A prominent feature of a university is the presence of residential facilities for its’ staff and students. ( Adu- Gyamfi et al., 2014) Over the years the rate at which student’s population keeps increasing as compared to physical development such as student accommodation amongst others in KNUST is proportionally inadequate.( Abiatey, 2015 ). Due to the increase in student population without commensurate provision of housing facilities, student rooms that were intended for single occupancy now takes 4-7 students. This inconsiderably poses occupancy congestion and affects the structural integrity of these facilities.
This has led to an acute proliferation of private hostels in and around the University Campus. These facilities are highly defective in design, location and poses security challenges to students who patronize them. In view of this humongous housing deficit in the University, The Mastercard Foundation in collaboration with The Department of Architecture and the Development Ofiice – KNUST organized a competition to solicit for design proposals for an International Students’ facility.
Architecture competitions as we know provide a unique platform to design and propose exciting innovative projects, while testing theoretical ideas in a structured setting. As part of the University’s quest to mitigate the housing deficit on campus.We were privileged to team up with Francis Aggor and Eileen Asare to enter a design competition.
The team proposed a state of the art facility, we won and currently the design proposal has been constructed and commissioned for occupancy on the KNUST campus.
A prominent feature of a university is the presence of residential facilities for its’ staff and students. ( Adu- Gyamfi et al., 2014) Over the years the rate at which student’s population keeps increasing as compared to physical development such as student accommodation amongst others in KNUST is proportionally inadequate.( Abiatey, 2015 ). Due to the increase in student population without commensurate provision of housing facilities, student rooms that were intended for single occupancy now takes 4-7 students. This inconsiderably poses occupancy congestion and affects the structural integrity of these facilities.
This proposal is the result of carefully integrating the design into the natural setting whiles staying true to the architecture on campus. The design strikes a chord with the environment by fusing climatically responsive interventions with landscape sensitivity which further offers an inviting platform for cultural exchange amongst students.
The philosophy of the design is Landscape Sensitivity. The landscape sensitivity planning through the preservation of the existing character of the site and the natural topography informed the entire design. Moreover, this philosophy was carried out by respecting the site lines of force which informed the layout and building mass. Careful considerations were taken in the development of the building footprint to preserve most of the rich vegetation on the site. There was also a conscious effort to efficiently utilize the site by having a compact design: thus ensuring a healthy balance of built up area of 27.8% versus the unbuilt area of 72.2% of the site.
In order to preserve the natural topography of the site: the portion of the building over the lower side of the site was raised on pilotis which also aided in ventilating the building. Visual connection was ensured by allowing the outdoor spaces to seamlessly flow into the indoor spaces by the use of large glass panels and balconies.
In an attempt to create a context driven design the ethos of the school of architecture, KNUST, thus “ The 3C’s: culture, climate and construction were taken into consideration.
