Nepal School Extension

project with PATRIZIA KinderHaus-Stiftung

function: new schoolroom for class 6

material donated bricks

location Dhoksan, Nepal

status completed 2019

architect Elek Fogarassy

Thanks to the overwhelming friendlyness of several hundred private brick donors we collected a variety of more than 50 di fferent

kinds of bricks. Realizing this surprising brick diversity we were confronted with both: fun and challenge to integrate all of them in different bondings each suitable for their individual character.

Therefore Elek and his team of local masons designed distinctive arrangements for all four facades:

- The front facade became a mosaik of 20 different bondings, including a shoe-shelf from locally donated hollow concrete blocks.

- The design of the northern facade is characterzed by the presence of narrow pilasters in order to reinforce the classroom‘s structure and to define cozy seatings in the back of the inner space.

- The „himalaya facade“ is arranged horizontally and features a panoramic window combining three adorable hand carved wood frames that Elek could „rescue“ from rottening in a ruin of an old tradi tional Newar-house in Bhaktapur.

- Facade number four contains all the brocken bricks we recieved among our precious donations.

- Even the fifth « facade », the roof, is designed and constructed from different roof tiles: One side consists of small and handmade tiles, the other side is covered with industrially produced tiles - so called „chinese roof tiles“. Roof structure and the seismic reinforcement for earthquake resistancy are carefully carpented out of Sal wood.

Sal is by far the strongest and most resistent wood in Nepal. It exceeds the average load bearing capacities of most German types of wood and stands both: humidity and termites.

An interlocked pair of sal wood bars in all three lintels of each wall stabilizes our brick work in the most tradi tional Nepalese way. Their crossings and an interlocked diagonal wood bar in the classroom‘s corners tie the walls together into a rigid structure.

The classroom‘s floor is paved from leftover bricks in a simple bonding.
A long whiteboard is covering the whole front wall between two of the lintels. Loadbearing walls between windows are painted with „white black-board colour“ to brighten the interior and to encourage all student‘ s creativity.

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