The project, an administration building, is a steel and glass structure, with a floor area of about 1'200 m2, provides rooms for training, meetings, and administration. The structural system chosen for this building enabled rapid erection and assembly on site, and it is economical, durable, and attractive. This light construction can as easily be dismantled and taken to another site, if necessary. The architect's role was seen as fusing space requirements with structure and infrastructure (services) amidst a play of light by using visible and invisible surfaces made up of recyclable materials in a functional and simple ensemble.
The building is designed as a simple rectangle consisting of 10 bays of 3.3 metres each along its front and three bays across, a central one of 2 metres and one of 7 metres on either side. The upper level roof projects 5 metres out with parallel ribs providing shade from the rising morning sun, yet letting the sky be visible through it all day, in the form of an elevated pergola. A totally glass-encased entrance doorway leads into a two-level central atrium space. A grand staircase made up of laminated glass steps on a steel frame leads dramatically from the atrium foyer to the upper level.
The upper level has three distinct areas. Directly at the top of the stairs is a large multi-purpose space, which leads to the right to four individual office rooms, and to the left to an open-plan office atop the seminar room. The entire structure is clad in carefully detailed glass or blank panels, selected and positioned to provide maximum light to the interiors, achieve transparency of space and structure from the inside out and outside in, and also relate to the direction of the sun.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
