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School of aquatic science and technology in UDSM designed by Ardhi University.

7/22/2014


Project: School of aquatic science and technology
Client: University of Dar es salaam (UDSM).
Financier: World Bank
Architect: Ardhi University, department of Architecture
Design team: Jafari Saleh, Antony Mosha, Benjamin Maula, Rweyemamu Vedasto.
Status: under construction. 


From the architect: 
   UDSM wanted to construct a school of aquatic science which will consist of classrooms, lecture halls, laboratories, library, offices, seminar rooms & conference halls. “At the first plan the building should be located along the beach, in Kunduchi area, because of its relationship to water, but unfortunately we were given a site in UDSM” said Jafari Saleh. What we did then was to bring aquatic life in dry land at UDSM which was a lit bit challenging. 

CONCEPT BEHIND & BUILDING FORM 

   The building responds to trinity of aquatic life which made up of, water, air and land. To connect those three elements together, the team made three connected circles in linear way. 

 site layout

   “We have chosen to use circular shapes because we wanted to bring local architecture in the school, the circular shape was developed from Msonge house, which is traditional architecture in Tanzania” said Jafari Saleh. The centre circle is grand and tall than others with three stories. 

  
the building as it will be seen from University road. 
 
   The building is constructed in steep slope, so the team had to come up with a special solution. Because the building is constructed in a valley then From the University road, one will see the upper floor and roof only, but in the opposite side one will see the whole building from ground-up. 

 

   The building has two main entrances, one from University road and other in the opposite side. From the parking along university road, the main entrance is in upper floor, and it consists of all activities of ground floor, because it acts as the ground floor in this particular building. The alternative entrance is in opposite side and it is in lower floor. 

 
 as it will be seen from the other side.

    The designers also bring the aquatic life to the interiors; there is a fish pond at the lower floor which is surrounded by ramp to move people vertically. Also the laboratories are partitioned by fish aquariums. The structure of the building is exposed, the curved columns in portal frames with curtains between them. 

GREEN TECHNOLOGY 

    “From the first day of designing we wanted to use natural ventilation and lighting so as to minimize the operating cost” said Jafari Saleh. Since the structures have circular forms then all activities are located at the edge of the circles. By doing this, design team put atrium at the central part for air circulation and light filling within spaces. The roof has skylight at the centre which brings light to the atrium. 

 

    There are wind channels from outside to the atrium to bring fresh air within. The channels were located in North-East and South-East side to trap strong wind from those sides in all seasons. “we took the advantage of these channels from outside to employ stack-effect technology, we put opening at the roof (between skylight and corrugated sheet) to make stack-effect work” said Jafari Saleh. From the spaces there are windows which open to the atrium and outside also. This also favor cross ventilation, which makes the building greener. 
    There are some variations which made during construction of the building. There are variations to the façade, roof, and some interiors due to the financial constraints. 


at construction site, change in roof structure

 
at construction site, change in entrance

 
at construction site, change in facade

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