Designed by Zero Energy Design Lab, The boys? hostel was proposed as a linear built mass in the existing master plan of the campus, which posed challenges to create socially active and environmentally sustainable spaces.

It houses 360 students with recreational courts and mess facilities. The dorms are provided with triple height terrace which takes away from the feeling of a conventional dorm. It gives them an opportunity to come out and savour the outdoors. Terraces & activities are layered at multiple levels to boost intercommunication amongst the students. The contorting central atrium allows natural light to penetrate deeper in the building and also acts as a solar chimney that takes away the stale and hot air within the building through stack effect. The building is also cost effective, built at a rate of Rs. 1400/sq.ft without compromising on construction quality. Photography: Andre J. Fanthome
The key factor in the design process was to enhance student interaction, within the indoor spaces that percolates outward and interacts with the landscape around it. The linear block was twisted to create, a shaded entrance (summer court) and an open terrace (winter court) on south and north facades respectively, to encourage activities at all times diurnally and seasonally. The ramp acts as a transition space between the harsh outdoor and cooler indoors thus protecting students from getting thermal shock. It also consists of a cafeteria which acts as a student magnet tha...