The Straits Times | Singapore architect designs monastery school in the Himalayas
Singapore architect Lim Keong Wee shares with The Straits Times his design approach and the challenges he encountered while creating the Shambunath Institute, a monastery school in Ladakh, India.
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00:00It's 10am and classes are getting underway.
00:15At the Shabunath Institute in Ladakh, India, monks are having lessons that are both contemporary
00:21and religious in nature.
00:29Set on the grounds of Hemis Monastery, a 400-year-old Buddhist monastery, the school
00:33recently opened in a brand new building designed by a Singaporean architect.
00:38It has taken us more than 12 years to build this building.
00:42The client, His Holiness the Gyalwa Mdrupa, had very ambitious plans of providing for
00:48up to 500 students.
00:49When we arrived there, we actually saw a one-storey concrete building.
00:54We quickly realised that the building had to be much bigger and multi-storey.
00:58The first key problem that we dealt with was actually the extreme climate, from minus
01:0430 during winter to plus 30 during summer.
01:08We had a very limited window in every construction season, where we only have a good four to
01:13six months in a year to build.
01:15Another issue was actually the lack of access to electricity and also water supply.
01:21To overcome these challenges, the design team created one-of-a-kind solutions that adapt
01:26well to a harsh and rugged landscape.
01:29The building had to very quickly react to thermal and insulation needs during winter
01:34and also natural ventilation to actually cool the building during summer.
01:39We ultimately improved our design to make our building a lot more efficient and also
01:43much more sustainable.
01:57For Keong Wee, the project has been a labour of love and a long time in the making.
02:03The school is targeted for a full completion by the end of this year.
02:08We hope that our school design will leave a lasting impact and ultimately we would like
02:12to see it foster a community that thrives and evolves in a sustainable way.
02:18We hope that our school design will leave a lasting impact and ultimately we would like
02:22to see it foster a community that thrives and evolves with changing times.
02:48www.keongwee.ca