The Student Centre’s services include health care, counselling, housing and recreational facilities interlinked by communal spaces. The designers, inspired by traditional souks and courtyards providing shelter from the exterior, discovered many resemblances between Arab and Mexican architecture. The concrete building with thick sandstone-lined walls provides good insulation to the climate. The sports hall is a steel structure. East- and west-orientated windows shaded with lattice and closed south elevations help avoid solar gain. Heat pipes, sensors and irrigation features are amongst integrated climatic controls. A sculpture garden, titled Helix, is designed by the artist Jan Hendrix and features countless water jets and aluminium panels.

Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture