SLIIT SOA Y 02 SEM 01

Wijesiriwardana R.T
AR20708658

ENVIRONMENT:
SITE AND
PLANNING
ASSIGNMENT 02
Environment: Site & Planning Assignment
Wijesiriwardana R.T
AR2078658
INTRODUCTION

The environment is a large factor when it comes to human beings. The earth is
the point of our origination and ultimately the point of our termination. In this
process Nature and out Environment is a big part of many determining factors
socially culturally and even individually.
Features of environment to which people most frequently adjust their lives are
the natures of the climate in which they live, the character of the land surface the
nature of the soli, presence of sources of power such as solar energy, minerals
and other material resources, and the geographical position with respect to other
places and other peoples.
Therefore, when creating spaces suitable for habitat, it is just as important for the
building to meet its functional responsibilities as it is to be able to relate to the
surrounding environment.
To be able to relate to the environment and adapt fully to it to meet all the
reasons listed above, one must carry out a site analysis thoroughly wherein a in-
depth set of information is gathered in that certain land and the environment
pertaining to it. This will cover the 03 main areas: Aesthetic, Cultural and Natural
factors.
NATURAL FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED WHEN DESIGNING THE
BUILDING

The particular building which is considered is a house to be built for a client, there
will be approx. 4 primary users in this project and the site location chosen was the
Thalangama Wetlands, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. The following description is
how I would use the currently gathered information about site and planning to
create a design more harmonious with the beneficial site conditions.
a good relationship between the building and the site itself. The building design
should be in harmony with those beneficial site conditions and strive to save,
reinforce, amplify, and improve on what is existing. The analysis will identify those
site conditions which may be altered, eliminated, covered up, disguised or
reformed. Basically, take advantage of the good things nature has to offer and
protect against the bad aspects of the site. It is important to make these decisions
deliberately and thoughtfully so that the effects of the building on the site are
deliberate rather than accidental or incidental.
The following natural factors will be considered and an appropriate response to
each will be illustrated.
i. Landscape Diversity:
Another large area lacking in the design was attention to landscape
diversity. Harming the natural ecological systems by changing or
destroying the current habitat would be a drastic effect to the
ecosystems present. Therefore preservation and introducing other
small changes: nooks and crannies to feed birds and small animals,
would be going a long way to doing this. It was important to the
client to feel connected to the nature as well therefore incorporating
native plants to the design and placing them in such a way that it
adds other value to the design such as shading from harsh sunlight,
changing the flow of wind for better ventilation etc.
ii. Slope and Topology
When coming to the terrain and the contours of the physical
landscape, there is a slope at the front of the site. It descends to a
depth of 2.1m in a length of 5.5m and then ascends slightly. In the
initial design I have not considered the slope because I felt that it
cannot be utilized- it was steep and it didn’t fit my design as I wanted
a direct view of the frontage from the building. Currently I would
incorporate the slope into my design and utilize it by landscaping and
providing a footpath to garden filled with native flora.

iii. Climate
It is important to address all elements of the climate to build a good
climate responsive design to achieve comfort both physically and
psychologically, and the current building achieves that to a degree.
a. Sun path and orientation of building
Building is oriented to the South-East in relation to the sun path
and the views and wind patterns. this is done to exclude the harsh
sunlight and to maximize the entry of softer sunlight while getting
the maximum use of the prevailing wind breeze thus passive
cooling strategies are implemented.
b. Wind
The building should be oriented to maximize ventilation, other
strategies like placement of doors and windows, size of inlets and
outlets for maximum cross ventilation. These have been covered
 in the previous design, what I would like to improve upon is the
landscaping. Planting native trees in such a way to bring about
venturi effect- narrowing the flow of air to increase velocity of air
stream.
c. Temperature
The microclimate temperatures of the site may be different from
the general data collected the large body of water (Thalangama
lake) will tend to stabilize temperatures on the land. The
neighborhood lake acts as an evaporative cooling system,
absorbing the daytime heat and reducing the need for active
energy systems.

d. Humidity
Sites located near large bodies of water or rivers tend to be more
humid than inland areas. To avoid discomfort due to excess
humidity, ventilation to rooms is provided by increasing the
openness to facilitate cross-flow and vertical flow of air. This is a
wetland area with tropical rains therefore I would change my roof
in the original design to one with a higher roof angle to combat
this issue.
iv. Regulations
There are UDA regulations that should be followed when it comes to
the construction of the building. All the reservations have been kept
(e.g.: rear space of 3m etc.) in the old design but the space left on
each side for light and ventilation is insufficient. Also the land area is
19m by 20m and a regulation states that FAR or the buildable area of
the site is 65%. The design does not fulfil this regulation as well.
therefore, there is improvement to be done while keeping the rooms
and spaces habitable. Therefore, finding methods such as
multipurpose rooms, cutting down on waste space should be done to
stick to these regulations fully.

v. Biodiversity: Flora and Fauna

Thalangama wetland park is a biodiversity hotspot and a bird
watching area. Human activity has induced an extinction crisis among
wildlife and plant life that threatens to undermine human survival
and maintaining biodiversity in these systems is critical to their
survival. Therefore, the natural habitat should be preserved as much
as possible giving way to the native and endemic species. This has not
been taken into my design and for the large part I have ignored the
natural biodiversity. Therefore, incorporating native plants into the
landscape design as well as preservation of the existing ones should
 be improved upon. Furthermore, the advantage of having extensive
wildlife in this area should be used. Specifically, as the client is a
nature lover this will be beneficial both ecologically and
psychologically. Nooks for feeding birds and small animals can be
introduced and when building preserving their natural habitat should
be kept in mind.

vi. Geology
When considering the Geology of site, it is important to consider the
stability of the structure which depends on soil and rock conditions.
The site is a wetland with mainly silty soil which means that it is more
fertile thus leading to the diverse flora seen in this area. This soil also
has poor drainage which leads to water retention therefore when
building I would make changes to the foundation to ensure stability:
RCC spread and isolated pad footings are appropriate.

Geology has strong ties with biodiversity, in that the nature of the substrate, as
usually determined by the nature of the underlying rock, is a key factor in
determining the distribution of habitats and species.