The Street: Mathura, India

This project is located in lead from the old city streets of Mathura City in India. An 800 room for students’ hostel that produces natural spaces is a 4 level design with 5 linear blocks. The spaces built turn along their length and snake across a wedge-shaped site twisting. When we sit adjacent to the east and west hostel blocks, there are built new hostels which create individual spaces within a large university campus and also inside the discernible identity in each part of the layout as per information available via v2com.

The orientations of all the building are organised with a view facing garden areas which overlooks a big playground towards the north. Besides all this, each hostel room is attached to a wedge-shaped bay window tuned towards the north as well as the playground.

Proper ventilation openings are provided in each hostel room that too in the internal corridor facilitating cross ventilation. The attractive point is that at each bending point, there is a small break out spaces in these linear buildings. Through these small breaks, natural lights come into the internal circulation spaces.

These factors have benefitted the university people and climate a lot; as all these factors together work as an energy efficient building, which minimizes the heat gain that results in the average temperature in excess of 300 C for those 8 months of the year when the sun lies in the Southern Hemisphere.

When the sun lies in the Northern Hemisphere that is during the winter months, direct sunlight is promoted to help rooms from getting too cold. At the ends of the linear buildings, two focal areas are created that have game rooms, cafeterias, and gymnasium opening into the north facing terraces and gardens. All of the public spaces are large volumes with 20′ high ceilings.

The organic layout of the buildings identifies each space inside the site. Colour is one factor that emphasises different blocks and promotes within. Different colours are given to each block and bright colours given to the internal face of the bay windows of the hostel that distinguish them.

Additionally, water recycling, rainwater harvesting and usage of solar panels make this project more energy efficient besides orientation and facilitation of natural ventilation.

The Street is according to the orientation and the climate of the site, therefore, producing different and varying thoughts of space set in all parts of the 6-acre site.

Data Sheet

Official name of the project: The Street, Hostel @ GLA University

Location: Mathura, U.P., India

Budget: $ 6,108,300

Project dates/project end date: September 2015 – March 2017

Area: 2,11,000 Sq.f.t

Client: GLA University

Architects: Sanjay Puri Architects

Designers: Sanjay Puri, Ishveen Bhasin

Photo credits: Dinesh Mehta

About Sanjay Puri Architects: Sanjay Puri, alumni of Mayo College, Ajmer and St.Xaviers College, Mumbai graduated from the Academy of Architecture, Mumbai in 1988 and is the principal architect of the firm Sanjay Puri Architects.

With a young team of over 72 architects the firm has a diverse portfolio of projects including townships, residential developments, software parks, hotels, retail malls, schools, and smaller individual projects.

Photo credits: Dinesh Mehta via v2com