Empathise and engage

If there’s one thing we’ve learned makes better buildings, it’s empathy. Architecture never happens in isolation—and simply by being interested and engaged, we’ve found it’s possible to open up the conversations that connect a scheme to its clients and community.

Weconstraints

We believe that the more constraints there are, the better the architecture. If there aren’t any constraints, we create them. Challenging sites, existing buildings and complex briefs almost always present incredible opportunities for great design.

Passive future

To limit our environmental impact, we start with what is already there. By manipulating the form and fabric of a building—whether new or existing—we can work with the existing conditions of topography, light and orientation, and harness the natural energy sources offered by air, ground and water.

Social detail

If a site’s constraints guide the bigger design decisions, then it’s empathy that informs the smaller, social details. These details frame the human narratives that aren’t included in the brief, anticipating specific moments in the users’ lives.

Mud on our boots

Good architecture is as much about what happens on the building site as it is about what’s on the drawing board. By working alongside contractors as well as clients we can ring-fence the ideas and details that matter, championing quality and sustainability throughout construction.

Indian Institute of Technology Campus
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Curl la Tourelle Head
Work
  • Indian Institute for Technology Campus

  • Mandi, Western Himalayas

Client
  • Indian Institute for Technology

Wayne Head led the Delhi based design team appointed by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to prepare a masterplan and detailed proposals for a visionary regenerative campus on the outskirts of Mandi in the far north of the country.

It is the latest in a new generation of Indian Institutes of Technology's being promoted by the Indian Government. The campus layout responds to the microclimate and topography of the steep site in the part forested hills of Kamand in the western Himalayan region.

Phase I includes shared state-of-the-art laboratories and workshops in learning houses situated on various levels and connected via pedestrian bridges. A market square forms the heart of the campus and creates a place to encourage social interaction and celebration.

The faculty staff housing element forms a retreat on the higher levels at the campus ‘peninsula’. It is laid out in a village setting offering fantastic views. Proposed building typologies echo the traditional style of Himalayan vernacular and strive toward a new architecture for the region.

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Indian Institute of Technology Campus

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