A lot of the demolished walls have been removed and the shell is starting to look much better. We also discovered the fresh air and exhaust air ducts (running from the pizza shop below) that we had hoped to move, were probably better off left alone. We had to do a bit of redesign on the kitchen and dining areas. In the photo below, you can see the ducts rising up on the right hand side and then heading at an angle toward the center of the roof..

And here is the model view of the redesigned kitchen/dining, from the same viewpoint as the first photo above.

proVision architecture has recently been working for a non-profit group called the Home of Hope-India. Led in the States by Paul Wilkes (award-winning author and filmmaker residing in Wilmington), this organization rescues orphan girls from the slums and gives them a home, an education and hope! Paul and Mark accidentally met at an art exhibit and immediately developed a friendship. That evening, Paul asked Mark for green building advice for Home of Hope’s newest orphanage, which will be built in Secunderabad.

Other than the rescue of orphan street children, it is one of the primary goals of this project to obtain LEED-India certification, a mark that is rumored to have only been achieved by 40 other buildings in India. (Note: LEED stands for Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design. LEED is a rating system that sets benchmarks for what constitutes a green building. Mark is a LEED accredited professional in the US. The Indian LEED system is very similar to the one used by the US Green Building Council).

Be sure to watch this short YouTube video to get a quick overview of this organization’s amazing work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78txqRFlRvY

Below is our rendering showing the LEED strategy for the building.  After running a quick summary of the LEED checklist, we expect that we can easily obtain a Gold certification, the second highest rating in the system but hope to achieve the highest level of Platinum. For example, we plan to implement solar renewable energy, harvested rainwater for toilets, showers and laundry, and vegetated roof gardens.  To show that a low-cost building such as this can achieve a LEED certification would be a thrilling example of how even the most humble of projects can be a cutting-edge example of stewarding our natural resources.

Click on photo to enlarge

http://www.homeofhopeindia.org

NOTE: Click on photos to enlarge them.

The existing 12″ thick masonry walls are beautiful!  If you look closely at the brick coursing, you can see a course of what looks like short bricks every sixth course.  These are full-length bricks turned 90 degrees (or perpendicular to the wall length).  This is typical load bearing masonry wall construction where the walls were constructed to be self-supporting (not just a brick veneer the way we do it in “modern” times).  See the diagram below for a detail.  Next time you’re downtown Wilmington, take a look at the brick coursing on the older brick buildings.  You will see this type of wall everywhere.  And now, you can impress your friends with your knowledge of how the walls were built!  ;)

from The Complete Concrete, Masonry and Brick Handbook by J.T. Adams, 1979.