Award-winning environment for learning and teaching
The school's buildings are flexible and provide an excellent learning environment. All this is achieved using local sustainable materials and building techniques.
Solid granite blocks used for the outer wall come from stone found on or adjacent to the site. Inner walls are made from local mud brick, forming cavity walls for significantly improved insulation and high durability. The roof is of a traditional Ladakhi mud construction, including poplar and willow from local monastery plantations, and provides good protection from the cold.
By supporting the heavy roof on a structure that is independent of the walls, Arup's design team made sure that the school was built to the Indian seismic code. The location also has many advantages. At an altitude of 3,500m, the school is ideally placed to use solar energy.
In October 2008, the first phase of the Druk White Lotus School 42 kWp photo-voltaic system was completed, providing reliable power to the whole site. It uses an initial installation of 9 kWp of PV panels, which also act as external shading devices for three of the school buildings. The pv installation was 60% funded by Arup Associates, who used this project to offset their carbon footprint for 2007. Previously, electricity was only available intermittently from the local grid or by operating the school’s diesel generator. The system includes batteries to provide electricity in hours of darkness, which can also be charged from local mains electricity or the site generator.
The school provides a quality teaching environment, previously unavailable in Ladakh, and will respond to the specific cultural needs of the people. The project has received a number of World Architecture Awards: Best Green Building, Best Education Building and Best Asian Building in 2002.