SOIL-TESTING LABORATORY, NAWANSHAHAR, PUNJAB
Architect: Sarbjit Singh Bahga, Chandigarh
The tiny double-storied building with a built-up area of 350 square metres is a piece of architectural excellence. It is constructed on a 1550 square-metre site, reclaimed from a dirty pond in the hub of the town. With its clean facades craftily clad in machine-made brick tiles and punctuation with yellow-ochre architraves and recessed horizontal bands at beam levels, the building stands out conspicuously amidst the complexities of hotchpotch development around it.
Governed by the site and soil conditions, the building is designed as a reinforced-concrete frame structure in a strict Cartesian pattern with columns at 4 metres intervals on both axes. The configuration of the built-form follows the grid lines in a zigzag way and reflects it truthfully on the exteriors. Entry to the building is through a verandah created by chopping off part of a module at the ground floor level. The core of the building is a 4-metre-wide lobby, which provides access to various laboratories and office rooms. The building, on the whole, is a pleasant blend of functional efficiency and aesthetics.
Governed by the site and soil conditions, the building is designed as a reinforced-concrete frame structure in a strict Cartesian pattern with columns at 4 metres intervals on both axes. The configuration of the built-form follows the grid lines in a zigzag way and reflects it truthfully on the exteriors. Entry to the building is through a verandah created by chopping off part of a module at the ground floor level. The core of the building is a 4-metre-wide lobby, which provides access to various laboratories and office rooms. The building, on the whole, is a pleasant blend of functional efficiency and aesthetics.
1994
1995
The tiny double-storied building with a built-up area of 350 square metres is a piece of architectural excellence. It is constructed on a 1550 square-metre site, reclaimed from a dirty pond in the hub of the town. With its clean facades craftily clad in machine-made brick tiles and punctuation with yellow-ochre architraves and recessed horizontal bands at beam levels, the building stands out conspicuously amidst the complexities of hotchpotch development around it.
Governed by the site and soil conditions, the building is designed as a reinforced-concrete frame structure in a strict Cartesian pattern with columns at 4 metres intervals on both axes. The configuration of the built-form follows the grid lines in a zigzag way and reflects it truthfully on the exteriors. Entry to the building is through a verandah created by chopping off part of a module at the ground floor level. The core of the building is a 4-metre-wide lobby, which provides access to various laboratories and office rooms. The building, on the whole, is a pleasant blend of functional efficiency and aesthetics.
Architect: Sarbjit Bahga.
