According to data from the PIB Economic Survey 2023–24, approximately 40 million Indian students enrol in higher education each year. Many students choose their accommodations because of their reasonably priced amenities and well-organized programs. Due to their inefficient designs, many student accommodations fall short of meeting students’ basic needs on both a social and financial level. The typology design of the VJTI campus in Mumbai satisfies all the needs for facilities focused on students while incorporating contemporary design elements. The facility’s structure was designed with the practical user needs of this particular student group in mind, resulting in a harmonious integration with its surroundings.
Optimized Design Strategies:
Unlike the typical student housing arrangement, which involves continuous, never-ending corridors, minimal interactive amenity zones, and adaptive architectural interventions, this design rethinks the value of student accommodation through a lens of collaboration and active well-being. The design aspect of not looking at this typology as an outlier entity, but as an extension to the classroom itself, keeping intact its culture after-hours, as well, makes this a case to look up to.
As one positions oneself towards its entrance from the southern end near a massive green playground, an upraised ceiling with steps as buffer entities leads one towards the courtyard formed because of the rising peripheral typology of the room units, with an immediate amphitheatre space for students to organise events perennially. The central atrium void extends vertically with sprawling room layouts on either side, creating a sense of an easy visual connection amongst students on opposite ends when they approach towards the common corridors, which are trimmed at concurrent spots using staircases, which break the thought of monotonicity of continuous paths. These steps, sensibly planned, behave as intermediary spaces for students to sit and go beyond their room layouts and connect with more people, either during the time of examinations and projects or just as a pastime.
The immense play of amenities like pantry, audio-visual room, gym zone, study units, indoor games areas, and computer rooms as floating blocks across different levels in the atrium, not only joins floorplates but also promotes successive social interactions as well. The play of volumes as solid mass and voids is designed not only to respond to the views and provide climatic responses but also to become social landmarks.
Material and Construction Disposition:
Mumbai‘s climate and construction difficulties are transformed into a subtly magnificent architectural symphony by the VJTI hostel. Precast concrete screens, which are re-imagined jaalis, let in soft lighting and air while blocking out harsh sunlight. Light is softly directed into the depths of the basement by ground-level glass windows and embedded concrete protrusions that puncture the threshold between floors. Comfort arises naturally as student rooms breathe outward and into a cathedral-like atrium that serves as a thermal chimney, drawing warm air upward and inviting cool breezes below.
These bridges that traverse the atrium in the steel–concrete composite system are structurally independent, relatively shallow, as well as focused on efficiency, yet exist as broadened social platforms. The installation of them activates circulation as movement and interaction. With a reinforced concrete structure, the hostel uses a modular bay spacing that allows for prefabricated insertion and quicker turnaround time. Open fair-faced concrete reduced the amount of finishing work required, with brick infill walls and pre-cast jaali panels offering durability, ventilation, and solar shading. In combination, these components make for a simple and affordable approach to a low-maintenance building system in which materiality and environmental consideration drive the design
Sustainable Extensions to Ideologies:
The designed spacing and environmental considerations of this structure play a part in ensuring it meets the sustainability goals. The concrete floor projections function as skylights to bring in natural daylight and reduce the requirement for artificial lighting, with windows on the ground floor serving as clerestories overlooking basement areas. This building is also oriented to provide maximum thermal comfort and incorporates a light-coloured surface for reduced solar heat gain. This scheme is based on the massing design that allows for natural air circulation around the playground, gives a cooling effect outside of the built-up area, features spiral staircases, lower dependence on elevators and the demand for mechanical maintenance, while a central atrium produces an effect enabling natural ventilation to occur between levels.
References:
Website
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Images
Vjti Student Housing (2023) Mobile Offices. Available at: https://mo-of.com/projects/vjti-student-housing/
