Location:Gurugram, Haryana
Client: St. Andrews Group
Client’s Firm: St. Andrews Group
Principal Architect: Zero Energy Design Lab
Design Team: Sachin and Payal Seth Rastogi
Site Area (sqft&sq m): 60,700 sq. m
Built-Up Area (sqft&sq m):60,000 Sq. Ft.
Start Date: Dec 2015
Completion Date: 2017
Photographer:Andre J. Fanthome
Project Information Sheet
St. Andrews Institute of Technology and Management – Boys Hostel Block
The boys’ hostel building at the St. Andrews Institute of Technology and Management by Zed Lab is a meticulously designed, well-engineered residential complex that obtains its character from the basic building block – the brick. The building maintains a strong horizontal emphasis and utilizes a restrained material palette consisting of fair-faced concrete exposed in the robust supporting structure in the façade. The design of the hostel block creates a sense of community and reflects the contemporary nature of the university buildings. It houses a fluid sequence of socially functional and environmentally sustainable spaces.
Planning and Design Strategies
The boys hostel building reinterprets Indian vernacular architecture with ideas relevant to the present times and techniques. Anticipating the importance of student interaction with the spaces, the landscape around and amongst themselves, the galactic indoor spaces are design extension of the exteriors. The layered interior planning of the building with passive design strategies permeates comfortable intercommunication amongst the students.
The contorted central atrium allows natural light to penetrate deeper into the building. Also, it acts as a solar chimney that takes away the stale and hot air within the building through the stack effect. The block accommodates residential units for 360 students with inclusive recreational courts and mess facilities. The triple heightened spacious dorms depart from the conventional style of dorms, providing an enhanced user experience and a more expansive view of the outdoors to the students.
The combination of the angled volume of the part ground floor and the linear shape of the first floor creates a shaded entrance (summer court) and an open terrace (winter court) on the south and north facades respectively. The interactive composition forms the social heart of the block, creating a stimulating experiential space for students to engage in discussions, socialize or withdraw from time to time.
The landscaped ramp located within the summer court acts as a transition space between the harsh outdoor and relaxed indoors protecting students from getting a thermal shock. This ramp leads to the light-filled cafeteria reinforcing the university’s specialist focus on generous spaces for students to interact at a larger scale.
The serendipitous creation of the winter court on the first floor in the north direction enables one to enjoy the weather during a summer evening and winter afternoons. The terrace overlooks the playing field and establishes a visual dialogue with the overall context of the campus’s greenery and other buildings.
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