Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
This project is inspired by the traditional Nepalese architecture. Typical elements like balconies, arcades, semi-transparent windows (either latticed or grilled) and projecting roofs create a transitory space between the inside and the outside - a space with special characteristics, providing a greater depth to the local architecture and increasing the variability of utilization.
In my vision, the Telemedicine Center should be perceived simultaneously in two distinctive ways: on the one hand as a completely outstanding new and modern element of architecture, underlining its special and public function, while on the other hand corresponding with basic ideas of Nepalese architecture.
The roof represents an effective shelter from the sun due to its separation from the rooms beneath it. Supported by 2 x 101 slim wooden struts, it is free to swing in all directions (mainly longitudinal), evoking the dynamic of natural forms. These struts are clamped at their base points via flat steels, which are welded onto steel beams running through the floor of reinforced concrete. The curved roof-slab consists of 101 prefabricated, light wood/aluminium–panels (0,50m x 7,50m) fixed on top of the struts via internal flat steels and finally covered with corrugated aluminium sheeting.
The curved reinforced concrete-floor contains steal beams inside. This enables the realization of a light slab touching the ground on just two supporting points. The horizontal loads at these supporting points, resulting from the arch-construction, require pre-stressed tension anchors running beneath the soil.
The outer walls of the enclosed rooms consist of an inner shell of light brick and an outer shell of plywood sheeting.