STUDY OF TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY CONTROL IN SPACES DESIGNED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF LAURI BAKER

HYPOTHESIS: Spaces designed on the principles of Ar. Laurie Baker are indeed comfortable with respect to temperature and humidity.
METHODOLOGY - Quantitative analysis - dry bulb and wet bulb hygrometer readings
Qualitative analysis - observation of design features
AIM: TO PROVE THAT THE BUILDINGS DESIGNED IN BAKER STYLE ARE INDEED COMFORTABLE IN TERMS OF TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY WHEN COMPARED WITH THE OTHER CONVENTIONAL BUILDINGS.
Conclusion : The overall warm and humid climate is such that there is not much variation in the range of temperature and as it is a proven fact that lesser the difference between the dry bulb and wet bulb temperature more is the humidity there is nothing much that can be done to reduce the humidity content but in order to get a holistic comfort zone one has to target in reducing the overall temperature of the built which the Baker style buildings have achieved to a substantial extent and hence although the humidity range is higher inside too but with the fall in temperature and spatial design which keeps the entire building well ventilated ;one can barely feel the humidity inside as it is felt outside.
Also the design principles of Ar.Baker assisted to achieve this in the following manner:
SPATIAL DESIGN- The inbuilt furniture, wall less designs and clustered planning helped allow free circulation of air and hence promoted extensive cross ventilation.
MEANDERING PATTERNS - P/A ratio for a circle is minimum; which means that when the sun’s rays fall on a circular built, the ray’s form a tangent to the surface and hence very less surface area is actually exposed to the heat rays.
Thus Ar.Baker’s meandering patterns and circular plan forms supported this fact and reduced the overall temperature. Not just this but these meandering patterns also led Baker to use thicker walls and he used RAT TRAP bonding for the same which acted as insulator and also the thickness of the walls did not allow the outside heat to penetrate inside.
OPENINGS: The perforations, voids, jalis provided extensive path for the air to flow from all directions which rendered less humidity inside. Also the jalis created shadows which created a soothing environment.
ROOFING: The concept of using pitched roof along with circular form does not allow the heat rays to directly fall on the whole surface and instead reflect back through various angles all throughout the day. The filler slab essentially not just reduces the cost but also the addition of Mangalore tiles in between the reinforcement help reduce the heat retention in the overall slab.
MATERIALS APPLIED: The use of earthy and breathing materials that envelopes the entire space helps reducing the heat absorption and retention inside the space whereas in conventional buildings the heat is retained by the materials like concrete that are applied leading to urban heat island.
LIVE MATERIAL: Organic design with interplay of vegetation, water bodies, connecting pathways with flower beds etc. helps nurture the micro climate which is comfortable and hence all these factors should be definitely integrated in design.
Thus if the temperature is controlled under the comfort zone; the humidity difference is not felt. That is the achievement of Ar.baker and hence it supports my hypothesis.
Baker’s “HOME” style provides a holistic model for temperature condition control. It is not a regional commodity but a universal solution that can be contextually applied.
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