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Our Work

Our Work

Our Work

Understanding how to design for a different country begins with getting to grips with the specific climate and weather of the site. Global groupings such as the Koppen-Geiger climate classifications are a good starting point to understanding the general annual trends of the local climate, and also provide case studies of similar climates as useful research.

However, these high level trends need to be complemented with detailed analysis of the specific site, incorporating the influence of the local geography. Key aspects including temperature, wind, rain, and sunlight are aspects to be investigated.

Climate responsive design should also take into consideration local cultural understanding, reflecting peoples’ expectations of comfort alongside an exploration of local materials which are better understood by those that build and use the building.

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Our Work

The following projects are examples of how we have embedded climate responsive design in our approach to buildings in different environmental and geographical contexts around the world. We also highlight their sustainability impact in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Aga Khan Academy, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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The site is located in the north-east of Dhaka city, in the heart of the world’s largest river delta, and in a district only recently reclaimed from swampland. With a population of 21 million in the Greater Dhaka area, this is the sixth most densely populated city in the world, and amongst the fastest growing at around 4.2% per annum. In this context, even land as challenging as this has become highly valuable, and the pace of semi-planned urbanisation around the site over the last two decades is has been phenomenal

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While the initial brief specifically called for a new health clinic, the wider objective of the project was to design and prototype an affordable alternative to the university’s then practice of importing expensive and environmentally inappropriate prefabricated buildings.

HIV Training Clinic,

Mzuzu, Malawi

Lake Bunyonyi

Community School,

Uganda

The school occupies a steeply sloping site on the edge of Lake Bunyonyi, where tropical storms leading to landslides are also commonplace due to increasing deforestation. One of the principal challenges of the site is the lack of flat land on which to build classrooms and the need to create retaining walls and pathways up and down the site that are not subject to erosion.

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The restoration of the Tourist Burma building presented the opportunity to repair and regenerate the building and to create a model to drive heritage-led regeneration in Yangon.

Tourist Burma Building,

Yangon, Myanmar

Traditional plant based building materials will be used in the construction of the Ankafara Field Station. Win spoil from the foundations will be used to make interlocking stabilised soil blocks for the wall construction. A timber secondary structure forms a support for a palm leave roof covering. Covered external walkways help to protect the soil blocks and provide shade to create a comfortable outdoor environment to work, relax, eat and socialise.

Ankarafa Field Station, Madagascar

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