Aga Khan Academy, Bangladesh

This low-energy school in Dhaka, Bangladesh, has a climate responsive design to work with the challenging local weather conditions and temperatures.

Children playing in front of a red brick school with trees in the foreground

Key information

Architect

Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios

Client

Aga Khan Academies

Value

$35M

Year of Completion

2018

Sector

Services

Challenge

The Aga Khan Academy provides academic sports and arts facilities for 1,200 students. Set on a 17-acre site in the northeast of Dhaka, the design is set around a central ‘maiden’, a tree-lined central field that acts as a green lung for the school, creating a cool microclimate, and providing a calm, focal space for the campus.

Bangladesh has a challenging climate. Hot, humid and tropical with average temperatures between 18-29°C, it sees an average rainfall of 2,200mm per year. We carried out detailed thermal and comfort modelling and analysis to maximise the period that comfortable temperatures could be achieved using passive and low-tech equipment. 

The classrooms are orientated to minimise solar gain in summer, with external walkways and adjacent buildings set out to provide passive solar shading from the morning sun throughout the year, while also providing good daylight and views out.

Our project team

Head and shoulders portrait of man against a black background

BEng MCIBSE
Director, MEP Engineering
Partner

BEng
Senior Acoustic Engineer
Partner

MEng DipPhys AmIMechE
Principal Engineer
Partner

MSci
Senior Engineer
Partner

A man in a white shirt, on a black background

BSc MSc IEng MCIBSE
Principal Engineer
Partner

BSc PgDip
Principal Acoustic Engineer
Partner

A large field with brown grass and some buildings in the distance Children run on a playing school in front of a red brick school on a sunny day

Adaptive thermal comfort

We took an adaptive thermal comfort approach to reduce energy consumption by allowing internal temperatures to follow the seasons. During the cooler periods this approach relies on people being able to adapt to their local environment and incremental changes in external conditions, controlling comfort by increasing air movement with ceiling fans. This extends the passive period and reduces plant running time. Natural ventilation driven by the brickwork chimneys provides fresh air for the pupils.

During the warmer periods, mechanical ventilation with coolth recovery can be engaged to reduce temperature and humidity when required. Higher space temperatures are made comfortable by using mechanical cooling in combination with ceiling fans, providing the required level of comfort for pupils and teachers.

18-29°C

local average temperatures

2,200mm

yearly average rainfall

"This was an amazing project to see come to life on the other side of the world using adaptive thermal comfort techniques to extend the passive season and reduce energy consumption, in a country where the impact of climate change is so clear to see."

Head and shoulders portrait of man against a black background

BEng MCIBSE
Director, MEP Engineering
Partner

Gallery

Exterior of a four storey L-shaped red brick building set against a blue sky with a courtyard in the foreground.

© salARCHman

A group of school children shelter from the hot afternoon sun under a concrete shade, looking out towards a sunny playing field with a distant view of a city skyline

© salARCHman

Four children playing basketball in a courtyard outside their school

© salARCHman

A teacher leans in to speak to a group of children seated around a desk on colourful chairs

© salARCHman

A group of children playing basketball on a sunny day

© salARCHman

Children shelter from the midday sun in the shadows of an external corridor

© salARCHman

A school pupil dressed in white takes a photo of the sun setting over playing fields

© salARCHman

A four storey red brick building in the evening lit up by warm coloured lights, with a courtyard in the foreground

© salARCHman

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