Case study paper AA

Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre: Adaptation of heat insulation in passive design to

provide thermal comfort in Tibetan vernacular dwelling.

Asian Architecture [ARC 2213/2234]PROJECT 1: CASE STUDY

Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre: Adaptation of heat insulation in passive design to provide thermal comfort

in Tibetan vernacular dwelling

NAME: NG YUHENG

STUDENT ID: 0315476

LECTURER: MS. ALIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 28th June 2016

ARC 2213/2234 Asian Architecture 1



Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre: Adaptation of heat insulation in passive design to provide thermal comfort in Tibetan vernacular dwelling

Table of contents: PGAbstract 3

Introduction 4

Content:

1. What are the topography and climate that affects 6

the design of Tibetan vernacular dwelling?

2. What are the features in Tibetan vernacular

architecture that response to the topography and

climate to provide thermal comfort?

Building Form 8

Building Orientation 11

Building Materials 11

3. How does the building form help achieve thermal comfort 14

in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

4. How does the building orientation help achieve thermal comfort 18


5. How does the building materials help achieve thermal comfort 20


Conclusion 22

References 23




AbstractThis study investigates the similarities in the adaptation of heat insulation in

passive design to provide thermal comfort between Tibetan vernacular dwelling

and Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre. Tibet is known for its rich cultural

background and significant contextual response in its vernacular architecture,

with extreme cold climate being the factor for its architectural design

requirements, the harmony between architectural form, orientation and

materials to provide thermal comfort while responding to the context of Tibet’s

vast rocky landscape is the most significant feature in Tibetan architecture.

Several literature reviews based on reliable resources have been conducted to

further verify the validation of this research. Elements that portrays the true

essence of Tibetan vernacular architecture includes buildings that are compact

in form, Tibetan vernacular buildings are usually heighted between 2.2 to 2.6

meters to minimize heat loss from the building envelop, adoption of such

element is present in the Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre whereby the floor to

ceiling height is only 3.0 meters with the addition of skylights that enhances

solar heat gain and ventilation. Tibetan vernacular building possesses massive

walls that functions as heat storage where it gains heat from the sun. The walls

envelope the building, mainly acting as the façade of the building utilizing high

density material such as clay and mud plaster. It is understood that the addition

of composite materials in the massive walls of Tibet Namchabawa Visitor

Centre are made, where stone slabs are used in the foundation and façade to

avoid erosion of water and increasing heat capacity while aesthetically blends

with Tibet’s rocky landscape. Orientation of Tibetan vernacular architecture

reflects the influence of Buddhism whereby the entrance never faces the North,

reason being religious beliefs stating it being magnets of bad fortune. Modern

Tibet architecture adopts such cultural influence by cleverly placing the

entrance and orientation of said building to increase building’s exposure to sun

and positioning to views and vista. Therefore, this concludes that Tibet

Namchabawa Visitor Centre has adopted several vernacular passive design

elements with the addition of modern improvisation to provide thermal comfort.




Introduction

Tibetan architecture represents a significant style of architecture that survived

through the long history of Tibetan civilization. The main factor that inspired

Tibetan architecture is its surrounding environmental context which includes the

Tibetan plateau and extreme temperature, causing the Tibetan civilization to

innovate architecturally in order to create a habitable dwelling that could provide

the suitable thermal comfort with response to the surrounding context. Essence

of Tibetan Buddhism has also been implemented architecturally as cultural

influence that affects the spatial arrangement and building orientation with

added response to surrounding climate.

Dating back to the 7th century, Tibetan civilizations have developed various

architectural aspects to create a habitable dwelling to provide thermal comfort.

One of the aspect that could be commonly observed from most Tibetan

vernacular dwellings is the compact building form, Tibetan vernacular dwellings

can mostly be seen in rectangular or trapezoidal form ranging from two to three

stories based on the wealth and the status in society of the users, but

nevertheless the ceiling height between floors are marginally lesser compared

to modern standards. The orientation of the building also plays a role in

providing thermal comfort to the inhabitants whereby it faces the direction to

provide an optimal internal thermal comfort. Moreover, the building materials in

Tibetan architecture mainly consists of high density materials that excels in heat

capacity in response to the surrounding climate to provide thermal comfort and

adaptation of the contextual response. Nevertheless, there aforementioned

passive designs strategies have proven to be effective as the Tibetan

civilization and architecture strive to surface through its extreme climate and

harsh topography.ARC 2213/2234 Asian Architecture 4



This paper investigates on the passive design strategies that contributes to the

thermal comfort in terms of building form, orientation and materials by

responding to the following questions:

1. What are the topography and climate that affects the design of Tibetan vernacular dwelling?

2. What are the features in Tibetan vernacular architecture that response to the topography and climate to provide thermal comfort?

3. How does the building form help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

4. How does the building orientation help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

5. How does the building materials help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?




1.0 What are the topography and climate that affects the design of Tibetan vernacular dwelling?

The Tibet Autonomous Region is located near the Tibetan Plateau, the tallest

region on earth, therefore known as “Roof of the World”. Tibet may be divided

into two parts, the “lake region”, which is located in the west and north-west,

and the “river region”, which spreads out on three sides of the former on the

east, south and west. Both regions receives limited amounts of rainfall as they

are shaded by the Himalayas. The objective of our study mainly focuses on the

“river region” whereby it is characterized by amounts of mountain valleys which

covers the Namchabawa, one of the longest canyon in the world.

Topographically it consists of many mountains which amongst them are narrow

valleys and mostly covered with fertile soil and vast trees, well irrigated and

richly cultivated.


Figure 1: Map indicating location of research areaSource: http://oak.ucc.nau.edu/wittke/tibet/plateau.html



Due to its geographical characteristic, the climate in Tibet is mostly cold and

has only an average annual temperature of 7.5 degrees Celsius. Due to its

geographically higher altitude in the plateau, it receives higher amount of

sunshine which results to stronger radiation during the day, but the temperature

drops under -7 degrees Celsius. Besides, the winds in winter are ferocious

therefore many aspects of heat insulation in passive design comes into play to

provide thermal comfort within Tibetan vernacular dwellings.


Figure 2: Table showing annual meteorology report of research area

Source: http://www.tibet.climatemps.com/



2.0 What are the features in Tibetan vernacular architecture that response to the topography and climate to provide thermal comfort?

2.1 Building FormTibetan vernacular building consists of compact form of rectangle building plan,

while the form is very simple with little variation. The building form responses

both contextually and culturally focusing more on the aesthetic and the

simplicity while harmonizing with the surrounding context. Tibetan buildings are

not only a fascinating blend of man-made structure and nature, but they are

well-suited for local climatic and geographic conditions. After they have outlived

their usefulness, every part can be re-used, and if lived to decay, they simply

become hills of earth and stones again, Tibetan buildings are known to seem

like rocks protruding out from the Tibetan plateau while having such simplistic

form.

The reasoning behind its trapezoidal and rectangular form is a response to the

context’s tectonic activity, walls are thicker ranging 50 to 70cm from on the

lower levels of the walls to increase the stability and weight at the bottom while

the walls taper upwards. This creates a stronger foundation at the lower levels


Figure 3: Section sketch indicating tapered wallsSource: http://iaste.berkeley.edu/pdfs/15.1f-Fall03ewing-sml.pdf



while lessening the weight on the upper floors thus creating lesser vibration

caused from the earthquake to the whole building.

The use of a rectangular form also benefits

the amount of solar exposure it is available to in such extreme climate like in

Tibet where heat storage and heat absorption is crucial for the thermal comfort

of the inhabitants. With its rectangular form it is purposed to have the longer

side of the façade facing south while having flat roofs made of multi layered

structure of materials of high heat storage properties acts to prevent heat loss

from indoor to outside whilst conserving heat within the building.

Besides, the usage of the rectangular

form affects the spatial arrangement of

the dwelling, normal Tibetan dwelling consists of 3 types of space differentiated

by its function and hierarchy in the Tibetan Buddhism culture. Usually the

ground floor of the dwelling will be used as storage and space for the user’s

livestock, then the first floor will be the living spaces for the inhabitants and the


Figure 4: Indicating sun exposure areaSource: http://iaste.berkeley.edu/pdfs/15.1f-Fall03ewing-sml.pdf

Figure 5: Detail section of roofSource:http://waset.org/publications/4412/thermal-analysis-of-tibetan-vernacular-building-case-of-lhasa

Figure 7: Detail section of floorSource:http://waset.org/publications/4412/thermal-analysis-of-tibetan-vernacular-building-case-of-lhasa

Figure 6: Section showing heat transfer Source:http://waset.org/publications/4412/thermal-analysis-of-tibetan-vernacular-building-case-of-lhasa



upper floor will be used as prayer room or room tribute to Buddhist gods. While

Tibetan vernacular dwelling is built in a compact form, ceiling height of the

dwelling is significantly lower, ranging from 2.4m – 2.6m. By lowering the ceiling

height, it lowers the ventilation and through the building and allows heat to

radiate upwards from the ground floor where during the cold climate, livestocks

stored below will hibernate during cold winter nights and radiate heat where the

heat will be transferred upwards into the living space to provide thermal comfort.

Traditionally, courtyards are introduced to larger scaled Tibetan vernacular

architecture, which are connected by narrow roads and alleys. By doing so, the

courtyard can receive sunshine during winter months where many activities take

place. Besides, courtyards can also be used for sleeping during hot summer

nights.

2.2 Building Orientation


Figure 8: Tibetan CourtyardSource:http://www.vam.ac.uk/__data/assets/image/0011/210035/54151-large.jpg



The Tibetan vernacular dwelling orientation plays a role in reducing the heat

loss of the building whilst increasing the solar heat gain of the dwelling as well.

Dwellings with longer facades are usually orientated to face south where it

gains most of the sunlight during the day. Fenestrations are strategically placed

according to the orientation of the building to allow more sunlight to enter the

dwelling thus increasing heat gain from the interior of the dwelling, while

avoiding winter winds that could potentially increase the heat loss of the

dwelling due it the ferocious freezing wind in the Himalayan region.

2.3 Building MaterialThe common building materials used by vernacular Tibetan building are timber,

stone and rammed earth. Timber is usually used as the framework of the

building or main structural frame of the dwelling, timber is also used for

decoration and ornamentation and symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism teachings,

where it displays the wealth and status of the owner.

Walls are usually made of stone slab due to its material density and high

thermal capacity which is required to contain the heat needed for the site’s

climate and air tightness by using stone slab is the crucial part affecting the

material selection for vernacular Tibetan dwelling where thermal comfort is the

goal of these dwellings. Material such as stone slab with such thermal mass

properties and high amount of air tightness, it absorbs and stores more heat


Figure 9: Indicating sun exposure area and prevailing wind direction

Source: http://iaste.berkeley.edu/pdfs/15.1f-Fall03ewing-sml.pdf



than it allows cold air into the building. Stone walls are commonly seen Tibetan

Vernacular dwellings with thickness ranging from 50cm to 70cm, in addition with

such thickness and material density, these massive walls becomes viable heat

storage options as exterior walls to provide thermal comfort. Besides, stone wall

is utilised because of its abundance at the surrounding of the site while causing

the building to be visually part of the site’s context.

Rammed earth is a technique for building walls, foundations and floors primarily

using raw materials such as earth, chalk, lime or gravel, it is another type of

material that has been utilised by vernacular Tibetan dwelling, it originated in

the central plains or china and is spread through migration, the influence of

climate, topography and culture created varied traditional rammed earth Tibetan

dwelling. Rammed earth wall is considered to be a good thermal mass to keep

a relatively stable indoor comfort with appropriate design parameters. However,

the thermal environment during winter time in most rammed earth dwelling is

not that satisfying, but comparatively more satisfying during the summer.

Reason being the lack of air-tightness in most rammed earth house, which can

also affect the thermal performance of rammed earth walls, this meant that only

using rammed earth as the exterior walls is not enough to provide a comfortable

indoor environment for the cold climate in Tibet therefore inducing the usage of


Figure 10: Detail section of stone wallSource:http://waset.org/publications/4412/thermal-analysis-of-tibetan-vernacular-building-case-of-lhasa



composite material in vernacular Tibetan dwelling whereby stone slabs are

combined with rammed earth to provide both air-tightness and thermal mass.

3.0 How does the building form help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

While located in Tibet as well, the Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre faces the

same climatic issue as the traditional vernacular dwelling as well, which is ARC 2213/2234 Asian Architecture 13

Figure 11: Composite RE stone wallSource:http://waset.org/publications/4412/thermal-analysis-of-tibetan-vernacular-building-case-of-lhasa

Figure 12: Exterior view showing building blending in natureSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



extreme cold climate. Therefore, to achieve thermal comfort for the building

users, several design considerations are made, one of the considerations

include similarities in compact building form of the visitor centre as the

vernacular dwelling.

Form wise, the visitor centre has adopted the essence of the surrounding

context by adopting a longitudinal rectangular form that follows the landscape

and topography of the site. In addition to that, the visitor centre is designed to

look as though it is a few slices of rock that is protruding out of the mountain,

and the building is viewed as a series of stone walls set into the slope.

The visitor centre has also adopted the compact building form from the Tibetan

vernacular dwelling purposed to minimize the heat loss from the building

envelop. The lowered ceiling that measures around 2.6m for a public building is


Figure 13: Site plan showing building built according to contoursSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture

Figure 14: Section showing heat trapped in buildingSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



considered low according to modern standard of 3.3m, lowering the ceiling that

is made from heat insulation materials reduces the amount of heat escaping

from the building and with the addition of thick stone walls along the building

façade it thoroughly reduces heat loss, thus providing thermal comfort despite

such cold climate. But a disadvantage by having a compact building form

results to lesser heat gained from the sun because of the lack of building area.

But to defeat the disadvantage of compact building form resulting to lower solar

heat gain, another consideration is made whereby the architects overlap

multiple storey of the building therefore creating a bigger volume as whole

whilst increasing the surface area of the façade with the addition of large

expansive stone walls along the façade, which contributes in absorbing heat,

transferring heat to the interior of the building to increase solar heat gain.

The visitor centre has also implemented courtyard with a modern twist that

response to the climate. Whereby it allows sun light to enter the building by slits


Figure 15: Plan showing exposed surfacesSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture

Figure 16: Section showing trapped heated air and skylightsSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



of skylight but preventing interior hot air from escaping, causing hot air to

continuously circulate in the building keeping the occupants warm and

increasing heat gain.


Figure 17: perspective showing massive stone wallsSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture

Figure 18: perspective showing stacked exposed surfacesSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



4.0 How does the building orientation help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

The fenestration and orientation of the Namchabawa Visitor Centre is

strategically planned in order to maximize the amount of sun exposure and to

avoid the cold winter wind similar to the orientation of the Tibetan vernacular

dwelling. By placing large opening and windows on the south, this increases the

amount of sunlight coming into the building. By doing so, it will increase the heat

gain throughout the building. In addition of the windows, double glazing

windows are used to further reduce heat loss from the building.

With the usage of double glazing windows, it involves two layers of glass with a

small gap in between them, it functions as a heat insulator whereby the air gap

in between is too small to circulate air therefore preventing heat transfer by

convection thus reducing heat loss through the window. This method is adopted

from the Tibetan vernacular practice to lay thick blankets over fenestrations to

contain heat within the building.


Figure 20: Plan showing fenestrated areaSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture

Figure 19: perspective showing modern courtyard Source: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



The orientation of the visitor centre is also strategically shifted away

perpendicularly from the wind direction to avoid wind from directly blowing into

the open area and fenestration, the orientation consideration is also adopted

from Tibetan vernacular dwelling orientation to reduce cold winter wind from

blowing into the dwelling thus possibly increasing the heat loss and further

lowering the temperature of the interior despite such cold climate. Furthermore,

massive walls along the façade acts as a wind shield to block prevailing winds

from entering the open area of the visitor centre. With that in mind, the massive

walls do also function as a sun screen to prevent direct exposure of internal

spaces from the sun to prevent temperature fluctuation within the visitor centre.


Figure 21: Diagram showing component of double glazing windows Source: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



5. 0 How does the building materials help achieve thermal comfort in Tibet Namchabawa Visitor Centre?

The Namchabawa visitor centre uses stone as its main façade and construction

material, as a response to its surrounding context and vernacular relation. The

visitor centre is located near the Mount Namchabawa, in order to blend in with

the site’s raw rocky surrounding, stone material was used while the thick

massive stone wall were inspired by the Tibetan mountain plateau.


Figure 17: Plan showing fenestrated areaSource: http://www.archdaily.com/775227/tibet-namchabawa-visitor-centre-standardarchitecture



Reason behind the usage of stone as the main building material is because of

its high thermal mass as compared to other modern material such as concrete

and bricks. Thermal mass is basically the ability of a mass of a building to store

heat, in a way providing “inertia” against temperature fluctuation. Heavier and

denser materials like stone and rammed earth tend to have higher thermal

mass than materials like timber.

From the diagram above, it can be clearly observed that the material “stone”

clearly has an advantage in terms of thermal mass compared to other materials.

This poses one of the contribution in terms of increasing the heat gain and

reducing heat loss of the building to provide thermal comfort. Another reason

behind utilizing the material stone is because of its air-tight properties, air

tightness basically stands for the uncontrolled inward leakage of outdoor air

through building cracks or unintentional openings caused by defects or other

causes. Stone possesses a very air-tight property because of its dense volume

therefore lowering the possibility of having inward leakage of cold winter air that

could provide discomfort for the users in the building.


Figure 17: Thermal mass of various materialSource: http://www.hobartcity.com .au



ConclusionIn conclusion, it is obvious that the architect of Namchabawa Visitor Centre has

managed to adopt few of the key characteristics of the traditional Tibetan

vernacular dwelling and implement them into the passive design of the visitor

centre in aims to achieve thermal comfort while located at Tibet alongside its

cold climate. It can be seen that the synergy between these three responses is

what resulted to achieving the desired thermal comfort in the building. The form

of the building responses to the site’s context and climate successfully by

increasing the built area to receive more sunlight without sacrificing the organic

aesthetic that managed to blend in well within the site. The inclusion of the

modern courtyard does leave an impact on how modernization of traditional

vernacular architectural feature could improve its function in providing opening

for light to enter whilst act as a heat storage to prison heated air circulating in

the interior. Though the effectiveness of the form would not be enough without

strategic orientation of the building to fully utilize its large area for heat

absorption and preventing cold prevailing wind from cooling the building thus

increasing the heat loss of the building. While several inclusion of modern

materials such as double glazing windows are used to further improve the

insulation of heat within the building. Last but not least, the usage of stone as

the main material for the building’s façade and envelope, due to its thermal

properties, it increases the heat insulation properties and heat absorption

properties of the overall building, therefore the synergy between form,

orientation and materials is what made achieving thermal comfort in

Namchabawa Visitor Centre possible. The adaption of heat insulation in passive

design to provide thermal comfort in Tibetan vernacular dwelling into modern

architecture is considered successful.




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Case study paper AA