In a densely populated city like Dhaka where there is no place to breathe in peace, setting up a complete university with all its facilities in a small piece of land was the biggest challenge of the South East University Project. The main idea of ​​the project was to design a vertical campus, where the stimulating environment for students revolves around the central nucleus space. This central nucleus space not only formed space, but also created a path for the sunlight to come through. These illuminated space creates inspiring little spaces where students can hang out, sing along, or flash mob. In short, they can establish a constructive connection in various ways, which is necessary for building a healthy environment in a university.

Dhaka city is still expanding in both planned and unplanned ways. People are joining this city every day, in search of new dreams, in search of new jobs or calling for higher education. The city has more than a hundred universities, most of which do not have enough space. But higher education is not just a classroom-based activities, a campus needs many more facilities apart from the classroom. A campus needs ample space, where students can conduct co-curricular activities and hang out freely. In a space-constrained city like Dhaka, it is really difficult to organize such space. This problem is solved through intelligent infrastructure design. The design of the campus of Southeast University is a healthy, balanced and attractive spatial arrangement, and the campus indirectly leads to effective learning for students - this was the main objective of the architectural consultancy ‘Cube-Inside’ for this project. Students in a university need informal spaces other than classroom space and at the same time need an identity of their own, which will become a symbol of their own campus. In Southeast University, their central nucleus space has become that desired identity.

Image : The building in the context

Image : View from the entrance road

The site in Tejgaon where the new campus of South East University is built was earlier an industrial plot, and the surrounding plots are still mixed-used. Therefore, the university building had the influence of the industrial plot in its external and internal management. Accordingly, the design of the campus has become inward, with all campus activities revolving around the central campus. The principle of the campus design was to create a central nucleus space, from which all the campus activities would extend upwards on different levels. The central void unites the entire campus by creating different levels of space for the university's 12,000 students (approx.).

Inside the main gate of the university there is a driveway with seating arrangements and a small garden. After entering through the main entrance, the students move into the central space, where light enters from above and the vibrant presence of students is seen on the different floors of the building. The central square serves as a focal point for student activities. Classrooms and other formal spaces are arranged around this central space, so that students are always connected to the main campus space.

Image:  Lofty entrance

Image: Multiple layers of spaces in atrium 

Image: Multiple Layers of spaces

Image: Atrium Entrance 

Image: Red brick wall with windows ensuring enough daylights 

Image: Multiple Layers of spaces

Image: Wide corridors for proper circulation 

Image: Articulated spaces for circulation and student activities

When a university is built on a small site, the idea inevitably comes to mind – classrooms, office rooms and other basic functions are built all over the places. However, the most attractive thing about Southeast University's vertical campus is that the vertical campus design has formal rooms and informal spaces for students, where formal rooms as well as informal spaces are given equal importance for the psychological development of students. Corridors, bridges and terraces are beautifully integrated as significant parts of the design.

Southeast University has total 8 departments in its vertical campus. The total number of classrooms is 105 and the number of labs is 32. The first two floors are designed for ancillary functions –

Ground Floor – Admission Office, Student and Guest Waiting, Waiting Lounge and Gallery, Cafeteria, Book Store, Teachers Lounge etc.

First Floor – Lobby, Waiting Lounge, Conference Room, Store, Administrative Office etc.

Image: Ground floor plan

Image: 1st floor plan

Image: 2nd floor plan

Image: 8th floor plan

Image: 9th floor plan

The classrooms are mainly designed from the second floor. A lively movement of students can be seen in the balconies and terraces. These balconies, terraces and the central bridge, which connects one side of the building to the other, are basically the life of the campus.

Image: Section AA

Image: Section BB

Image: North elevation

Image: West elevation

Like everything else, the cost of higher education is increasing exponentially. But if the overall cost of the university can be reduced, then this per capita tuition fee also comes down quite a bit. That’s why Cube-Inside's aim from the beginning of the project was to create a design that could be built entirely using local technologies and construction materials. As a result, both construction cost and maintenance cost come down significantly. Here the design has been done in such a way that even the innermost space of the entire building is illuminated with natural light. As a result, additional lighting equipment and electricity consumption is reduced. At the same time, the overall temperature of the whole building is kept low in the design, which cuts the unnecessary costs of excessive air conditioning.

The biggest advantage of Southeast University campus is its north facing site. The north side of the building has less chance of rainwater ingress and less heat is felt from the north side, so multiple void spaces are placed on its north facade. These voids are connected to the central space by providing a nice air circulation. Only the classrooms are air-conditioned, but all hallways and other spaces are naturally ventilated. Casement windows at the end of the hallway allow for easy ventilation. A double-glazed laminated glass roof illuminates the entire campus with natural light and effectively reduces heat conduction, thereby ensuring a comfortable environment within the building.

Image:  Brilliantly daylit atrium

There is a wall on the left inside the campus from the main entrance, built of some square equal sized punches. Natural light enters the classrooms through punches in the walls. This wall makes the architecture of the campus more attractive. Elevators at the front of the campus provide access to the nine floors of the building. Some of these floors have designated spaces for students to sit together and have informative discussions. The University's spacious library is located on 8th floor. The library also has a discussion room and an e-library. The 9th floor has a multipurpose hall or auditorium.

A steel structure framing system with a concrete slab has been considered to complete the construction process faster. The main structural elements are steel and concrete, with vertical steel members covered with brick and concrete walls. The exterior surface is covered with red exposed brick to maintain the originality of the form. Internal circulation and common spaces are cladded in exposed brick. The classrooms have a white color scheme mainly to create a basic reading environment. Brick is a prominent element in this project which creates a comfortable environment inside and outside.

It was challenging to construct the project within a short time line to accommodate the academic activities of the university as there due to some government regulatory guidelines of shifting all the temporary campus into a permanent address. That’s why the core decision for the structural system was considered as a steel prefabricated structure, which has taken considerably less time to erect in comparison with a concrete structure of the same volume. So the column beam and floor plate was supported by a steel element with a concrete base underneath the single basement. Floor plates have been casted over the metal decking sheet supported by steel beams and sub beams. Later the floors have been finished with homogenous matt floor tiles of concrete finish to prevent the wear & tear and to give the horizontals a bright contrast with the low maintenance vertical walls with brick cladding. Vertical walls were constructed with bricks by covering the steel structural element to ensure the weather protection of the steel structural element. These brick walls have been covered with red cladding bricks to create a warm, vibrant and less maintenance-dependent surface in a public institutional building like a university campus. Inside of the classrooms have been rendered with the plastered surface with white paint to ensure the reinforcement of the daylight inside the classrooms.

Image: The central void is the life of the building

Image: The atrium

All of the horizontal and vertical circulation including stairs, voids and central courtyard is fully naturally ventilated with ample air flow. Openings were covered with transparent glazing having operable panels in every required area of each window to ensure the ventilation in any emergency cases inside the classrooms, as the classrooms, labs, offices, exam halls are air conditioned with VRF system. All open areas except the enclosed spaces have been rendered without a false / drop ceiling by keeping the bare metal ceiling with service ducts and cable trays with a network of lights as required by the space. All the safety railings were fabricated by MS and finished with heat paints. Central court is covered with sandwiched & laminated tempered glass to pour the court with lights and to ensure weather protection from heat and rain. The concrete textured vertical surfaces have been rendered with cement paint over the plastered surface on brick wall with desired texture to reduce the cost.

Building a meaningful relationship and connection between a university's students, faculty and institution requires an invisible link and architecture can be that effective link – this is the motto that prompted 'Cube-Inside' to design the campus building of the Southeast University as a successful and inspiring institution. As a result, this city has got an impeccable architectural work.

Image: Aerial view