A Lesson In Sustainability And Planning

Synonymous with other institutional buildings in India, locally produced bricks is the material of choice for this hospitality school-lending a sense of timelessness and aiding in psychological comfort

- Kashish Kaushal

Educational institutions can be instrumental in cultivating the holistic development of students inculcate values of sustainability in the community. The brief for this project stipulated a design for a sustainable campus that would be set within a modest institutional framework and prepare students for a future in the Indian hospitality trade. "Keeping up with our quest to highlight eminent projects that are carrying forward the baton of sustainable design, The Lalit Suri Hospitality School in Faridabad stands out as a prime example," shares Manit Rastogi, founding partner of Morphogenesis.

The planning strategy focused on sensitively preserving and integrating an existing cluster of neem trees abutting the site's northern edge. Therefore, the building actively engages and intertwines with the tree clusters by moving back and forth as required, resulting in multiple landscaped courtyards and shaded areas. The building height is kept low to give it a pedestrian-friendly human scale and allows for the seamless integration of the 'green' and the 'built'.

Sustainability, says founding partner Sonali Rastogi, is about creating maximum impact with limited resources and zero waste. "Nature has always been one of the best examples of sustainability. It is a medium to merge the social, cultural, financial, and technological aspects of design, and sustainable architecture plays an extremely critical role in the future of our habitats, ecology and way of life."