The challenge of this city campus for a private university was to create light, relaxing spaces on a tight urban plot. The six storey building uses the full extent of its site but this creates a long west-facing facade exposed to intense sunlight and a busy street. The classrooms on the first four floors therefore open to the north or south, with walls of handmade, kiln-fired brick to the west. Where more light is required for offices on the upper floors, larger areas of glass are double glazed and shielded by vertical brick fins. In the absence of outdoor space, wide internal verandahs provide social spaces.

Source:

The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2011.