11 Sep : The Indian Concrete Institute, Punjab State Centre and Grasim Industries Ltd, (Cement Division) have selected and awarded three buildings from the region as “Outstanding Structures of the year 2008”. These buildings are: (1) Vidya Sagar Institute Of Mental Health, Amritsar, designed by Architect Sarbjit Singh Bahga and Structural Engineer V.K. Sood, (2) KMG Towers at Mohali, designed by Architect Sangeet Sharma and Structural Engineer Syal & Associates and, (3) Boys’ Hostel in Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak designed by Architect Hitender Singh and Structural Engineer Sushil Dogra. These awards will presented today in Hotel Taj Chandigarh.
The Vidya Sagar Institute Of Mental Health, Amritsar, is a sprawling campus meticulously built on 45 acres of land. It accommodates more than 450 mentally-ill patients in a very conducive environment. Since the average stay of patients in a mental hospital is usually much longer than their counterparts in other hospitals, so they need more open spaces. The Campus is thus designed as “buildings-in- the- garden”. Different types of wards have been provided for different categories of patient. The master plan comprises primarily two zones: the Outer Circle and the Inner Circle. The Outer Circle accommodates the buildings like OPD-cum-Diagnostic-cum-Administrative Block, Occupational Therapy/Rehabilitation Unit, Voluntary Patients’ Unit, Serai, Shopping / Cafeteria besides, Services like Kitchen, Laundry, and Stores. The Inner Circle having wards of different types has further been divided in two Sections: the Male Section on the east and the Female Section on the west. These Sections are enclosed by 6-foot- high boundary-walls with restricted entries.
All the building blocks in the campus have been laid out on a strict Cartesian pattern with symmetrical juxtaposition reminiscent of traditional Indian campuses. The built-up masses and the open spaces are ingeniously interwoven to create a building-in-the-garden effect. The entire hospital complex has been linked by vaulted corridor running independently through open spaces with greenery on both the sides. Built-up benches have been provided at certain intervals for casual sitting while walking in the corridor. The entire Inner Circle has been kept strictly pedestrian so as to impart serene and tranquil environment to the inmates. Vehicular traffic has been restricted to the periphery.
“KMG Towers” at Mohali is awarded for its sustainable measures and efficient services management. Combining technology and aesthetics, the building stands out as a landmark in the IT park, Mohali.
The design of Boys’ Hostel in Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak was conceived mainly as a response to two factors. Firstly the constraints of the site which was hedged from 3 sides by existing building blocks and a railway track on the 4th from which a mandatory set back had to be left, leaving little space for the building block. Secondly, the users of the building were medical students given to long hours of academics in their hostel rooms. This required the rooms to be well spaced from each other catering to individual privacy and silence, designed around a common space to enhance community feeling and offset loneliness which is bound to creep in due to long hours of study. The hostal building has been designed around a landscape courtyard with entrance, mess and allied facilities on one side and the rooms on the other three sides. These have been angularly placed alongside of corridor which is loaded doubly. A unique system of cutouts in the central passage on all floors with skylights at top provides excellent light and ventilation inside the building and lighting up the rooms as well. Staircases / lifts have been strategically placed. Toilets have been provided at all ends so that residents have to travel minimum distance for using them.
The decision to award these three projects is taken by a Jury consisting of eminent engineers and architects. The criteria for selection was innovative use of reinforced concrete as a building material.