METI School : A Handmade school in Bangladesh
The Aga Khan award winning design in 2007 METI School, is an handmade school located in rural
Bangladesh. The design got recognization for its simplicity of the design and easy availability of local
materials.
Figure: (Two storied METI school)
For Bangladesh, 80% of the population live in rural areas. But over the past few decades, people are
continiuing to migrate toward the city due to the poor damage proned houses. Much of the vernacular
built tradition uses earth and bamboo as a building material.The METI School project’s main strategy is
to communicate and develop knowledge and skills within the local population so that they can make the
best possible use of their available resources.
Local people using mud
Bamboo uses in the construction
Concept and Design:
On the ground floor with its thick earth walls, three classrooms are located each with their own access
opening to an organically shaped system of ‘caves’ to the rear of the classroom. The soft interiors of
theses spaces are for touching, for nestling up against, for retreating into for exploration or concentration,
on one’s own or in a group. The upper floor is by contrast light and open, the openings in its bamboo
walls offering sweeping views across the sur- roundings, its large interior providing space for movement.
The view expands across the treetops and the village pond. Light and shadows from the bamboo strips
play across the earth floor and contrast with the colourful materials of the saris on the ceiling
Building construction and techniques:
The building rests on a 50cm deep brick masonry foundation rendered with a facing cement plaster.
Bricks are the most common product of Bangladesh’s building manufacturing industry. Bangladesh has
almost no natural reserves of stone and as an alternative the clayey alluvial sand is fired in open circular
kilns into bricks. These are used for building or are broken down for use as an aggregrate for concrete or
as ballast chippings. Imported coal is used to fire the kilns.Aside from the foundation, the damp proof
course was the other most fundamental addition to local earthen building skills. The damp proof course is
a double layer of locally available PE-film. The ground floor is realised as load-bearing walls using a
technique similar to cob walling. A straw-earth mixture with a low straw content was manufactured with
the help of cows and water buffalo and then heaped on top of the foundation wall to a height of 65cm per
layer. Excess material extending beyond the width of the wall is trimmed off using sharp spades after a
few days. After a drying period of about a week the next layer of cob can be applied. In the third and
fourth layers the door and window lintels and jambs were integrated as well as a ring beam made of thick
bamboo canes as a wall plate for the ceiling.
Finishes and fittings:
The exterior surface of the earth walls remains visible and the window jambs are rendered with a lime
plaster. The framework constructon of the green façade to the rear is made of bamboo canes seated in
footings made of old well pipe and with split horizontal timbers as latticework. The interior surfaces are
plastered with a clay paster and painted with a lime-based paint. The ‘cave’s are made of a straw-earth
daub applied to a supporting structure of bamboo canes and plastered with a red earth plaster. The upper
storey façades are clad with window frames covered with bamboo strips and coupling elements hung onto
the columns of the frame construction. A fifth layer of cob walling provides a parapet around the upper
storey forming a bench run- ning around the perimeter of the building and anchoring the upper storey
frame construction and roof against wind from beneath. A textile ceiling is hung beneath the roof is lit
from behind in the evening. The cavity behind the textiles ventilates the roof space.
Reference
Heringer, Anna, and Eike Roswag. "METI Handmade School." Introducing Architectural Tectonics:
Exploring the Intersection of Design and Construction (2016): 185.
