitory

2008-11-11T04:12:00.000-08:00

Inhabitat is a authoritative weblog on sustainable design. It is devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and home design towards a smarter and more sustainable future.

Editor Olivia Chen writes about Architecture BRIO's design:

"On a slope near the village of Karjat, India, a team of architects have begun to envision a modern, 3-story building that will peer out into the valley through a veil of bamboo poles. Designed by Architecture Brio, the building will act as a staff dormitory for the NGO Magic Bus. The building’s structure is modern and rectangular, but softened by the more rustic feel of its bamboo exterior. By using bamboo, a rapidly renewable resource, as a primary supporting material, the building’s design is both sustainable and feels like an organic manifestation of the surrounding landscape. [...]

[...] Intending to spur eco-friendly changes within the Indian construction industry, the ambitious Dutch architect Robert Verrijt and Indian architect Shefali Balwani of Architecture Brio have created an exciting example of engineering prowess, innovative aesthetic, and altogether- sustainable design."

Tulsi Pipe

2008-10-13T00:37:00.000-07:00

Tulsi Pipe is a stretch of road in mumbai running along the western railway line.
Almost along the entire length of the this road there exists a slum colony. Consisting of the scrap material of the railways, dismantled advertising boards, and cheap construction plastics, one could only call this a slum. The average inhabitant of Mumbai knows this colony only from the blurred, surreal cinematic images that one perceives when traveling on the north south line; a series of distorted images, which doesn’t show anything but chaos, poverty, and dirt.

This living environment is according to the United Nations the daily reality of 900 million people on earth. Every day more and more people live in an environment where scarcity of good drinking water facilites, sanitairy facilities, sufficient living space, and houses with sufficient sustainable qualities. Even more the inhabitants are being structurally isolated from the society. This is sufficient reason to study the Tulsi pipe slum in Mumbai carefully.

Instead of the cinematic flash of dramatic information which occurs when in motion, this research project tries to understand the slum from a frozen image over its 2 kilometer continuous elevation. The image which appears is surprisingly orderly and intelligent. This strip contains in fact a housing typology which is well suited to its situation. It is consistent in its repetition, while giving room for variety.
It could be argued that this slum is in fact the predecessor of an ingenious new urban development full of potential. In this time in which intuition and creativity of individuals and small communities is being ignored, and on an enormous scale, monotone and rigid dwellings are produced, this slum actually provides a chance to generate a whole new urban typology. It would be a typology which enables time to influence its structure. It would allow time for development, to mature in an unpredictable way, which fully adjusts to the means and needs of the moment. Most probably the inhabitants of Tulsi Pipe will never have the chance to prove this. In the summer of 2006 an army of bulldozers demolished a large part of their dwellings.

Bamboo experiment

2008-10-08T05:30:00.000-07:00

Bamboo experiment in progress

In Karjat at the Magic Bus Campus an experiment in bamboo is being constructed. This lightweight construction method reduces the amount of non-renewable materials required significantly. The complex geometry with oddly tilting walls and roofs emphasize the temporary character of the village. Additionally each hut is slightly differently shaped exploring the boundaries of the ‘crafted’ and the ‘prefabricated’. Each member is made in a workshop set up on site. The on site workshop allows for flexibility in the length and joinery of each member since assembly is immediate.

House by a River

2008-10-07T07:10:00.000-07:00

The Site

The site of this weekend house is steeply sloping with a 1:4 gradient. To the north of the plot runs a river in the east - west direction. The site slopes down towards the river. The highest part of the site is a flattened plateau. the north west direction has a wonderful view of the river and greenery beyond. The vehicular access to the site is from the east along the river. The road is yet to be built up and a bridge needs to be constructed over a nallah that cuts through the access path.

Green Roof

Taking advantage of the flattened plateau at the highest point of the site the house is positioned such that its roof slab level merges with the level of the plateau. One can therefore walk onto the roof from the top of the land. This gives to the house an additional usable area for larger gatherings which would have otherwise not been possible due to the steeply sloping land. The roof is a green roof with a wild grass cover. it looks from top like an extension of the natural landscape. This enhances the understatedness of the house and allows it to be hidden from public view. The green cover also serves to keep the house below cooler due to its insulative properties. This will allow for reduced air conditioning cost.

Central Axis

Connecting the terrace above to the boat house down by the river is a wedge shaped staircase along the central axis of the house. This staircase serves not only as a connector but is also a feature. It is enclosed by stone walls on either side and is open to sky. Due to its prominence it serves as a backdrop to display objects and artifacts that would bring in a personal character and quality to the house.
Along the same axis is a small pool and landscaped area. This is also open to sky. The landscaped area consists of a pebbled walkway with large paving stones along it. The pebbles also absorb the overflow from the pool.
A series of smaller steps then lead from the pool deck area and continue along the steeply sloping landscape to the boathouse below. The wedge shape of the main staircase is continued in the line of the steps leading below.

On either side of the central axis are two bedrooms. Adjacent to the pool deck on one side is an open kitchen. The kitchen will have sliding shutters that can be closed to lock up the house when not in use.
Both bedrooms have attached bathrooms with outdoor courts. The courts give the bathrooms a sense of space and add the element of luxury to the house. They have outdoor showers and indoor baths. The master bedroom has a four poster bed and a siting area for watching television. It has views on two sides. One side of it is a line of cabinetry. This serves a dual purpose of separating it from the rest of the house as well as accommodating storage. It extends from the bathroom all the way to the outer wall of the bedroom and shares it on one side with the kitchen. The sliding door of the bedrooms can fully open up and tuck into the thickness of the wall they originate from.
The guest bedroom has a built up platform with steps leading up to it. In the center of the platform is a mattress. At the far end of the room is a wall of built in cabinetry.

The Verandah

The living dining areas of the house are part of a large verandah. This is open to all the elements and part of the where one can experience the outdoors. Timber decking forms the floor of the verandah. To shield it from sunlight bamboo blinds with be suspended along the edge. A portion of the deck is sunken in and forms a lower built in seating. This will have cushions thrown along it when in use. This sunken seating becomes an extension of the steps that lead downwards towards the river.

Bamboo Screens

The elevation of the house facing the river needs to be screened from the view of the farmers houses on the other side of the river. In order to do this without obstructing the views beyond, a rhythmic row of bamboo poles will be placed at close intervals in front of the house. These will be placed strategically in areas that need the privacy the most. They will also serve to support the large cantilever of the roof slab above. The bamboo screen will allow for a wonderful play of light when sunlight shines through it and forms shadows onto the timber decking of the verandah.

Magic Bus Staff Dormitory

2008-09-22T06:17:00.000-07:00

(Magic bus is a NGO founded in Mumbai in 1999 aspiring to create a long-term, sustained intervention of life skills development for at-risk children through recreation, play and creative expression activities. They organise weekly sports and games sessions, educational day-trips to their weekend residential camp ‘the Magic Bus Centre’. Architecture BRIO has been asked to design the second construction phase of the Centre comprising a staff dormitory, separate facilitation centres for children and corporates, and a children’s village.)

The dormitory for the staff of the NGO Magic Bus will be located in the valley below the Karjat Dam. Sited on the tip of a small plateau it overlooks paddy fields and sleepy villages. Embedded in the topography, the dormitory reveals different elevations depending on the viewpoint. By utilizing the steep slope an intimate low façade faces the entrance court on the forest side. A more prominent vertical façade faces the paddy fields.

The interior of the dormitory will reveal itself as one moves through the building. A staircase cutting through the building mass breaks up the passage on the ground floor. This cut in the building frames the exterior beyond, creating interplay between inside and outside. This staircase leads you down to a large double height recreational space. Suspending the two-storey structure over the ridge creates this space below. The top floor is surrounded on all sides by a veranda. At the end of a colonnaded passage a large shaded deck overlooks a most spectacular view over the trees, towards the contours of the Matheran mountain range in the distance.

A ‘cage’ of bamboo columns wraps around the building. Public circulation and veranda's occupy the interstitial spaces between the external bamboo columns and the internal mass. The large covered veranda's and the relatively narrow width of the building envelope allow for comfortably ventilated and shaded semi-indoor spaces. The bamboo enclosure creates a dialogue between the interior and the dramatically changing landscape. The natural landscape changes from a dense brightly green colored jungle-like forest during the monsoon months to a pale brown shrubby wasteland during the dry and hot summer months. The building has to respond to these extreme conditions by allowing enough shade and breeze during the summer and providing a waterproof indoor environment during the stormy monsoons. The screen of columns creates an ever-changing pattern of light and shadow throughout the seasons and times of the day, making the building a ‘sensor’ of light.

A reduced material palette using bamboo for columns and walls, and natural stone and polished concrete for floors, neutralised by the whitewashed interiors gives the calm rational architectural language a sensual physical presence. The row of bamboo posts at 1.5-meter intervals forms a permeable skin around the building as well as supports the entire building. Bamboos, being the fastest growing grass in the world, are a high yielding renewable material resource. The high strength and low weight factor of bamboo makes it remarkably earthquake and cyclone resistant.

With invaluable inputs from engineer Vilas Gore of GeoScience Services, innovative technologies and methods are used in order to reduce the amount of non-renewable materials throughout the building. The selection of materials and building methods is optimized to decrease the load on the building, which in turn allow the supporting columns to be sleek and elegantly dimensioned.

The columns consist of two bamboos, with a diameter of 90mm, joined together by steel strips. Steel dowels inserted in between the two bamboos avoid shear movements. Trusses made of pre-cast concrete and steel tension cables span between the columns. The floors are made of half cut bamboo, on which a layer of 50 mm concrete is laid, finished with a layer of natural stone. Walls are infill panels made of split bamboo covered with reinforced plastered on the inside.

The construction details emphasize the lightness of the structure. A steel plate, which is embedded in the pre-cast concrete beam, connects to both the lower and upper bamboo twin-column as well as the bamboo tie beams. While this steel plate cuts through the bamboo column to make use of reverse bending, the continuity of the bamboo columns is maintained accentuating the verticality of the structure. Combining natural and local materials with state of the art technologies and materials such as wood, concrete and steel this building will portray a new construction idiom – an expression of contemporary sustainable architecture.

1) M15 reinforced concrete gutter laid on half cut bamboo
5) half cut bamboo 60mm diameter with sawn wood posts
8) compressed bamboo particle board on timber framing and louvered sliding windows
11) removable bunkbeds out of bamboo particle board 19mm and teak wood framing 50 x 50mm
13) ‘onduline’ corrugated roofing sheet
14) sawn wood purlin 60 x 60mm
15) bamboo 60mm dia. / sawn wood post / twin G.I.plate connector
18) pre-cast reinforced concrete beam 60 x 250mm and s.s. strut rod connected with s.s. tension cable
21) floor out of cement mortar 50mm / weld mesh / hexagonal mesh / placed over half cut bamboos
26) cement sand plaster with super plasticiser with wall paint on frame work of bamboo strips
28) floor out of split bamboo and cement mortar with gaps
32) twin bamboo column 90mm dia.with groove made for m.s.plate
35) twin bamboo column 90mm dia.
39) concrete foundation base with G.I. plate 90mm dia. 8mm thick welded to G.I. pipe

Architecture BRIO Introduction

2008-09-18T23:46:00.000-07:00

Architecture Brio is engaged in the creation of contextually appropriate solutions being conscious of the ever-changing environment it is building in.
Set up in Mumbai in April 2006, it is a design-based practice focusing primarily on the fields of architecture, interior and sustainable design. Its principals are Robert Verrijt (MSc Arch TUDelft, the Netherlands) and Shefali Balwani (C.E.P.T, India).

It is a small highly selective firm that works with a thorough understanding of Architecture and its related fields and their interdependence. It seeks to develop design as its core strength and primary focus. Its uniqueness lies in the diverse backgrounds and cultures that its principals are rooted in. Combining exposure and knowledge in European forte of detailing with the richness of Asian tradition and culture it has developed a design philosophy that goes beyond the norm.

Aesthetics, technological innovation and sustainability are the corner stones of its guiding philosophy. Using not only standard building materials such as concrete and steel it experiments also with unconventional building materials such as bamboo for construction. It uses modern vocabulary with customized detailing in its designs.

Regardless of a projects scale, it seeks out clients who share its commitment to exemplary planning, design and execution and want to become partners in its creations. It approaches a design brief in an open and explorative manner before arriving at a common standpoint. This then acts as a clear concept, which guides the design process.

The firm works intensively with engineers and consultants welcoming new insights that can lead to specific innovative solutions. It believes strongly in design as a process. It uses models, both physical and virtual, as tools for communication between clients, engineers and architects. This allows for programmatic and engineering concepts to be fully integrated into the design right from the conception.

Architecture Brio is the recipient of several prestigious awards. Robert Verrijt was awarded the first prize in the Europan 8 competition and second prize in the Dutch Archiprix 2004. Besides this he has been awarded thrice a grant from The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.