The design brief requested a single building where 13 different faculties of engineering could be combined in a cross-disciplinary environment, providing students with the opportunity to network and socialise with each other. The resulting Science and Technology Centre includes four separate building units joined together with two internal sunken courtyards and an internal atrium. The complex offers 22 classrooms and 33 research and education laboratories -- a space totalling approximately 16,000 m2. Multi-purpose classrooms were strategically located at the ground level. The Administration, Faculty and IT Laboratories were located on the first floor, whilst specialist experimental labs were situated at the lower ground level. The environmental context, such as solar radiation and wind, has also been taken into consideration. For example, the South façade of the building was fully clad with second generation thin-film photovoltaic panels, a first for the island.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture