This school and training center is located in the Batticaloa district, one of the areas in Sri Lanka most affected by the tsunami of 2004 and persistent civil war. The program is fragmented and distributed in a series of small pavilions which, following a pentagonal outline, are organized around an inner courtyard. Such an arrangement serves two purposes; on the one hand, to clearly differentiate the complex from its natural surroundings; and on the other, to create an “urbanistic moment” with an openness that fosters interaction among users, besides providing a very clear-cut spatial reference.

Carried out with local labor, the complex incorporates certain lessons of vernacular architecture, such as the use of adobe walls, highly permeable lattices, and ventilated roofs, in the process adapting them to a contemporary language. All these elements, thanks to shading and natural ventilation, make it possible to address the tropical climate of the region in passive ways.