Sameep Padora & Associates

Aatam Hostel & House

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

AATAM HOSTEL & HOUSE

Sameep Padora & Associates

STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT
Sameer Sawant

MEP CONSULTANT
ARKK Consulting

GRAPHICS
Adnan Kasubhai, Raj Kachalia, Nikhil Bang, Anand Jain

DESIGN TEAM
Vami Sheth, Aparna Dhareshwar, Akanksha Sharma, Archita Bandopadhay, Kunal Sharma

PHOTOGRAPHS
Suryan // Dang

AREA
20000 ft²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Kota, India

CATEGORY
Hostel, Apartments, Residential

Text description provided by architect.

Aatam has a residential program mix, containing hostels rooms for students along with a residence for the family that owns the plot.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

Six years in the making, the project is in the dry and hot climate of Kota, Rajasthan.

The town of Kota in Northern India is a coaching hub for training students to take entrance exams to study at the coveted IIT engineering colleges in India.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

Every year around 200,000 students move to Kota spending a minimum of a year at coaching classes living in private hostels specifically made for student housing in the town.

The economy of the Kota is driven by this temporal population.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

For the IIT aspirant, Kota occupies center stage, so much so, that it spawned a popular OTT show which highlights the travails and tribulations of student aspirants living there.

While the coaching centers are as state of the art as any other such educational institute in the country, student housing is neglected and devoid of much thinking.

Natural Light, ventilation social spaces are mostly absent.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

There is a high risk of failure in getting through the IIT exams which when coupled with the severity or lack of sympathetic living spaces can be psychologically oppressive.

The Kota hostel is a small beginning in reimagining students living in the town.

Working with elements of the traditional haveli ( Rajasthan house form) like vertically proportioned courtyards, Jharokhas ( lookout balconies) and stone Jali’s ( perforated screens) the project is a remaking of the haveli form suited to the programmatic needs of the students.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

In stark contrast to the surrounding rowhouse types which together form an impervious wall to the street, the Kota hostel opens, animating the street with views of the courtyard and then to the playground beyond the plot.

The combination of the social space of terraces and courtyards creates a wind tunnel enabling the breeze to flow through the building.

Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang

The open to sky courtyard is spanned above by a bridge that connects the two arms of the residential unit for the owners.

The building structures through the section multiple stepped terraces of shaded social spaces for the students to create a visual connection across the other levels as well as with the street and the courtyard.


Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang
Aatam Hostel & House
© Suryan // Dang


Aatam Hostel & House
Plan - Ground Floor
Aatam Hostel & House
Plan - 2nd Floor
Aatam Hostel & House
Plan - 4th Floor
Aatam Hostel & House
Plan - 5th Floor


Aatam Hostel & House
Section
Aatam Hostel & House
Illustration


Aatam Hostel & House
Typological Diagram
Aatam Hostel & House
Fenestration Diagram
Aatam Hostel & House
Roofscape Diagram
Aatam Hostel & House
Sectional Studies Diagram
Aatam Hostel & House
Elevation Studies Diagram
Aatam Hostel & House
Gif

Sameep Padora & Associates
T +91 22 26400557
Sameep Padora & Associates
22C, New Kantwadi Scheme, Off, Perry Cross Rd, Pali Hill, Mumbai, Maharashtra 400050, India