This document summarizes the design of the Degree College and Hill Council Complex building in Leh, India. The building was designed to address the extreme cold and sunny climate of Leh, which experiences temperatures ranging from -14°C to 24°C. Key design elements included orienting the buildings along a north-south axis for solar gain, minimizing fenestrations on the north side, maximizing insulation, utilizing trombe walls and double glazing, and incorporating passive ventilation strategies like cross ventilation. The complex orientation and building designs aim to resist heat loss while promoting useful heat gain through passive means.

1. Degree College and Hill Council Complex,
Leh, Himachal Pradesh
Electives Case Study
Gaurav N. Kotak
A1319
Sem 5

2. INTRODUCTION
• Leh in Ladakh is a "mountain desert." There is very little
precipitation and the temperatures vary greatly between
the day and night and also from summer to winter.
• The traditional Ladhaki settlement is usually built on
steep slopes facing southward. This allows good
insulation during the day.
• Heavy walls (mud) and a well insulated roof (timber &
mud) dampen the variations of indoor temperatures.
• The use of glass and nowadays, trombe- wall is very
successful as heat can be stored in the building mass
during the day, to stay warm indoors at night.
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3. COLD AND SUNNY CLIMATE IN INDIA
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CLIMATE
The solar radiation is generally intense with a very
low percentage of diffuse radiation.
In summer, the temperature reaches 17 – 24 ºC
during the day and 4 – 11 ºC at night.
In winter, the values range from -7 to 8 ºC during the
day and -14 to 0 ºC at night. Winters thus, are
extremely cold.
The relative humidity is consistently low ranging from
about 10 – 50 % and precipitation is generally less
than 200 mm per year.
Winds are occasionally intense. The sky is fairly clear
throughout the year with a cloud cover of less than
50%.

4. DESIGN CRITERIA AND FEATURES
OBJECTIVES
Resist heat loss
•Decrease exposed surface area
•Increase thermal resistance
•Increase thermal capacity
•Increase buffer space
•Decrease air exchange rate
•Increase surface absorptivity
Promote heat gain
•Reduce shading
•Utilize heat from appliances
•Trapping heat
PHYSICAL MANIFESTATIONS
• Orientation and shape of the building.
use of tress as wind barriers.
• Roof insulation, wall insulation and double glazing.
• Thicker walls
• Air locks/lobbies
• Weather stripping
• Darker colours
• Wall and glass surfaces
• Sun spaces/green spaces/ trombe walls etc.
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7. Degree College and Hill Council Complex,
Leh, Himachal Pradesh

8. PROJECT DETAILS
• Building Type : Institutional
• Climatic Zone : Cold And Sunny
• Location : Leh, Ladakh
• Architects : Arvind Kishan & Kunal Jain
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9. SITE
 Located at 3514 m above mean sea level
 Elongated Rectangle with the land sloping towards South
 Characteristic of the cold dry desert condition – large barren lands with no vegetation
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Assembly Hall – Zero – Consumption during Day - Time

12. ORIENTATION
• The Rectangular site is along the north – south direction
• The structures are oriented in the west – east and north – south
direction as design requirements
• Each structure has been treated specifically depending on its
orientation.
• All the buildings in the north side of the complex have thick walls to
minimise heat loss, while the buildings in the south side have been
designed to maximise heating and daylight distribution.
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FENESTRATION
• Good insulation and minimum fenestrations to the northern exposure
minimizes heat loss
• Double – Glazing helps control heat loss from glazing
without creating condensation
• Maximum natural has been tapped where possible
Minimum fenestrations on the northern façade of the
lecture halls
Natural Lighting
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13. VENTILATION
 Connective loop is coupled with cross ventilation through eastern – western fenestration
 Ventilation is achieved through the connective loop activated by buoyancy
 Consumes zero energy during normal hours of operation
 Situated in the Upper – Himalayan Region
 Snow – capped Mountains on all four sides
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SITE ENVELOPE
WATER BODY & BUILDING OVERHANGS
• Nil
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14. Illustration List
• http://arvindkrishan.com/?p=559
• http://bcef.in/Download/new/green%20building/Sustainable%20habitats.pdf
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