Built in 1924, the existing building had revolved around medical-related usage, first serving as a hostel for medical students and subsequently nurses’ quarters after World War II. This legacy is allowed to persist through its transformation into the new medical school.
Analysis of the project brief rationalised the accommodation of administration office spaces within the historic building, while flexible collaborative spaces necessitating large-span column-free layouts are displaced into a new annexe. Addition of the new annexe (comprising 3 storeys and a basement lecture theatre) is in meticulous alignment, establishing a new spatial parti as a compact insertion into the courtyard space of the C-shaped historic building. Clad in full height curtain walls of highly reflective double glazing, the annexe detracts from its own presence and instead dissolves into layers of reflections, mirroring the facades of the existing building. Without mimicking the archaic Palladian architectural style, a lively dialogue is formed between new and old, crafting a harmonious symphony across the space-time continuum.
Low-emissivity double glazing enveloping the annexe ensures thermal comfort. Careful detailing adapted the curtain wall system to the tropical climate, incorporating elements such as drip plates at the top of the glazed façade to prevent streaking marks after torrential rain. Precise engineering for inconspicuous structural reinforcement to the historic building enabled a new double-volume interior lobby space to be carved out – partial demolition of the existing second storey slab was a delicate operation that left no tell-tale trace of this major modification. A lofty, welcoming entrance adjoining the drop-off was created, and anchors an axial connection to the new annexe.
The synergy sparked by re-synchronising spaces to new use bears an irrepressible vigour. The atmospheric character of the historic building and sheer transparency of the annexe offer varying experiences gravitating from a sense of contemplativeness to exciting liberation.
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