Institutional

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

In SDAARCHITECT’s design philosophy, we believe that the first and primary consideration of institutional design architectural projects in India is the presupposition that designing an institutional building is a form of “place making” – – with the ultimate aim being to create a network of spaces where ideas may evolve, cross-pollinate and be evaluated over time.

This means that institutional design is primarily concerned with directed learning and controlling the visitor experience for an immersive experience.

ACCESS AND TEMPORAL CONSIDERATIONS

Institutional spaces are subject to multiple constraints and considerations, in terms of access, hours of operation, build phases (short/long term) and future expansions.

Hence, these spaces are defined by a complex interplay of programmatically defined (conventional) spaces as well as more “ambiguous” spaces that are planned for future contingencies or to allow flexibility in use.

This balance between specificity and ambiguity is a key element of spatial planning of institutional architecture projects.

In practical terms, this is achieved by establishing “core” linkages, circulatory backbones and service areas, which are to be retained, and allow for flexible expansion into future phases on the periphery.

This does not mean one should complicate the access and egress routes – – a good institutional building must be and look accessible.

SITE PLANNING GUIDELINES

Institutional projects are often undertaken in very large site areas. Additionally, often the allocated sites for institutional projects have pre-existing infrastructure.

Situating the building must be a design decision made taking into account the site exigencies, existing pedestrian paths, slope and rainwater drainage patterns.

The positioning of service entries early in the design is also essential in institutional building design, since service entrances usually have specific guidelines and dimensioning requirements.

FORM AND GENIUS LOCI

Genius Loci means the “spirit of the place”. Since institutional buildings are culturally relevant projects, it is important for these designs to be responsive to their physical and social context.

At the same time, it’s important to resist the urge to tend towards simple pastiche and instead consider how the form can be site and context responsive, and also be sensitive to the human scale at the same time.

Creating large monolithic forms may seem impressive from a birds eye view 3D render, but often lack the ground level distinctions in terms of human scale.

INSTITUTIONAL POSITIONING

The design must be consistent with the institution’s own goals and philosophy.

For example – it’s probably not a great idea to make Glass Box for a museum of traditional arts and vernacular materials.

How the Institution would like to be viewed by the community and by its visitors is an important consideration, and aligning your aesthetic approach with the institution’s vision and goals is a critical first step.

ARCHITECTURE OF DISCOVERY

Endless sequences of rooms is probably the worst way to design an institutional building.

Learning is about interrupting patterns of monotony, or generating curiosity in the visitor to explore the network of interconnected spaces.

The movement of the visitor through the building must be an experience in itself, and a spatial adventure.

This is achieved by careful modulation of view corridors, shifts in scale and volume, and a playful dialog between order and disruption.

INTEGRATING TECH

Technology is inseparable from learning processes today.

Whether designing immersive museum experiences, or school classrooms, it is increasingly necessary for architects to integrate technology into institutional building design.

PUBLIC AND SHARED SPACES

As a public building, an institutional architectural project’s spatial use patterns and requirements will evolve over time.

So the spaces must have a degree of built-in flexibility, to allow for a variety of public functions.

To prevent this from becoming an expensive (and sprawling) affair, its important to make provisions for spaces that can be specifically shared across functions, for more economic utilization of spaces.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN

Institutional buildings are social role models, and are representative of a society’s awareness and concious involvement in sustainable initiatives. Hence, integrating sustainable design principles is a way to make a positive impact as well as set the standard for future projects.