Thapar University Learning Laboratory
by McCullough Mulvin Architects in collaboration with Designplus Associates Services
Client Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology
Award RIBA International Awards for Excellence 2024
Compelling geometric architecture, in plan and section, gives identity, energy and focus to the Thapar University Learning Laboratory.
Located in the Punjab region of northern India, close to Chandigarh, the Learning Laboratory is one of several significant buildings the architects have designed within an existing university masterplan.
The Learning Laboratory takes the form of a dynamic ensemble of three prismatic red Agra stone clad towers which accommodate a Science Building, a Library and Lecture Theatres respectively. The towers are bound together by and emerge through a vast 10 meter high podium.
At first floor level, the podium creates an austere setting for the strong formality of the tower composition. The buildings are almost geological in their scale and material expression.
At the ground level the podium acts as a massive roof, shading routes, and gathering spaces which connect the entrances to the three towers. The canopy also gathers the routes that lead out to the mature landscape, and the existing campus buildings.
Each tower is organised around a dramatic multi storey atrium with daylight tempered and filtered through a stone brise soleil. The design responds to the harsh climate through the use of heavy, massive construction, architectural shading and natural ventilation with pools cooling the air beneath the great canopy.
The construction is direct and robust, using local stone and available construction skills and techniques. Beyond the strong geometrical forms much of the character of the design is derived from red Agra sandstone which delights in strong sunlight.
The geometry of the forms suggest movement within the learning laboratory and across the campus as a whole. The external facades of the towers relate to the orthogonal masterplan layout while the inner facades are cut and angled by geometries that suggest orientation and route.
The architecture is formally very strong creating a memorable and indelible statement of the importance of this institution and the critical importance of places of learning and exchange.
Location: Patiala, India
Date of completion: 31/10/2019
Cost: Confidential
Gross internal area: 30,809 m²
Contractor: Gannon Dunkerley & Co. / ANJ Mumbai
Structural Engineer: Perceptive Ideas Consulting Engineers
Landscape Architect: Integral Designs International Studio
Facade Specialist: Axis Facade Consulting
Quantity Surveyor / Cost Consultant: Vincom Cost Management
