o r t f o l i o s e l e c t e d wor ks g u l k i r a n 20222 0 2 4
gul kiran
Education
2019-2024
Bachelor of Architecture
Amity University
Dubai
2017-2019
Jain International Residential School
Bangalore
Interests
I'm Gul Kiran, an architect with a curious mind. I’m passionate about bringing function to life with focus on human connection. My approach is blending science and human experience to craft environments that tell captivating stories. I’m always on the lookout for new materials and technologies to push the boundaries of design and build something truly extraordinary.
Sustainability is my driving force. I believe architecture can be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. I'm excited about turning complex ideas into stunning, functional buildings that stand the test of time.
itsmegultaunk@gmail.com
+971 504084638
gultaunk
@gultaunkk
Experience
Architect, Intern
Chawla Architectural & Consulting Engineers
May - Aug 2023
Contributed to a variety of residential and commercial projects, including concept development and several client meetings. Demonstrated proficiency in a new software, enhancing my technical capabilities within the firm.
Architect, Intern
Masar Engineering Consultancy
May 2023
Assisted in the conceptual phase of Government competitions for Villa Design
Field Assistant
BaityKool Prototype, Sustainable City, Dubai (Solar Decathlon)
Oct - Nov 2021
Contributed to the logistics and reassembly involved in the project on a new site during its research phase.
Event Marshal
Rush-A-Way
Jan 2024 - present
Marshalled team members to achieve event objectives, building a collaborative work environment.
Other Works
Academic Collaboration
Sharjah Museum Authority
Sept 2023 - Jan 2024
Urban Intervention proposal for an Extension to the historical Al Mahatta Museum
Software Skills
School City
Typology: Residential School
Mahatta Museum Extention
Typology: Urban Intervention
Housing Community
Typology: Residential Miscellaneous Internships
Type: Residential School
Year: 2024
Location: Ras Al Khaimah, UAE
School City
Introduction
This project involves the design of a new, co-educational boarding school in the United Arab Emirates for students from grades 4 to 12. The school will prioritize a holistic learning environment that fosters academic excellence, personal growth, and cultural understanding.
Selected Site
The selected site is in Ras Al Khaimah, Near Adhen Village, approximately 25 minutes away from the Ras Al Khaimah International Airport. The site offers a balance between accessibility and a serene learning environment; distant enough from the city while still being easily accessible. Consideration has been given to potential for future expansion in the expansive and resourceful land.
in nature, reaching for knowledge
To empower students through a transformative educational experience that integrates academic excellence with hands-on exploration of nature, fostering environmental stewardship, intellectual curiosity, and a sense of global responsibility.
Curriculum Study
With over 40% of schools following the UK curriculum in UAE an in-depth study shed light on this by:
Identifying the most prevalent curricula besides the UK one. This includes International Baccalaureate (IB), American curriculum, Indian curriculum, and others. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each curriculum. For instance, the UK curriculum might be strong in literacy and numeracy, while IB could focus on wellrounded development and critical thinking.
After assessing the available curricula in UAE, there was a comparative study on academic performance and social development of students in different curriculum streams. The school city will be introducing a European (Scandinavian) Curricula; which focuses on hands-on, nature based learning experience.
PARENTS CHILDREN
Curricula
Edge Paths Nodes District Landmarks
Occupied hours per District Daily Student Flow
% Area Distribution per District
Functional Zoning: The school has been divided into 3 distinct programmatic zones based on usage patterns and traffic flow.
Circulation Networks: The various connectivity patterns between the zones have been identified.
Zoning Massing
ACADEMIC DISTRICT
RECREATIONAL DISTRICT
RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT
Temporal Considerations: Sun studies dictate the placement of classrooms in the west direction to ensure least amount of heat gain during the day; CLASS HOURS. Similarly, Recreational areas have been placed in the North to provide shade in the evenings; PLAY HOURS. Finally, all these factors are tallied against area distribution.
Dividing into 3 Districts
Programs
- Classrooms
- Library
- Science, Computer and Art Labs
- Student workshop areas
- Staff Rooms
- Administrative offices
- Lounges, Game and Interactive Zones
- Multipurpose hall; Flexible Auditorium
- Art, music, and dance Studios
- Dining hall and Kitchen facilities
- Boarding dorms with common areas
- Incorporated Faculty housing
- Indoor Swimming Pool
- Indoor Sport’s Complex
- Community Farming Areas
All areas and programs are in compliance with Ras Al Khaimah Building Regulations, Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and UAE Ministry of Education(MoE).
Mass of the Entire BUA
The student Hostel embraces a cuttingedge modular design. These pre-built units, resembling giant Lego blocks, arrive complete with plumbing, electrical wiring, and even preinstalled furniture. This approach dramatically reduces construction time, and minimizes environmental impact.
Modular construction boasts a greener footprint compared to conventional methods. Furthermore, the modules themselves can be designed to be energyefficient, incorporating recycled materials to minimize the school’s overall carbon footprint.
The design implements a greywater harvesting and recycling system. To address a common challenge in greywater systems –odor control – the design has strategically located decentralized treatment stations adjacent to each of the three hostel blocks and the academic block. These stations utilize a layer composed of thick wood chippings. This natural filtration media effectively mitigates odors associated with the effluents.
The hostel fosters a vibrant student community by providing a variety of social spaces designed to encourage interaction and community building. These spaces strategically aim to draw residents out of their rooms and into shared areas.
Cluster zone: Clusters of four rooms create shared communal living areas. These flexible spaces can be personalized and used for activities like video games, board games, foosball, or table tennis.
Slide: A whimsical feature, a centrally located internal slide connects the first and ground floors, creating a playful connection and encouraging movement between levels.
Hammock floors: Bathed in natural light and offering panoramic views, designated hammock bays provide a serene environment for relaxation, reading, or quiet study.
Girls’ Junior Boys’ Senior Boys’
Hostel Room
Hostel East Elevation
Academic Block
The void is spanned by a Pergola-like, organic canopy. This playful structure, echoing the spirit of childhood, utilizes a translucent polycarbonate sheet as its upper surface.
The classrooms benefit from ample natural daylighting due to the generous fenestration on opposing walls. To achieve this, the circulation scheme employs a single-loaded corridor This configuration creates a central void, which initially presented a negative spatial volume. However, the ingenious placement of learning pods at various levels within this void transforms it into a positive asset for the academic block. The Pods have been derived from the concept of a treehouse.
The school boasts two distinct garden spaces. A readily accessible rooftop amenity garden caters to daily student use, which employs a space-saving hydroponic vertical garden system. In contrast, a dedicated kitchen garden situated adjacent to the academic block, closer to the kitchen, utilizes a resourceful greywater harvesting system for
Pods View
Pods Elevation
Auditorium
The auditorium boasts a capacity of at least 864 seats. A mezzanine offers a viewing balcony. For maximum flexibility, 522 seats are fixed, while the remaining seats are portable.
The design capitalizes on the site's unique location to foster a culture of rock climbing among students. The sports facility has a four-level climbing wall that progressively blends with the exterior. The beginner level is entirely within the sports hall, offering a controlled environment. As climbers progress to higher levels, the climbing wall seamlessly transitions outdoors, blurring lines between the built and the landscape.
Section ZZ’
Auditorium (Left) and Sport’s Facility (Right)
Type: Urban Intervention Year: 2023-24
Location: Sharjah, UAE
Museum Extension
Introduction
This project incorporates an urban intervention aimed at rejuvenating the historic Al Mahatta Museum, a landmark as the UAE’s first airport, now reimagined as an aircraft museum. The design aims to restore the museum’s prominence within the urban fabric. The intervention aims to establish a dialogue between the past and present, honoring the museum’s heritage.
About the Museum
Mahatta Fort, which was built in 1932 in central Sharjah, UAE, for the Imperial Airways passengers and staff, has subsequently been converted to the Al Mahatta Museum (2000).
Over time, surrounding skyscrapers covered its view, however, the recent demolition of the immigration building on King Abdul Aziz Street has revealed it. Additionally, with these demolitions, the site can be extended, offering opportunities for an urban intervention.
Site Specifications
Site Analysis
Zoning Plan
Dubai Sharjah Sharjah International Airport
On Ground
PAKISTAN CHINA SYRIA galerias kanjering kariz foggara qanat romani falaj ketthara
ARABIA AFRICA SPAIN
Falaj System
The Falaj Systems are ancient water systems in the Arabian Peninsula. They are a form of irrigation system that has existed in the region for as long as 5000 years. Water is routed from underground sources or reservoirs in order to support agriculture and domestic use with gravity. Water channels like Falaj have many advantages like visual and acoustic comfort, environmental comfort, cultural and social significance that it has to
FALAJ CALCULATION
The formula used to find the dimensions of the falaj section is:
The required profile can be determined as follows where, A = Drainage Area (ha.)
C = Drainage Coefficient
N = Amount of precipitation
b = Width (m)
h = Depth (m)
v = Rate of flow (m/s)
Using this formula, h and b values could tentavily be
Schematic Falaj Section
Layout
BEEAH Recycling Stations
BEEAH Recycling, the waste processing and material recovery business under BEEAH group, has added a new Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF) facility to its integrated waste management complex in Al-Sajaa, Sharjah. Addition of these stations has been proposed to reduce the museum’s carbon footprint.
View from the Plaza
Type: Residential Year: 2022-23
Location: Dubai, UAE
Housing Community
This project entails design of a residential community within Dubai’s Al Karama district. The primary objective is to create a community-oriented living environment that enhances the overall quality of the area. The project scope involves the study and design of various residential layouts, prioritizing affordability without sacrificing spatial efficiency or quality of life.
About the Site
Al Karama offers a dynamic residential landscape characterized by affordability and accessibility. Primarily composed of midrise apartment buildings, the neighborhood caters to a diverse population, including young professionals and families seeking budget-friendly living options. Its central location ensures proximity to essential amenities, employment hubs, and public transportation, making it a practical choice for those prioritizing convenience.
Site Specifications
Site Analysis
Survey Findings
With increasing densification of living in urban areas, the numbers of mid-rise residential or mixed-used buildings has increased significantly to meet housing demand. While stacked residential complexes is an innovative idea, it is also important to consider a few additional factors. For instance, eco-friendliness, climate change consequences, happiness quotient, and interconnectedness with nature.
A survey was conducted with a randomly selected sample of 20 residents living in residential complexes (apartments) in Dubai. The main objective was to learn about the happiness quotient and the nature-connectedness of the participants.
The survey shows that on an overall basis, the residents have a considerably high happiness quotient, however, a few concerns have been raised.
Although they have access to public transportation, the majority of participants who were asked about access to other parts of the city stated that transportation can be challenging at times which influences them to use private modes of transportation.
Nearly half of the participants noted that they lack access to green spaces and many are not even provided with spacious balconies for recreational purposes.
And the final concern was how the public is not encouraged enough to socialize and converse with other residents of the neighborhood. Which puts community resilience in grave danger.
Additionally, the need for vertical farming has to be considered. The design tries to address and solve these above-mentioned issues.
Mindmapping
A mind map was created to visualize survey results. The mind map, with its interconnected network of information, provided a clear and concise overview of the project’s goals and the diverse perspectives captured through the survey.
often Participants Socialize with their Neighbors
Massing of Individual Units
A 30 square meter prototype unit served as the foundational module for the development of the residential units. Through iterative design processes, two distinct studio apartment configurations were generated by extending the base unit in alternate spatial arrangements. The subsequent design of one- and two-bedroom apartments was achieved by further expanding the successful studio prototype. Finally, the three-bedroom unit emerged as an evolution of the one-bedroom layout.
The initial design strategy was focused on minimizing corridors within a single floor plate by meticulously arranging residential units like Lego pieces. This efficient module was stacked to form a four-storey building. Subsequent site placement and technical considerations led to the fusing together of these building volumes, resulting in courtyards and clear delineation between commercial and residential areas. This fusion enhanced the overall spatial quality of the project.
Typical Floor Layout
Studio #1
Studio #2 1BHK 2BHK 3BHK
There are five lift lobbies in total, which are disconnected from the commercial zone. This design ensures privacy and convenience for residents living above the commercial floor. A dedicated ramp provides access to the first floor, allowing residents to use the lifts to reach their respective floors without passing through the commercial zone.
The water walls in the atriums form a pond as they reach the ground. They are made to look like as if they are an extension of the swimming pool, while the main equipment for these lies in the small void between the two units. The rotation of water helps in slightly dropping the temperature. Additionally, the atrium opens into narrow alleyways on the ground floor, enabling the cool wind into the courtyards via Venturi effect.
Green walls present all around the community giving the residents an opportunity to feel more connected to nature. The species mostly used for these green walls are bougainvillea as climbers, as this plant is widely found in the UAE’s climatic context and requires minimal maintainance. As these climbers are let to grown and expand over adjacent walls spontaneously, it would create a pleasant atmosphere over time.
Lift Lobby
Rooftop Swimming pool Green-Wall
Loft Studio
Studio
The blank around the community have been transformed into canvases for local artists to showcase their work. These vibrant murals, scattered throughout Al Karama, serve as a bridge between the community and its surroundings. By providing a platform for local artists, the initiative not only promotes their talent but also allows them to tell the unique story; of Dubai, its rich history, and its evolving culture.
Year: 2023
Location: Dubai, UAE
Miscellaneous
Other Selected Works
Villa Floor Plans