DESIGN CONCEPT AT URBAN LEVEL:

The quality of the master plan lies in its urban character, its density, a belief in living together, a belief that equality and homogeneity will create a certain quality of life and integrate the university in the urban fabric of Ahmedabad.

ARCHITECTURAL CONCEPT OF THE NEW BUILDING:

The School of Information and Communication technology being the first building to be constructed in the new campus has the potential of influencing the future architectural design of the campus.

Meanwhile its specific location offers for a special purpose:
- It establishes the link with the CEPT campus, that will be a condition of integration and success of the new campus.
- It is facing the landmark building that close the perspective of the plaza,
- It forms the “tail” of the new campus from which visitors will exit, or will access.

Its position called for a special building addressing the following points:

1/ The S shape:
The S shape of the building offers 2 open courtyards with different characters
The main entrance court is equipped with public facilities and the inner courtyard displays a calmer and remote character suitable for a learning environment.

2/ Open Air Theatre:
While providing for a public space, it also helps establish an architectural relationship and porosity with the existing campus of CEPT.

3/ Typology as façade:
The project intends to display the main typological elements of large scale such as auditoria and laboratories in the external facades on surrounding streets and plaza.

4/ Façade as structural system:
Two layer facade system has been envisaged, one being the structure and the other being used to control climate.

5/ Roof terrace as Solar garden:
The public roof will be covered by large space frames loaded with:
a/ Photovoltaic solar panels to feed the school computers through hybrid panels.

b/ Steam generating parabolic trough solar collectors to run vapor absorption machine (VAM) and air-conditioning of the school.