NATRANI AMPHITHEATER

INTRODUCTION
• CLIENT : DARPANA ACADEMY
• LOCATION : USMANPURA , AHMEDABAD, GUJARAT
• ARCHITECTS :INDIGO ARCHITECTS, AHMEDABAD
• SITE AREA :9,850 SQ.FT
• BUILDING AREA :22,604 SQ.FT
• COMPLETION YEAR :2018
• THE NATRANI PROJECT, IT IS A 385-SEAT OPEN AIR AMPHITHEATRE.
• THE SABARMATI RIVERFRONT DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IN AHMEDABAD, IMPACTED THE EXISTING NATARANI THEATRE
PRECINCT. A MAJOR CHUNK OF THE STAGE AREA WAS LOST TO THE RIVERFRONT EDGE ROAD AND SIDEWALK, RENDERING
THE THEATRE INOPERABLE FOR SEVERAL YEARS.

• IT IS IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS REALITY THAT ITS RENOVATION WAS BOTH IMPERATIVE AND DESIRED FOR ITS ACTIVITIES TO
FLOURISH. THE NEW PROPOSED LAYOUT NOT ONLY ATTEMPTS TO MITIGATE THIS SITUATION, BUT ALSO REIMAGINES
NATARANI THEATRE TO IMPROVE UPON ITS EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND CAPACITY.
• A STATE OF THE ART AMPHITHEATRE, ACCESSIBLE GREEN ROOMS, UTILITY SPACES, IMPROVED SOUND AND LIGHTING
CAPABILITIES WITH A CATWALK OVER THE SEATING WERE, THE MAIN PROGRAMMATIC COMPONENTS OF THE PROJECT. A
MANDATE FROM OUR CLIENT, MALLIKA SARABHAI TO USE EVERY POSSIBLE STRATEGY TO BE SUSTAINABLE, HELPED ANCHOR
THE NEW DESIGN.

ARCHITECTURAL STRATEGY:
• THE PROXIMITY OF THE EXISTING MODERN ERA BUILDINGS IN EXPOSED BRICK AND CONCRETE, AS WELL AS THE NEW
ACOUSTIC WALL INSPIRED THE WARP AND WEFT OF THE NEW THEATRE. THE ARCHITECTURE OUGHT TO EXPRESS
CONTINUITY WITH THE OLDER MATERIALS THROUGH THE USE OF EXPOSED LIME BRICKS, RECYCLED FROM THE DEBRIS OF
THE DEMOLISHED OLDER STRUCTURES, INCLUDING THE LIBRARY THAT WAS IN STATE OF DISREPAIR.

• FANNING OUT THE EXISTING LAYOUT INCREASED THE THEATRE CAPACITY. THE NATURAL CONTOUR PROVIDED THE
NECESSARY DEPTH BELOW THE CASCADING TIERS TO HOUSE THE GREEN ROOMS AND UTILITIES INCLUDING THE
INFRASTRUCTURE FOR AIR CIRCULATION AND COOLING. THE CROSS SECTION OF THE TIERED THEATRE CULMINATES AT THE
STAGE WITH ITS HUGE WATER HARVESTING TANK BELOW AND THE TOWERING SCALE OF THE ACOUSTICAL WALL AS ITS
BACKDROP.

• JUXTAPOSED WITH THE SOLIDITY OF THE BRICK MASS AROUND, THE CURVED METAL CABLE STAYED CATWALK HOVERS
HIGH OVER THE SEATING SPACE EXPRESSING A NIMBLE LIGHTNESS. THE METAL WORK DEFINES ITS OWN PURPOSE OF
MAKING, TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY FLEXIBILITY FOR NEW AGE PERFORMANCES AND STATE OF THE ART LIGHTING AND
SOUND. THIS TENSION BETWEEN CONTRADICTING ELEMENTS DEFINES ITS OWN IDIOM AS A PERFORMANCE SPACE.
• THE EARTHY SEATING TIERS ARE EXPRESSED THROUGH THE USE OF TRADITIONAL CHINA MOSAIC, USING TERRACOTA
COLOURED CERAMIC TILES, INTERSPEARSED WITH THE DARK CHARCOAL GREY OF THE LIME PLASTERED WALLS. THESE
TWO COLOURS HAVE BEEN EMBLEMATIC OF THE OLDER NATARANI AS WELL. THE GREY OF THE EXPOSED CONCRETE
COPINGS AND THE EDGES IS EXTENDED THROUGH THE GREY PEBBLECRETE IN HIGH WEAR THRESHOLDS AND STEPPED
EDGES. ALL METALWORK IS CHARCOAL BLACK WHICH ESSENTIALLY GETS NEGATED AT NIGHT, DURING PERFORMANCES. THE
PHYSICALITY AND SCALE OF THE THEATRE REVERSES DRAMATICALLY AT NIGHT WITH ENHANCED LIGHTING AND A SHARP
CENTRAL SPATIAL FOCUS. THE STAGE IS BUILT WITH A HARD WOOD ASSEMBLY FLOORING, WHILE THE ENTRANCE PLAZA IS
DEFINED BY ROUGH GREY KOTA STONE SLABS THAT UNITES THE SEMIOPEN AND OPEN AREAS OF ADJACENT BUILDINGS,
WHICH USE SIMILAR MATERIALS.

PASSIVE THERMAL COMFORT AND DESIGN STRATEGIES

• THE DESIGN INTEGRATES SEVERAL STRATEGIES TO BE COST EFFECTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE. PREVENTING THE BUILDING
FROM GAINING HEAT WAS AN IMPORTANT DESIGN OBJECTIVE AND ALL SERVICES AND GREEN ROOMS ARE LOCATED BELOW
THE THEATRE STEPS. LIME IS USED IN CONSTRUCTION ALONG WITH DOLOMITE PLASTER TO PROVIDE THE NECESSARY
THERMAL ADVANTAGE AND LONGEVITY. THE BUILDING IS DESIGNED ON THE PRINCIPLE OF ‘ THERMAL DRAINING OF THE
STRUCTURE’. A RAINWATER-HARVESTING TANK BELOW THE STAGE, WITH A CAPACITY OF 1.0 LAC LITERS COLLECTS ALL
THE WATER FROM THE STEPS TO BECOME A COOL THERMAL STORAGE MASS, BELOW GROUND. A PUMP SENDS IT TO A
HIGHER LEVEL WHERE IT IS COOLED BY A NATURAL PROCESS. THE COOLED WATER THEN COMES DOWN BY GRAVITY
THROUGH THE PIPES UNDER THE SEATING TIERS AND EMPTIES INTO THE TANK IN THE PROCESS ABSORBING THE SOLAR
HEAT FROM THE ENTIRE STRUCTURE, THUS KEEPING IT COOL AND COMFORTABLE. ADDITIONAL COMFORT IS PROVIDED
BY THE “DISPLACEMENT VENTILATION” SYSTEM THAT PROVIDES A GENTLE FLOW OF COOL FILTERED AIR FROM SEVERAL
SMALL OUTLETS DISTRIBUTED ALONG THE SEATING TIERS. THEY FORM A BLANKET OF COOL AIR IN THE SEATING ZONE BY
DISPLACING THE WARM STALE AIR.