Indian Institute of Information Technology, Kurnool

Site Area: 150 Acres
Built Up Area: 70,000 sq feet
Scope – Master Planning and Detailed Architecture
Project Team-  Anand Kurudi, Kajal Gupta, Selina Abraham, Ashwin Jacob, Nikhil Rodrigo
Structural Consultants – Base Engineering Services                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Status – Completed

 For this central government institute, the competition brief called for some classrooms, laboratories and administration facilities along with hostel blocks in a150acre site in Andhra Pradesh.

Our competition winning entry proposed 3 separate blocks to house the requirements, all linked by a connecting corridor. Keeping in mind the harsh climate of the region the design focuses on passive climatic solutions and ensures that the orientation of the buildings (and openings) are optimum to minimize solar heat gain and also provides adequate shading for all glazed areas. Heat gain is again controlled by using hollow terracotta blocks for their insulating properties. There is emphasis on shaded open spaces, creating possibilities of cross ventilation and relying on natural light. Natural materials like kota, cuddapah and granite have been used for their textures and warmth.

The site was an extremely challenging one with a very steep gradient and the design lays emphasis on negotiating the natural levels, minimizing cut and fill and being true to the site.

The 3 blocks are placed at different elevations of the site and the connecting corridor negotiates the natural contours in leading to the entries of the blocks. It becomes the primary connecting spine, a ‘street of learning’ which encourages the spilling out of activities, promotes accidental encounters and is scaled to accommodate gatherings of various sizes with different enclosure conditions.