• • 08 May 2015
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  •  Michael Mathenge
• Education Centres , Urban Architecture , Urban , Selected Works , Editor's Choice ,

Every once in a while, institutional projects break the prescribed path of mundane repetition and enters the league of extraordinary architecture. The makers of Eko Atlantic City, MZ Architects have achieved that daunting task with the TechU Ibadan campus, an ultra-modern institution for higher learning in Oyo State, Nigeria. The project is already hailed as the first of its kind in the country and in Africa, propelling the ever developing city into the international limelight.

The Ibadan Technical University stretches over a million sq m of land, adjacent to the main Lagos-Ibadan road. The master plan’s concept aims to create a dynamic and interactive space for students and staff. A circle - the symbol of unity - defines the master plan’s layout where different functions are united in an enclosed, landscaped and shaded pedestrian zone.

Through its aesthetics and ambience, the TechU Ibadan will manifest its curriculum and enlighten the student population in Bio-technology, under water Engineering, Aircraft Maintenance/ Repairs, Robotics, Automation, Cyber-security, Mechatronics, Tropical Agricultural Engineering/Food processing amongst others.

The heart of the Ibadan University project lies within a circular enclosure: the faculties, the administration, the library, the research center, the auditorium and the amphitheatre are free standing volumes shifting within the grid. The core of the Ibadan Technical University campus is the administration building with an architecture formed of suspended ceilings, shading the common zones, and forming nice gathering areas in between the administration volumes.

The design is based on a principle of unique innovation, research collaboration, exceptional service, integrity, excellence, and the uplifting of human condition. The master plan’s circular concept aims to create a dynamic and interactive space for students and staff. The administration building which also includes the university library offers a design inspired by red brick architecture, with suspended ceilings: Brick volumes pop out inside two suspended concrete slabs, creating shaded gathering areas between the two functions.

The development offers the benefits of an energy efficient city, through its design and building materials. The master plan is strategically oriented taking into consideration natural and environmental conditions, for an optimal benefit from the solar energy and prevailing winds. This had a major impact on the project: the distribution of functions, the circulation and transportation system based on the walkability index. The technical university of Ibadan is a self-sustaining project contributing in the country’s planning development. The design will take into consideration the Nigerian future of sustainable architecture.

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    © 03-MZArchitects-TechUIbadan-Interior-Render

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    © 01-MZArchitects-TechUIbadan-Masterplan-Render

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    © 05-MZArchitects-TechUIbadan-Layout

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    © 04-MZArchitects-TechUIbadan-Render