Village Community Hall
Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh
- Tikamgarh, Madhya Pradesh
- 2017
- Completed
- Community Hall
- 0.4 ha
- 260 sq.m
- Village panchayat
The hall was commissioned by the village panchayat as the first covered gathering space in the settlement. Before it, meetings were held under a tree and weddings were moved to a neighbour's courtyard. The brief was for a building that could hold large gatherings through the hot season, cost less than a concrete hall and be maintained by the village itself.
The hall is planned as a covered courtyard with rooms along one side. The deep roof projects over an open verandah on the courtyard edge, giving shade for gatherings and room for overflow in good weather. Brick walls are two bricks thick, with small high openings that let warm air rise out of the hall after the day's heat.
Materials came from within the district, and the building was constructed by masons trained on site. A shallow tank collects rainwater for the trees along the courtyard edge. The panchayat manages bookings through a simple rota, and the hall has become the place where most public decisions in the village are made.
“The hall is where the village makes its decisions, now with shade.”
Seen in photographs
The ideas that shape the building
- 01
Covered courtyard as public room
The courtyard holds larger gatherings than an enclosed hall would, and it drains naturally after the monsoon.
- 02
Deep projecting verandah
The roof overhang gives shaded overflow seating along the courtyard edge.
- 03
High openings for stack release
Small high openings let heat rise out of the hall in the evening, so the space cools faster after dark.
- 04
District-sourced construction
Brick, lime and timber were sourced locally, and the masons who built the hall can repair it.
Exposed Brick
Lime Plaster
Mud Plaster
Timber
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