Architecture Portfolio | Smeya Shirley Deborah | 2017-2023

A R C H I T E C T U R E

PORTFOLIO

smeya shirley deborah

“Hi, My name is Smeya Shirley Deborah. I have a masters degree in Architecture with a specialization in health and design from Georgia Tech, and a bachelor's degree in Architecture from India. I’m also a licensed architect there.

I gained a passion for healthcare architecture, during the pandemic when I saw firsthand how the general design of spaces can have room for improvement in promoting a healthy healing space.

I have worked as an architectural Intern for SmithGroup an international architecture firm, in their Atlanta studio.

I worked on drafting plans for two prominent Healthcare Institutes in Atlanta – CHOA pediatric healthcare and Piedmont hospitals. I was also involved in the initial planning phase of Piedmont healthcare: Cancer infusion centre and collaborated with my superiors and clients to ensure changes requested in design at each stage was implemented. I assisted on site visits, for documentation and meetings with clients.

I have also worked as a UX research assistant at a Health and Design focused Sim Lab at Georgia Tech and Emory Hospital involving lighting and its impact on healthcare spaces. I represented Georgia tech in EDRA – an international conference held in Mexico city. My presentation talked about the lighting work we are doing in the field of MCI I was a part of a team (EWB-GT chapter) that is currently involved in redesigning a healthcare center in rural Ecuador.

I have worked in one of South Asia's largest construction companies where my role was in designing interiors for certain spaces and listing out the specific materials and prices for the design options. I am very proficient in digital 3D modeling, rendering, and Microsoft PowerPoint. I also have a lot of experience working in small and big teams where I enjoy and value interactions with people from various backgrounds, both academically and professionally.

Professionally, I aspire to work in the architecture or research industry, to be able to design hospitals or other healthcare-related buildings. I want to be able to offer the best I have, after shaping my skills and knowledge with this experience.

Thank you for taking the time to go through my work"

Image: Undergrad Studio: The 4 cups - Pleatpods installation

contents.

INSTITUITION DESIGN STUDIO Grace Health Centre

01

E N V I R O N M E N TA L D E S I G N S T U D I O Thermal Studies

09

H E A LT H C A R E D E S I G N S T U D I O Wayfinding Journey map

13

H E A LT H C A R E D E S I G N S T U D I O Meal Prep Table

17

U N D E R G R A D U AT E T H E S I S Egmore Museum

21

COMPLEX TYPOLOGIES STUDIO Prarthana 2.0

33

COMMUNITY DESIGN STUDIO La Cenote

39

MISCELLANEOUS Internship

45

Grace health.

Institution Design Studio This design project falls under the category of institutional design. The brief agenda was to design a small 80 – 100 bed health care centre, specializing in women and child care incorporating the general health care system also. A hospital design is far more interesting when compared to the other types of institutional design due to its high functional requirements. Fitting the aesthetics and outer appearances is secondary in a hospital. Being an architect, trying to incorporate both form and function in this design was a major challenge to address.

About the design, Since it is a health care institution, the user mobility plays a vital role in the functional aspects of the design. Although the permanent users of any hospital such as the doctors, nurses and admin staff know the space and obviously use it the most, it is more or equally important for the temporary users to experience the building and understand the zoning easily too.

Being an architect, it is possible for us to make sure that the design speaks for itself and that it is simple enough for the user to interact with the built space for better understanding.

A Hospital space is more of an experience rather than a building. There will be people losing loved ones and people praying for others life on a balance. On the other hand there will be new life born or good news of recovery too.

It is a space of extreme opposite emotions and the building and space we design must be adaptable to both extremes. The design should be simple enough to guide the users and not be a hinderance with the usual complexity / creativity in design. This design is a take on “form follows function” .

Institution design | 04

One interesting feature in this design is the access ways for the doctors or any other hospital staff. By proper zoning of spaces, this design allots separate accessways for the doctors toward consult rooms or any emergency location without hindrance (both built and unbuilt disturbances)

This helps in increasing the functionality of the hospital by saving more time and energy.

It also gives a certain sense of privacy and provides an efficient environment.

All the OPD’s of the hospital have separate entrances from outside. however they are all connected from inside too, thereby being easily accessible and not confusing. This is because a hospital will keep getting new users everyday unlike other institutional designs. Thus it needs to be user friendly, easily accessible and understandable.

Why is zoning crucial for a hospital ?

Doctors / Nurses + Patients ( occasionally )

Patient family + Patients + Doctors / Nurses

Patient Family

Patient + Doctors / Nurses + Patient Family ( occasionally)

Patient + Doctors / Nurses

Doctors / Nurses / Hospital Staff

Miscellaneous Staff

Institution design | 06 Any institutional centre will need proper zoning of spaces for appropriate usage and accessibility. A hospital requires intricate and careful zoning due to its high functionality. Hospitals generally contain three different zones: sterile, semi-sterile and non-sterile zones.

Usually the zoning of these spaces is not always visible to every user in the building, be it a permanent user or just a temporary one. Permanent users will be familiar with the zones but since it is a hospital, it is crucial for the temporary users to also be aware of such zones so that they can be mobile accordingly. This hospital has been designed around the basic idea of user zones so as to make the optimal use of space and make sure it is more functionable, with less hinderance.

Though a hospital design is majorly a ‘form follows function’ concept, being an architect, it also needed the visual aspect. The basic structure has been inspired from the alphabet ‘g’. The built structure is in the shape of a ‘g’ and the gaps form open areas like central courtyards. The two circles of different radius’ form the two landscaping areas in the middle of the structure. This provides a very calm and free environment, instead of being a complete concrete jungle. The two landscape zones act as a sit out, with access to the cafeteria and a coffee cart.

The bigger courtyard connects the 4 OPD’s and the smaller one connects the patient rooms and one OPD. Hospitals require maximum possible natural light and ventilation for better and faster healing.

07 | Institution design

3 D P L A N I N D E TA I L

Thermal Studies.

Environmental Design Studio Following passive design strategies in a built space is one of the most effective and efficient methods of improving thermal comfort and saving energy in a built environment. These strategies can be implemented at any stage of the building's lifespan, but as architects, it is our duty to try and implement them during the initial design planning stages. Even the orientation of a building can have a massive impact on how much energy can be saved. Therefore, it is crucial to include these analysis in the beginning stages of the design, and even in the other phases, there are elements of passive design that can be implemented throughout, like in choice of building material, interiors, electronic fixtures and many more A good performing building/space keeps the users and the environment happy. This specific activity dealt with trying to redesign a space incorporating passive design strategies (like parameters including materials, glazing type, shading, orientation, form, etc.) using Rhino to compare it to the Baseline design.

11 | Thermal Studies

About the Study, The baseline design model, is a particular patient room in a hospital. This hospital was a design I did in my undergrad architecture studio. The highlighted circle shows the specific patient room, its dimensions and its orientation.

I have used this model as a base model, and now with all the learnings from this class, I have tried to redesign this particular patient room alone with some passive design strategies that would help save energy and also at the same time make the space more thermally comfortable for the patients.

Since it is a hospital space, with the site being located in a city with a lot of population and pollution, it is not advisable to open up the windows for allowing natural air/cross ventilation to cool down the space.

Passive Design Strategies adapted for this particular patient room design: Changing Orientation Altering Room dimensions Changing the type of window, with respect to • Shading angle • Glass material Changing Orientation: in the baseline model, the window faces the west, which with the following climatic analysis proves the excessive heat gain from that side. The new design has the wall with the window oriented towards the south, to help reduce the amount of light and heat entering the patient room.

Altering Room dimensions: from having a slant wall with the window, to making the space rectangular and more linear will help in gradually reducing the heat gained from the window. Spatially it also helps in removing the negative unusable space in the corners of the room, making circulation and furniture placement more efficient.

Changing the type of window, with respect to • Shading angle: from a straight 90-degree angle to a slightly lower bent angle and • Glass material: from single glazed glass to tinted double glazed panels can help in trying to reduce the amount of light and heat that enters the patient room.

Using the rhino software for designing the base structure, and plugins like Climate studio, ladybug and grasshopper the following simulations were run and tested.

1.

D AY L I G H T AVA I L A B I L I T Y

SDA: 99.1%

SDA: 81.3%

A hospital/healthcare related space has to meet the LEED v.4 criteria of 75% and above Spatial Daylight Autonomy (SDA) value at 300 lux annually. Both of these design strategies meet the required daylight availability in the patient room.

2.

ANNUAL GLARE

3.

S O L A R R A D I AT I O N M A P

DGP: 96.2%

SOLAR EXPOSURE: 1286 kWh/m2

DGP: 9.4%

SOLAR EXPOSURE: 25 kWh/m2

The baseline model with the west facing windows brings in a lot of intolerable glare, with a daylight glare probability of 96.2%. Because of all the specific passive design strategies implemented in the new design (window material change, bent sun shading protrusion, and the orientation of the room) the DGP is massively reduced to 9.4%.

The solar radiation map shows the amount of sunlight falling on specific surfaces. The lower the radiation the more comfortable the space for the user. The baseline model here has a solar exposure of 1286 kWh/m2 annually which is above the average value. The new model with passive design strategies followed has a significantly lower solar exposure value of 25kWh/m2 annually .

Wayfinding. for aging adults Healthcare Design Studio The journey map depicted, is an exercise that helps to understand all the different places in which wayfinding plays a crucial role in the daily activities of an aging adult. This journey map is that of any general old adult (in the ages 70+ or adults with MCI/dementia/Alzheimer's) who would want to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. Apart from just the wayfinding aspects, this journey map brings into light other possible design issues that can be rectified with just these spaces – bedroom and bathroom. A lot of other physical factors also come into play while taking into consideration the wayfinding/task completing ability of old adults just in the vicinity of their own houses. The journey map has been composed in a way that highlights the main/key steps involved while an adult moves from the bed in the bedroom to the bathroom and each of these activities is then further highlighted and talked about in detail, going into the design aspects and possible solutions to overcome some of the challenges that they face.

The design suggestions that came out of this study vary in different typologies, ranging from type of material to use in bathrooms, to different types of bathroom fixtures (closets/bidets) that can help old adults when they use them with comfort and even some other design suggestions in relation to wayfinding, which would be the installation of lightings and other signages to help them navigate through the space without hinderances. The lightings can also be designed in ways that gradually increase or decrease with intensity so that it is visually comfortable for the old adults moving in the space. It is all mentioned in detail below.

As architects and designers, it is crucial to understand the psychological and cognitive faculties of the users we are designing for before actually getting into the design process. This is not only in the case of the aging population, but for all typologies of built spaces for all types of people taking into consideration age, gender, culture etc.

In the case of designing spaces for the aging community, there are many factors to take into consideration to make the space comfortable to use for the people. With respect to wayfinding, it is advised to design spaces that are not monotonous, rather with striking visual cues or landmarks that stay in memory. These are proven to help old people remember where they are going or need to go. As generations grow old, medicine and architecture also evolve. How each generation will behave mentally and how their cognitive faculties will perform can vary from generation to generation, and from culture to culture. Therefore, this is a field that will keep evolving with technology and time.

Image source: https://transitmap.net/barcelona-wayfinding/

15 | Wayfinding

The main conclusions drawn from the journey mapping exercise are the ones in red, below each task in the journey of an adult using the washroom in the middle of the night.

Meal prep station.

Healthcare Design Studio With aging and some physical conditions, autonomy maintenance can be put at risk. As a result, completing certain kitchen activities, such as meal preparation, can become a challenge due to prolonged standing (e.g., meal prepping) and frequent movement around the kitchen (e.g., searching for ingredients). Consequently, excessive standing and ambulation in the kitchen can cause fatigue and falls.

Aging-in-Place has become an emerging problem in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, past data indicates that there will be more older adults than children in 2034, and by 2060, about a quarter of Americans will be 65 years and older (Vespa, 2018). Currently, there is a great deficit in assisted living facilities and in-home caregiving, and many older adults prefer to or must live on their own. As people age, it can become more difficult to perform instrumental activities of daily living, such as cooking. Therefore, it presents barriers for them to maintain independence.

The end goal of this project is to design a furniture piece that helps in the completion of a variety of meal prep activities independently, smoothly, and safely, and ultimately create better and more fulfilled livelihoods for people aging in place.

For the purpose of easy and comfortable rotation of the table, a spherical handgrip has been placed below the table. This design supports a natural hold and decreases hand tension. There is also a jar opening tool present under the table.

There are different types of blades for chopping, peeling, mashing and grating. Under each blade section, there is a collection container that helps to collect all the necessary produce from the work being done on the table. These containers can be pulled out of the table and again fitted in after use. There are also other empty containers that are present to discard waste or used utensils.

The prototype has been designed keeping in mind to prevent a lot of movement during the preparation phase of cooking a meal.

There is a provision for placing fruits, vegetables or other edibles in a steel container (as much as needed) before using the table. This helps in easy access of ingredients during the preparation.

The table has a lazy Susan placed in the middle of it, which is basically two rotating discs anchored on an axis which can help the users to access spices or other condiments that they might have to use while preparing simple meals, like a bowl of salad or a sandwich.

The whole table has been designe users can access all sides of the b has three legs for a higher dimens directional freedom while helping t

There is also provision for placing knives in a holder that is embedded at the centre of the table, along with a holder for basic cooking utensils like a whisk, spatula etc.

The table also has extra cutting boards that are specific to different types of meat to prevent cross-contamination while preparing a meal.

ed in a way that is rotatable (on its axis) so that board swiftly without moving around. The design sional stability. The provision of three axes gives to keep control of the movement of the table.

The table, with a diameter of 80cm, has light-weight stone material for its cutting plane, so that it is easy to cut and also clean after use. The material extends on all sides of the table to provide ample space for work.

The table has been designed in a way that the height of the cutting plane is adjustable so that the users can work on the table in any comfortable position of their choice. It also has a circular foot rest for the comfort of seated users.

One key design feature of the table is that the whole unit is mobile.

The table has lockable wheels on its base to make sure once in position it does not move around (which might cause accidents).

Egmore Museum.

Redesigning the precinct Undergraduate Thesis This project of tries to revitalise the Egmore museum precinct, keeping the placemaking principles intact by making sure each design iteration and progress, the precinct does not lose its character, comfort or identity.

The new museum block designed in the end is also a statement of its own at the same time, being modern, but not overpowering the glory and beauty of the heritage.

People circulation and general movement also has been to an extent maintained at the same pace, and in way has been taken back further to how it used to be and to what purpose was designed by the British. This whole project has progressed keeping in mind vital aspects like opening up the view and façade to the city and its people, and its spaces being able to speak for themselves, with support of the existing and the new structures that have been designed. At the end of the day, this space, has been designed with the idea for it to not be just a building made of brick and sand, but for it to have a specific character and life, and for people and users to interact with the built space too. This design hopes to prove that the building can also teach us history just as much as the artefacts inside do.

EGMORE

MUSEUM

23 | Egmore Museum Thesis

INTRODUCTION Built in 1851 by the British, the Egmore museum in Chennai is the second oldest museum in India, housing notable art, archaeological and numismatic collections.

In India, museums are mostly considered boring and less interesting, because of the way they have been designed and curated.

Due to their poor advertisement and maintenance by lack of technical update to suit the eyes of this age, they tend to be forgotten and become an ancient affair that people barely have the interest to visit. The Egmore museum, is built-in IndoSaracenic style and the whole complex has 6 museum buildings, the museum theatre and the Connemara library (old and new buildings).

In recent years, due to the lack of conservational activities for the structure and improper rainwater drainage planning, this old heritage structure is slowly deteriorating without the much-needed attention and care physically. The museum complex currently has a lot of built structures, most of which are very poorly maintained. The site has been maintained in only in particular spaces where there is visible people movement and the rest of the site is not treated or cared for in any way, leading to dumping of waste and an excessive growth of vegetation in those areas CURRENT SITE PLAN To redesign or rework on an already functioning and existing complex, it is very vital to understand how the site is working already on its own. To help the design process be more realistic and understandable, without having drastic changes to the circulation or user friendliness, the site was studied in layers, to help, analyse and determine how to go about in the design process.

With the thorough study of the existing site plan, landscape design and a detailed structural analysis (with the help of the Egmore museum officers) of all the building present, understanding how these buildings function, their curation plans, user circulation patterns around the gallery etc. the following steps were taken to finalise the new site plan or in other words, the cleared-out plan, removing the compromising buildings to start the new design of this project.

Egmore Museum Thesis | 24

Image 1

Image 2

Site study.

Image 1 shows the Existing site plan. Once we remove the landscaping layer and the roads, just the buildings remaining in the site are on image 2.

Image 3

Image 4

Image 3 shows the Buildings closed / not in use highlighted in pink color. After removing those, the buildings partially in use and poorly maintained and shown in yellow in image 4, which are also removed.

There are 3 structurally weak buildings highlighted in light blue in image 5. of these 3 buildings the old Connemara library and the national art gallery are heritage buildings and can be repurposed on the site, but not removed, unlike the other building.

Image 5

Image 6

The orange highlighted buildings in image 6 are Architecturally and visually poor buildings, which were later built by the government with no plan or care.

Image 7 highlights the structures that compromise the circulation and curation of the museum block, and therefore they are removed from the site too. Finally image 8 shows the new site plan that this design will work and redesign with.

Image 7

Image 8

25 | Egmore Museum Thesis The museum site was then zoned into its specific functional spaces. The New Museum zone is highlighted in pink, followed by the library zone in blue, the formal gathering space in peach, the art museum zone in yellow, recreational spaces are green and the administrative building zones are shown in purple.

With some existing buildings being repurposed in specific ways that follow below, the other museum galleries will move to a different location which will be the new museum building. This repurposing existing heritage galleries and designing a new block for the museum is an advantage because:

ZONING OF THE MUSUEM SITE

It will cut down the unnecessary circulation for user and allow them to experience all the galleries and artefact the museum has to offer without having a chance of missing any. When all the galleries and artefacts come to the same place or zone, it is easier for the museum officers or staff to maintain and curate and monitor them in an easy and worthy manner.

The existing museum has many repetitive galleries in different buildings in the site. For example, the pantheon gallery has an archaeology section, and the front gallery also has an archaeology section.

Currently, if an archaeologist comes to the museum to see the artefacts in that gallery, he will not know that there is another such gallery in a different block. With a single building having all the galleries, such issues will be resolved.

It will be more benefitting to the user on an educational note to have an impact on their learning outcome when the curation is better and clearer when compared to what is currently existing.

SITE WITH ONLY HERITAGE BUILDINGS

All the heritage structures, that is the ones in the façade, are all aligned one behind the other perfectly on an axis, so it only made sense to follow that geometry and existing symmetry to place or design the new museum block in the same axis.

As seen in the image on the left, the shape of the building, the same outline, similar to the Connemara library and the pantheon gallery, a linear cuboid figure, with a semi-circular or curved end on either side has been maintained. One of the reasons for this outline is that if one views the museum precinct, or this whole British façade, the predominant features are these semi-circular ends in their structures, so in maintaining the same geometry for the new building, this in a way it does not affect the existing façade in a big way, rather tries to blend in visually and physically.

The images on the right show the final site plan and its physical model.

NEW MUSEUM BLOCK COMPOSITION

Egmore Museum Thesis | 26

Above: New site plan, Below: Site Physical Model

SITE PLAN IN 3D

ART MUSEUM

CON NATIONAL ART GALLERY EXHIBITION LAWN

FRONT GALLERY MUSEUM THEATRE

OPEN FOOD COURT

OPEN AIR TH

Egmore Museum Thesis | 28

OLD MUSEUM BLOCK

NNEMARA LIBRARY

HEATRE

WATER TANK

SCULPTURE GARDEN NEW MUSEUM BLOCK

MUSEUM OFFICE WASHROOMS

29 | Egmore Museum Thesis

SECTIONAL ELEVATION

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

BASEMENT PLAN

Egmore Museum Thesis | 30

Moving further down the storage space and labs, is a small gallery, that falls right below the plaza floor, and with the plaza design having skylights, the artefacts in this gallery will be visible from the plaza and at the same time, though in the basement, this gallery will receive natural light. The basement of the building, under the plaza directly touches the plinth of the pantheon and this design proposal here plans to connect the new museum to the old one via staircase and escalators that go 2 meters above the plinth into the ground floor level of the pantheon gallery.

The ground floor of the new museum block sits 2 meters above the ground level and on the same platform as the plaza. The floor level of the new block, the plaza and the pantheon gallery are all the same in a way making circulation and movement free and plain of sight is neat and clear. The ground floor contains four important and visually captivating galleries. Bronze, numismatics and philately gallery on the left and on the right wing is the zoology gallery. The central part connecting the two wings of the structure is the service and transit space, with lift shafts, staircases and escalators going up and down to other floors.

ABOUT THE NEW MUSEUM BLOCK The basement floor of the new museum building will be primarily used for storage purposes. These storage spaces are connected to the service lift and staircase that runs in the rear side of the building through all floors, making the movement of artefacts from storage to each floor easy and efficient, in a way not hindering the movement of the users. This basement floor will also have a proper space for 2 labs – manuscript preservation and chemical conservation lab. These will have glass walls and doors on all sides, so that the work being done to the artefacts and the art of preservation is also on display in a subtle manner.

The first floor left wing contains three galleries. These galleries have been designed in a way that once entered, there can be an exit only after seeing all the exhibits or artefacts on the way. The design is 3 concentric partitions with varying heights to show the other galleries behind too. The galleries in the first floor are the prehistoric gallery, ethnology and physical anthropology gallery and the music and folk-art gallery.

These galleries have been placed in this level above the bronze gallery because they are typically the same genre and also have the same character of display/curation just like the left-wing galleries on the ground floor. The last/inner most concentric gallery also has a view of the landscaping feature on the ground floor, thereby connecting the galleries in a visual and character sense. On the other side of the museum, is the children’s museum. The children museum has been placed purposefully above the zoology gallery to. The circular central space that visually connects all floors has been designed in a more interactive way to help the circulation and movement of children in a safe and effective learning manner. For this sole purpose, all major load bearing columns are circular on the right wing of the building so that it visually blends in with the curation and partition plans.

The second floor also has 2 galleries on either side with the transit and service core running in the middle. This floor however has an open-to-sky balcony that cantilevers out overlooking the museum plaza and the pantheon gallery. This vantage point also would have a view of the art galleries and recreational spaces in the centre of the site, in a visual way binding it all together.

The left wing of the second floor has the photo gallery, arranged in a concentric pattern similar to and offset of the building outline. The right wing of the second floor houses the botany gallery and the geology gallery.

31 | Egmore Museum Thesis

FRONT GALLERY GROUND FLOOR > CONNEMARA LIBRARY EXTENSION Since the new Connemara library has been removed, the required space for the existing library needs and extension, and one of the repurposing spaces in heritage buildings is the front gallery. The first one is to zone the library space and minimalize the circulation of the users into one area. The idea is to convert the ground floor and small portion of the first floor of the front gallery into the new library extension. Both the structures have the same plinth height and are already connected (the British planned it that way initially) therefore, it is easier to access and move from one library to the other without the need for climbing stairs, up and down. The existing Connemara library, wastes a lot of space, most of the area is empty with just tables and chairs, if it is moved to this gallery, the books can be organized in such a way where each existing gallery can be one genre/typology and it will be easier and faster to access and use.

FRONT GALLERY FIRST FLOOR > MEETING HALLS The second repurposing is the remaining first floor space in the front gallery, that is located behind the museum theatre, to change it back into its original use. And make use of the 3 grand halls for official or unofficial gathering spaces. Like for example, in a post covid world, when school and colleges reopen and take students to trips, they can give orientations in these halls. Exhibitions, temporary open galleries, specially curated classes about museology or preservation can take place in these halls. Not just informal gathering, but since the site is owned by the government, they can also conduct their official meetings here. In this way, this whole block, becomes a formal/informal gathering typology.

PANTHEON BLOCK

GALLERY

>

MUSEUM

The existing pantheon gallery contains many smaller galleries inside it. The building has 2 floors, a ground and first and the central spine of the ground floor is a double heighted gallery.

The specifications of the galleries inside this building are all very randomly placed without any proper curation, rather just stuffed chaotically and illogically in some places that act as obvious hinderances to circulation.

Another disadvantage this building and in general the whole museum has is the lack to space – for both display and storage. The pantheon gallery holds almost 60 percent of the artefacts in the museum and thereby making it too much for its space The display is not in proportion to the scale of the building. The repurposing of this gallery is to retain only the central building and remove the extensions that were later built, and in the retained part to only house the largest gallery in the museum, which is the sculpture gallery.

This works well with the site again, because the sculpture garden coincidently is attached to this building, therefore making use of some spaces as they were and repurposing the building is what was the idea for the pantheon gallery.

Prarthana 2.0 Complex Typology Studio This project is the redevelopment of Chennai city’s Prarthana drive-in theatre. With the recent pandemic situation and with the temporary closure of all recreational spaces including movie theatres, bringing back this once forgotten space, and designing it to cater the needs and users of this age is what this project entails. The design falls under the complex typology category because it encompasses a number of different spatial functions in it.

35 | Complex typologies

Why redevelop Prarthana ?

The Prarthana drive-in theatre is located on the East coast road in Chennai city. The site faces the Bay of Bengal on the east side, and it was commonly known as the ‘beach drive-in theatre’.

A drive-in theater is a form of cinema structure consisting of a large outdoor movie screen, a projection booth, a concession stand, and a large parking area for automobiles. Within this enclosed area, customers can view movies from the privacy and comfort of their cars.

Leisure and recreational concepts are slowly becoming business themed/tied entities and this in most cases removes the true meaning of the space. In India, there are about 20,000 movie theatres but only 4 actively operating drive-in theatres, and if this pandemic has taught us any lesson (at least on the architecture point of view) it is that open spaces need to be a must in any design. We can see that enclosed spaces like malls, cinemas and restaurants are majorly being closed unlike other open space. For the past decade, due to its lack of use, the Prarthana drive-in theatre is currently not in the best condition and this design proposal aims to redevelop it for a timely purpose.

The existing site of this drive-in is a very linear and narrow one. Since it is located on the shore of the bay of Bengal, there were certain regulations given by the government to be followed, which is commonly known as the DCR rules. Some of those regulations included the allotment of 10% space for the OSR and for the whole site to have an FSI of no less than 2.0.

There is also a strict ‘no development zone’ from about 200m from the high tide line, however many buildings nearby do not follow these DCR rules practically. The site is located in CRZ 3, where residences are not allowed to come up but almost all abutting structures are houses. The roads abutting the site, which are the east coast road on the west and the springlade street on the north are 20.5 meters and 8 meters respectively.

There are also definitive rules about the permitted height in coastal zones such as any built structure should not exceed 9 meters. The site in total is about 32 acres and with all these special regulations in place because of its unique location, this makes it a very challenging design to tackle.

22 24

21

23

8D

20

19

19

17

12 18

OSR

13

14 8C

16

15

1 7

LEGEND 1. Security room 2. Ticket counter 3. Transformer and substation 4. Generator 5. Ac plant 6. manholes 7. Water tank 8A. Mall car park 8B. Service parking 8C. MPH, staff & sports car park 8D. Restaurant car parking 9. 2 wheeler parking 10. MPH drop off 11. Mall drop off 12.Sports complex 13. Walk path 14. Kids play zone 15. Service entry 16. Break room 17. Jogging track 18. Badminton courts x 3 19. Tennis courts x 2 20.Basketball court x 1 21. Beach volleyball court 14.

22. Beachfront restaurant 23. Kitchen 24. Outdoor party space

10

8B

6 4 6 5

2 8A

8A

11

1 9 3

37 | Complex typologies

GROUND FLOOR PLAN | MALL

The concept of design evolved with the existing plan of the site. The site currently contains a building with certain amenities like and indoor theatre, a multipurpose hall for parties and a few restaurants. So the new design also tries to maintain those amenities without losing the focus on the main attraction which is the drive-in theatre.

Since one of the most dominant strengths of the site include the view of the bay of Bengal on one side and the skyline of the city on the other, the design tried to bring the best of that by lifting the drive-in to the roof. This was also done keeping in mind the user experience, especially for a people group such as in Chennai that likes to keep experiencing new and eye captivating structures or spaces. At the end of the day this is a commercial space too. The structure below the drive in would accommodate other amenities that Prarthana should contain such as the multipurpose hall and restaurants. This design however highlights the existing amenities to better and modern ones. It would have an open food court in the centre, with landscaping around the four cardinal directions or spines of the structure. This ensures proper ventilation and openness to the whole building.

The ground floor will also have the MPH, shops and an indoor game zone/arcade. The OTS spaces on the sides of the food court would have a hydraulic lift that leads to the roof drive-in.

ROOF PLAN | DRIVE-IN THEATRE

Complex typologies | 38

GROUND FLOOR

There were two main aims set before designing this structure. One was that it needed to be a fairly simple floor plan but at the same time it needed a visually unique element that pulls in users for the experience part.

The second one was to make sure the amenities inside the building are properly zoned, so that user accessibility is not confusing or hindered in any way. Their activities were mapped out using a space adjacency matrix before the design process to make sure it was all aligned sensibly.

The drafting in the left shows the front and side elevation along with the central and sectional elevations

La Cenote.

Community Design Studio This project is the design of a community living space or in common terms an apartment/flat. The brief agenda was to design a comfortable living space for the workers of a specific company located in Chennai. There were different types and sizes of house to be designed for different work classes and the site area provided being minimal, it was a challenge to incorporate a lot of nature and communal feeling into this design.

About the design, This community has been designed for the managing members of the ‘Saint Gobain’ company according to the given studio brief. The category of houses to be designed were with respect to floor area and it depended on the employment of the owner: 8 senior executives, 10 senior manager sand 15 assistant managers.

Instead of going with the usual approach of ‘each social category in a block’, the basic structure of this design consists of five blocks, where each block contains all three categories of houses, one on top of the other and the five blocks are aligned adjacent and opposite to each other. This socially reduces the class constraints and in a way promotes healthy living. The back portion of each house faces the inward area (above the artificial central water body on the ground floor) thereby assuring a visual connection.

SITE PLAN

Community design | 42

C

C’

B

B’

A’

A FIRST FLOOR PLAN

C

C’

B

B’

A

A’ SECOND FLOOR PLAN

All these backyards are also connected to each other via aerial walkways, assuring a structural physical connection also. The aerial walkways not only connect on one level, but with stairs they are connected to all 3 levels of the community C

C’

B

B’

A

A’ THIRD FLOOR PLAN

The basic design for each block works in a way that also saves space, due to the land area given being minimal. With each increasing category, space increases, and this space is acting with a double role of open space for the next category house. The same process repeats for the next category too. In this way, with the disadvantage of space, this design achieves a higher FSI ratio comparatively and it also gives more green spaces than a regular block design usually would.

43 | Community design

In simpler words, all 33 houses are connected to each other by the central landscaping giving the term ‘community’ housing’ justice. The use of level and open spaces in the design makes sure every house receives natural sunlight. Also the shadows of the sun on the building and other levels makes an aesthetic statement.

Each block has 20m gap in between them, thus making it easier for the wind to break and flow around. The entire structure will receive plenty of ventilation. This type of ‘step’ designing makes sure that a perfect FSI ratio is achieved. It also ensures less built up space, giving more room for other elements in a community including future additions and reducing cost of construction.

Apart from the outer connectivity aspects, the community also has other recreational features on the ground floor along with the parking space and main entrance since all the residences start from the first floor.

The recreational and leisure spaces include a gym, swimming pool with changing rooms, indoor play zone. 2 outdoor play areas, a café, market and the regular store rooms and electrical equipment room.

Community design | 44

SECTION CC’

SECTION BB’

SECTION AA’

ELEVATION

Sectional elevation cut across the design at each block along with a front main elevation

45 | Miscellaneous

Internship.

Internship / practical training for 6 months is when I learnt a lot of new things and skills that mere theoretical knowledge can never give. I interned in South Asia’s biggest construction company: Larsen and Toubro. Where I worked mainly on 3D modelling and rendering for LIC Kolkata. Apart from academic skills that I have gained, I have learnt a lot of things on a practical real life basis. I have also learnt to develop skills that I used to lack, like communication and interpersonal skills, which in my personal opinion is equally important like gaining academic skills.

My overall internship experience can be summarized as very informative, enriching, useful and fruitful. The images on the right are some of the architecture renders and modelling (both interiors and exteriors) I did during my internship using SketchUp and Enscape.

COVER PAGE: Undergrad Studio, Archimedean solids exercise

+1 (404)409-7742 shirleydeborahjawahar@gmail.com