The use of local resources, including both materials and construction elements, did not prevent us from creating a contemporary, technological building.
Several years ago, we were commissioned to design a building linked to Lagos Business School, Nigeria’s most prestigious business school…
Several years ago, we were commissioned to design a building linked to Lagos Business School, Nigeria’s most prestigious business school located on one of the campuses of the Pan-Atlantic University near Lagos, the country’s largest city.
The IMRC (International Management Research Centre) is a teaching building for business research which is connected physically to the main business school building and library. Our task was to design this connection and give the building its own personality. We opted to extend the corridors from the two pre-existing buildings onto each of the three floors, arranging the space around these two axes and creating a separate outside entrance to the new building.
In order to harness the natural light and provide ventilation to all rooms, the building was designed as three volumes linked by an interior courtyard and a large entrance hall which connects the volumes via the corridors to each floor and houses the reception area and stairs.
Located on either side of the courtyard, the two main blocks house the workspaces and are oriented north and south in order to prevent excess heat from the sun.
The block at the back of the building contains offices and seminar rooms, while the volume on the other side of the courtyard houses classrooms and an auditorium on the upper floor. This allowed us greater freedom and flexibility when designing the building’s main façade where the entrance is located, while the rear façade features a regular rhythm of voids.
The third block is located on the other side of the central hall and contains the service areas.
We carried out this project in collaboration with Jess Castellote from the architecture studio Laborda Associates in Lagos.
The use of local resources, including both materials and construction elements, did not prevent us from creating a contemporary, technological building.
