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Mumbai-based architecture studio Sanjay Puri Architects has designed a rotating community center with a pitched green roof in the Indian state of Rajasthan.
Conceived as a tribute to the client’s father, the curvilinear complex was designed to serve the surrounding Noca regional village and integrates courtyards, an amphitheater, a library and a museum behind an undulating sandstone facade.
“The Norka Village Community Center is a vibrant hub for all ages, providing space for music, conversation and social interaction,” Sanjay Puri Architects told Dezeen.
“This project exemplifies how thoughtful architecture can create vast community spaces without taking up a lot of space.”
The complex’s main functions are enclosed beneath a 9,000-square-foot “whirlpool” and surrounding grassy berms that create a network of sloping paths with views of the surrounding desert.
“While taking inspiration from traditional Indian courtyards and sand dunes, the architectural space rotates from the ground to a height of nine meters, creating a semi-sheltered open amphitheater and allowing access to the roof as a garden space,” said the studio.
The structure’s lower edge houses a small museum and slopes towards the building’s oval high point, which houses the local school’s digital library.
Between the museum and library, more multifunctional spaces meander through the building and flank a stepped amphitheater and external stage.
Gathering and event spaces are located within a rectilinear amenity area at the site’s entrance, including a cafeteria, bathrooms, parking and storage.
The building was constructed in collaboration with local craftsmen using a reinforced cement concrete frame and finished with locally sourced sandstone and lime stucco.
“The use of traditional local crafts and materials, as well as the planning of an open courtyard unobstructed from the south side, draw on the heritage of the area and adapt the design to the desert climate,” said Sanjay Puri Architects.
Sanjay Puri Architects surrounded the library with triangular screens covered in decorative patterns designed to play with light and shadow throughout the day.
The community center’s interior spaces also receive natural light through a set of “recessed recesses” that line the perimeter of the roof garden and extend beneath the grassy mound.
As well as creating a bold visual statement, the centre’s broad form and screened façade are designed to reduce solar heat gain in enclosed areas.
“A roof garden and grass-covered berm on the south side also help mitigate heat gain from the hot desert climate,” said the studio.
The sloping roof plane also integrates a rainwater collection and recycling system to increase the building’s sustainability.
Sanjay Puri Architects was founded in 1992 by Sanjay Puri and Nina Puri, who have a global reputation for climate-responsive design in the housing, education, culture and commercial sectors.
The studio has previously designed a boxy and brightly colored housing estate in Raipur, India, and a rustic scalloped-walled home for a multi-generational family in Bhilwara.
Photography is by Vinay Panjwani.
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