tjep. + vaastukalpa architects design brick and bamboo marketplace in rural bangladesh

amsterdam-based design office tjep. has teamed up with vaastukalpa architects to complete a marketplace in rural bangladesh, which integrates traditional stalls with educational and community facilities. located in the district of khulna, the ‘village super market’, or VSM, is the first in a series of projects that intend to help bangladeshi villages modernize their infrastructure, while making local farmers better agricultural entrepreneurs.

all images courtesy of tjep.

the solidaridad VSM initiative has been developed in partnership with the dutch embassy in bangladesh, who has has started implementing the sustainable agriculture, food security and linkages (SaFaL) program in the south west of the country. the program focuses on the rural communities of bagherhat, khulna, jessore, satkhira and narial, creating new social-marketplaces for thousands of small traders, families, and producers, and ensuring that produce meets international food standards.

daniel knoop, international program coordinator aquaculture at solidaridad, was responsible for contacting frank tjepkema, owner and creative director of tjep.. ‘I first came across frank tjepkema when he created this stand-out sustainable farming-entertainment concept ‘oogst’,’ says knoop. ‘I was intrigued how a designer approached topics like agricultural development and sustainable economics from a completely fresh angle.’

tjepkema worked closely with nazimuddin payel, principal of vaastukalpa architects, and amsterdam-based architect rob van houten (o4Rb) in the conceptual development process. the design references the region’s traditional ‘arots’, small wooden huts used by local traders. ‘the market is organized along three main functions,’ explains tjepkema. ‘the market function along one axes (horticulture and aquaculture), the facilitating of social and educational functions for the local farmers along the other axes (retail and information center), and finally the surrounding tech village where food is processed and cooled using state of the art hardware.’

traditional artisanal skills have been highlighted throughout the scheme. ‘I wanted the ancient skill of red brick making to be featured proudly, using traditional techniques of delta-sourced red-kiln production combined with locally sourced bamboo,’ tjepkema says. ‘the result is an outstanding testament to the beauty of these long-established but often underused regional techniques.’

‘we were very excited to work for the village farmers as well as working with such a reputed designers such as tjep.,’ adds nazimuddin payel. ‘I can remember when we first met in kuhlna, bangladesh, he was very much inspired by the architectural richness of bengal and that was very inspiring for us too. we took the challenge to deal with many inherent dualities of the project not only in its functions but in the different culture of bengal and dutch as well.’

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project info:

location:
 tipna,dumuria, khulna and monirampur (under construction), jessore, bangladesh


an initiative of:
 solidaridad network asia, bangladesh
funded by: 
embassy of the kingdom of the netherlands
architectural design:
 tjep. and vaastukalpa architects limited
project consultant: 
vaastukalpa architects limited
architectural design team:
 MA frank tjepkema, 
ar. s.m. nazimuddin payel, 
ar. rob van houten
, ar. sk. maruf hossain
, ar. kaiser habib saikat
structural engineer:
 dr. shamimuzzaman bosunia, 
kishore kumar sikder
execution coordinator:
 md moziball haque (solidaridad)
, shakil anwar (solidaridad)
, sk maruf hossain (vaastukalpa), 
s.m. nasimuddin sohel (vaastukalpa)
civil contractor:
 dimension engineers ltd.

tensile contractor:
 ALM tensile membrane structure ltd.
photography:
 mr. chandan
, mr. afrina

total site area: 8,476 sqm (2 acre)
total built area:
arot (ground floor): 1,637 sqm
1st floor of central building: 385 sqm
tech village: 1,210 sqm
tea stall: 68 sqm

total: 3,300 sqm