Surface Design Awards – Complete

• COMMERCIAL BUILDING - EXTERIOR
  Commercial Buildings that are used for commercial purposes, and include retail, hospitality, workplaces, factories and warehouses and buildings where commercial services are provided. At least 50 percent of the buildings’ floor space will be used for commercial activities.

CONSTRUCTION COST OF PROJECT: Rs 54 Cr
COMPLETION DATE: Jan 2022

Designed to serve tourists in the holiest city for Buddhists, the Hotel in Bodh Gaya uses the power of Memory and Emotion to create immersive architecture that embodies the tenets of Buddhism:

Bodh Gaya, where Lord Buddha is deemed to have received enlightenment, is one of the holiest and oldest pilgrimage sites for Buddhists. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and tourists from around the globe visit the city annually.

Spread over 5-acres, not far from the Mahabodhi Temple (one of the four holy sites related to the life of Lord Buddha), the Hotel in Bodh Gaya responds to the religious tourism in the region – designed as an ode to the historical roots of Buddhism in India.

The 78-key hotel consists of two key zones – the public block closer to the northern access road and the guest block on the site's southern end. All vehicular movement is restricted to the site periphery.

The public block has spaces arranged around a long, central courtyard, which forms the physical and emotional heart of the hotel. This zone comprises a reception, banqueting facilities, a health center with a spa, a gym, a swimming pool, and a restaurant. A linear waterbody oriented east-west separates this public zone from the residential block comprising guest rooms and suites.

Invoking Memory and Emotion
Each space in the hotel represents the tenets of Buddhism through two key architectural lyrics – memory and emotion.

The first one – memory – is invoked through traditional features of Buddhist architecture. Vaults, corbelled arches, and stepped jambs are re-envisioned in a contemporary idiom across all spaces in the hotel – reminiscent of the past but designed for the present.
The other architectural lyric of emotion conveys the Buddhist ethos of simplicity, compassion, and serenity through a series of gestures.
In that spirit, a series of layers from outside to inside in the form of outdoor, semi-outdoor, and indoor spaces allow for a gentle transition into the public spaces as one enters the public block.
Portals are formed at the edges of these transitional spaces. Viewing spaces through these frames is like viewing the passage of life and its different phases. A banyan tree, the same tree species under which the Buddha is said to have received enlightenment, sits at the other end of the central courtyard, which is seen through these frames – signifying Buddhism’s ultimate goal of enlightenment.
The building embraces the human scale, which is conveyed through the proportions of the courtyards, verandahs, arches, and windows. The soothing color palette of muted whites and warm terracotta further lends to the lyric of emotion.
The landscaping of exterior spaces, including the linear, river-like water body with floating lotus plants (associated with the purity of body, speech, and mind in Buddhism) gives rise to calmness and tranquility. Edged by ghat-like steps (ceremonial stairway to a river), the water body allows visitors to rest and rejuvenate in the outdoors.
Ideas from Buddhist philosophy and symbology are translated into the hotel’s interiors, artwork, and signage, which also ease navigation.

Surface to be entered for the award – Clay-tiled roof
Concrete vaults have been used for several spaces. Pigmented to evoke the memory of brick in ancient structures, these vaults have been possible because of modern-day technology that allows spans up to 10 meters. The vaults are modular, the shuttering was designed to be dismantlable to allow repetition and make the vault construction cost-effective. While the vaulted interior of roof, reminiscent of ancient Buddhist ‘Viharas’, formed a cultural-religious symbol, the exterior has a sloping roof, lending the building a gentle resort-like feel and forming an attractive double roof. The gap in the two layers of double-roof creates a layer of insulation to ward off the extreme heat in the summer months. The innovation has been in finding a solution that meets the building’s cultural, functional, and climatic needs.
We needed terracotta clay tiles on top of our sloping roof and initially considered wire-cut tiles that could be sourced from parts of India. We discovered handmade terracotta tiles in the villages around Bodhgaya. Crafted by local families using earth from their fields and potter’s wheel, these tiles boast a charmingly uneven, artisanal quality. Despite facing resistance due to quantity and time constraints, with persistence and support from the site team, we successfully ordered and gradually procured 80,000 clay tiles from 26 local families in 12 nearby villages. This locally crafted solution, with its earthy authenticity, has beautifully complemented our project, aligning with our commitment to both aesthetics and the local economy.

The Roof as a Sustainable Envelope

The double roof for both public and residential blocks constitutes a concrete vault and a pitched roof covered with locally made clay tiles, with an air gap between them. This system topped with clay tiles creates a well-insulated envelope that keeps indoor temperatures comfortable in all seasons, thus reducing energy consumption by nearly 4.5% (i.e. energy performance optimization).

Passive Design Strategies to Regulate the Local Microclimate

Other than the roof there are several passive design strategies integrated into the design to reduce energy consumption and create a thermally comfortable environment, particularly during Bodh Gaya’s hot and dry summers.

The residential blocks are oriented in the north-south direction to minimize heat gain from the western facade during the summer months. Aerated concrete blocks, double-glazed windows, and a double roof system topped with clay tiles create a sustainable envelope.

Courtyards are introduced to facilitate natural ventilation. All circulation spaces including the entrance lobby, comprising 30% of the total space, completely depend on the natural airflow, significantly reducing air-conditioning loads. Additionally, water bodies on site further aid evaporative cooling.

Circulation spaces like open verandahs and passages always flank the air-conditioned public spaces creating a layer of insulation that reduces the direct impact of the sun and creates beautiful walkways. Several courtyards were introduced to allow cross-ventilation and the possibility of sitting outdoors in the winter months.

To ensure that all circulation spaces and courtyards were indeed comfortable, we worked with our consultants, to study wind movements using COMPUTER SIMULATIONS (CFDs) and adjusted our architecture- re-proportioning open spaces, windows, walls, etc. to ensure adequate levels of wind flow and cross-ventilation.

Channeling, Conserving, and Restoring Water
The hotel practices mindful water management near the Falgu River. It's elevated to dodge monsoon floods. Bodh Gaya faces dry season water scarcity. Rainwater is crucial, but slow soil absorption requires special attention. Deep pits with honeycombed walls hold rainwater, promoting gradual absorption. Roof runoff is stored for irrigation. Bioswales imitate streams, supporting plant growth. An emergency pond prevents flash flood damage. These methods uphold water conservation, reflecting the hotel's commitment to conscious consumption and environmental care.

The romance of working with brick, widely used in Bodh Gaya’s local and traditional architecture, was immense. However, the architects found that sandy soil on the site with a poor bearing capacity made brick foundations prohibitive. Furthermore, brick vaults are not accepted in the Indian Standard Codes for earthquake resistance. Studies conducted also suggested that Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) blocks would insulate the interiors 1.5 times better than brick, thus saving costs and energy in the long run. Ultimately a combination of materials was chosen – RCC, local brick and AAC blocks for the structure, and terracotta-tinted concrete for the vaults.

Locally-crafted roof tiles were strategically added for insulation over the RCC vault roof, supporting the regional economy. These unique 'country tiles' are a rare sight in India, handcrafted by part-time farm laborers using field clay and a potter's wheel. Architects collaborated with 26 local families from 12 villages, producing 80,000 clay tiles for the vaulted ceilings—cost-effective and eco-friendly.

Another constraint was a tight budget to execute the feeling of a 5-star resort ambiance. This has been achieved through evoking the emotions and senses. Simple white plastered walls, local hand-made terracotta tiles, Indian Dholpur stone for landscape - not one material is luxurious. Rooted in the essence of Buddhism, the design emanates simplicity through robust research. This concept extends to interior design, employing the Vajradhatu Mandala for a narrative that integrates color, form, materials, and symbols, devoiding costly wallpapers and cladding. The guiding principle is that a compelling core idea transcends expensive materials in creating a sense of high design.

The design preserves the essence of context without mimicking the past, reinventing it to represent ‘now’. The elements like corbels, arches, vaults, and key-hole windows derived from Buddhist monasteries and stupas, evoke a cultural and religious memory of the past, infusing them with contemporary materials and technologies. This enables large spans, and sun-washed spaces with visual continuity, offering a sensorial resort experience transcending cultural cues.
The resort architecture is well encapsulated in the user’s response - ‘The project is thoughtfully rich and cost-effective in material choices. Walking through the hotel spaces imparts profound serenity, harmonizing seamlessly with Bodhgaya's climate.