Monastery Branch in Ulaanbaatar

Notes for the Client's requirements:

“a branch of the monastery established by Rinpoche with facilities for yoga, meditation,  Healthcare including Ayurveda, Mongolian traditional medicine, prayer and lecture etc.   It should accommodate up to about 200 people.” 

“The design could have Indian elements perhaps like Sanchi Stupa...The project may not be on a very big scale so that we could arrange funding etc.”

The design follows the idea of building in a cold climate, creating a tight skin to preserve heat, and yet bring light and solar energy to the interiors using an insular court and a solarium. The references to the Sanchi Stupa, a powerful icon of the Buddhist tradition in India, is transformed from its symmetrical and static organisation appropriate for a mortuary to a dynamic element.  Like a solar system, the brick load-bearing dome creates the centre of gravity around which functions and people orbit.