Author: Rachel Glynn

Each Eco-Shower building will have a high capacity evacuated glass tube solar water heater feeding water into shower cubicles and to taps where students will be able to draw warm water for washing. The building is heated passively by a trombe wall and ventilated via high level windows. The trombe wall has an outer timber framed glazed screen, with an inner mud brick wall. This system allows warm air to be trapped in the cavity, and released into the main space through radiation and via opening high level windows set into the mudbrick wall.

Eco-Shower building foundations and completed building:

In 2017 the Seismic Upgrade & Mudslide Repair programme started on one of the eight residential buildings. Four Eco-Shower buildings will also be built, one in each residential courtyard during the refurbishment as part of the school’s Health & Wellbeing programme.  

The seismic risk in the area of the school is now thought by international seismic experts to be ten-times greater than the original estimates of risk.  

This refurbishment programme will make buildings more resilient in an earthquake by:         

➔Reducing the weight of the heavy roofs.

➔Tying all elements together, so that the building works as one.

➔Increasing the number and strength of the walls and bracing systems.

➔Enabling the walls and bracing to absorb energy.

The repair work involves replacing rotten columns and isolating columns from the ground to prevent future rot.

2015 saw a new laundry being built and the dining hall and kitchen extension being built.

The following year, 2016, the dining hall latrines were completed and a lot of granite walling completed around the classroom mandala marking-out the shape of the mandala.

It was around this time that the latent effect of the 2010 mudslide was discovered. Following an in-depth structural survey carried out by timber and seismic experts it was revealed that there was latent severe mud damage to the base of structural timber support columns.
The 2010 mudslide had swept through the campus depositing mud in the classrooms up to 1.5 metres deep, residences were inundated with mud and the school grounds bore the brunt of rivers of mud carrying huge boulders and debris.
Thankfully, all the school’s pupils and staff escaped unharmed and the award-winning granite buildings, designed by Arup, stood firm, unlike many local mudbrick houses that were swept away.

A protective mudslide defence wall around much of the school was built in 2011/12, and protected the school in a smaller flood event in 2015.
To secure the future resilience of the school buildings and the subsequent safety of both children and staff, a multi- year programme of work was put in place. This is to replace the affected timbers and upgrade the seismic protection of the school buildings to meet the most up to date safety specifications.  It is envisaged that in the event of future earthquakes or severe mudslides in the area, the upgraded buildings will also serve to provide a vital place of refuge for the local community.