Leh, ladakh - climate and architecture

1. LEH, LADAKH COLD AND SUNNY CLIMATE

2. Mountainous region Little vegetation C onsidered to be a ‘Cold Desert’ LEH

3. COLD and SUNNY type of climate is experienced here. TEMPERATURE VARIATIONS Summer during day : 17 - 24°C during night : 4 - 11°C Winter during day : 7 - 9°C during night : -14 – 0 °C Relative humidity – consistently low : 10-50% Winds – occasionally intense Sky is fairly clear throughout the year Cloud cover is less than 50% CLIMATE

4. DESIGN CRITERIA AND FEATURES OBJECTIVES PHYSICAL MANIFESTATION Resist heat loss Decrease exposed surface area Increase thermal resistance Increase thermal capacity (Time lag) Increase buffer spaces Decrease air exchange rate Increase surface absorptivity Promote heat gain Reduce shading Utilize heat from appliances Trapping heat Orientation and shape of building. Use of trees as wind barriers Roof insulation, wall insulation and double glazing Thicker walls Air locks/ Lobbies Weather stripping Darker colors Walls and glass surfaces Sun spaces/ green houses/ Trombe walls etc

5. TREES –wind barrier Roof & wall insulation Thick walls Heavy walls (mud) and a well insulated roof (timber & mud) dampen the variations of indoor temperatures.

6. Use of glass and trombe wall – heat is stored in the building mass during the day and warm during the night

7. City of some 25,000 inhabitants Population triples in size during summer tourist season OLD LEH 200 stone, mud and timber houses sandwiched between thick rammed earth walls M ost well-preserved traditional Tibetan city in the world M ost significant ensemble of historic Tibetan architecture

8. One makes the walls for the first floor, piling up stone and sun-dried brick, and then places wooden beams and floor joists across the walls to support the second floor walls above them, and repeatedly adds more wooden beams across them. Floors and roofs are made of mud treaded on wooden boards. Roofs are basically flat , being unnecessary to waterproof, since it scarcely ever rains . Columns are needed midway across larger spans

9. F irst floor - used for stables S econd floor – for family rooms, such as a sitting room, a kitchen, bedrooms, and a Buddhist altar room A larger house often consists of three floors . 

10. Porch

11. Kitchen

12. D ining

13. Bedroom