The Competition was to design a Hyperloop Experience Centre to make people aware of the Hyperloop. It was to function as a pre-ride ‘knowledge’ hub since the concept of the Hyperloop is new and people are mostly not aware of what it is.
The Site was an open plot of land in the Mojave desert in the state of Arizona, USA. It was very close to the site where the Hyperloop is to be built. Climate is extremely arid with extreme Sun and Cold with very scanty rainfall. It had to have a residential component for few residential and visiting professors who would be coming to this Experience Centre to give lectures in the Auditorium that was to be an important part of this complex. A large Lab with working model of the Hyperloop for experiments was an integral part of the Centre alongwith teaching / knowledge exchange Studios and interactive areas.
The Centre was envisioned as having 2 distinct parts of differing characters – the Working and the Rest zone. A curved Intellectual Corridor which was the Main knowledge exchange hub ran across the entire complex, tying it up while providing various entries and exits to different spaces / activities.
The Centre was to be constructed in Rammed Earth walls that would be sourced from the site itself. Tall Wind catchers would be funneling the wind into collection chambers where after proper filtration and cooling / heating, as required, it would be channeled into the various spaces. All through the experience of being in the Centre, the ‘Intellectual Corridor’ would be like an over-seeing ‘mentor’, nurturing talent and providing inspiration for the future.