Pulak Goyal

AR2004

The contextual environment of the site in Gandhinagar comprises of warm sandy soil and trees all around, from where arises the material palette of the building. Using rammed earth as the main structural material in the building provides a thermal benefit to the building, and enhances its contextual response and spatial experience by giving it a greyish beige tone with a tinge of brown. It also gives it the massiveness and solidity required to establish the presence of the United States Consulate to the visitors. Using wood to shade the building gives it a sense of pergola on the top, symbolizing how shading of spaces happens in the context of India. It becomes a calm space for the officers of the United States working in another nation, and for the visitors who tend to visit the United States, by creating an optimum amount of interaction between the two user groups.