A sweeping curvilinear volume rises up from the north eastern corner looping around the site and rising up on the north west corner creating a north facing open courtyard in the desert region of Nokha in Rajasthan, India in the Nokha Village Community Centre. The brief from the clients was to create a memorial for their father Padmaramji Kularia.

Nokha is a district in Rajasthan that encompasses 144 small villages and studies of the vicinity and the current facilities in the village schools and the village areas fueled the need to create a community centre for all age groups.

The main spiral building of 9000-square-feet becomes an inclined garden with two varying slopes allowing it to be used for recreation and gatherings, offering views of the surrounding desert landscape from the rooftop. Underneath the garden, at the lower eastern side is a small museum with a children’s digital library on the higher western side. The library serves all the village schools in the region, most of which do not have libraries of their own.
The museum is lit indirectly by scooped recesses within the roof garden berms .

To facilitate the servicing of large gatherings, a linear amenity block housing, cafeteria, toilets, stores and parking flanks the entrance at the northern side. The rooftop gardens, the stone screens, the north-facing courtyard and southern grass berm collectively reduce the heat gain rendering the spaces energy efficient.

Rainwater harvesting and water recycling, using local craftsmen and contract labor with materials available in the region make the building and its construction sustainable. A building with a built up area of only 9000-square-feet (810-square-metres) generates a 9000-square-feet rooftop garden and a 27,000-square-feet open auditorium, in addition to the enclosed spaces generating usable space that is four times more than the built space.

Furniture: Padam Interiors. Lighting: Hybec. Finishes: Flexstone. Fittings & Fixtures: Jaguar.

Photography: Mr. Vinay Panjwani