Lal Bahadur Shastri Hostel - IIT KGP

This 2000-capacity boys hostel is the largest hostel in IIT KGP, a testament to the need to house a large number of students for 4 years in the campus. Through this project, we have tried to acknowledge the importance of hostel space and typology on shaping and influencing academic lives of some of the countries brightest students. The hostel has been imagined as an urban neighbourhood, triggering and sustaining multiple activity patterns. Design development also explored green concepts that reduce energy consumption, reduce construction cost and increase liveability.

The arrangement is in the form of hierarchical clusters of interaction - from the room, the Roak, to the Gali, the Chowk and finally, the Dining Hall. A linear system of block arrangement maximises spatial efficiency, criss-crossing corridors increase transparency, improves penetration of natural light and creates cross-ventilation drafts. This system also results in the formation of eight internal courtyards that serve as valuable community level meeting, interaction and outdoor activity spaces

The detachment of corridors from the room also creates numerous vertical ventilation shafts. To ensure cross ventilation, the central wing is on stilts. There are internal greens to further aid passive cooling, and three direction specific façade systems help cut heat and glare while allowing light penetration.

Location: IIT Kharagpur, West Bengal
Client: Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Year: 2008