H
CS
CE
D
A
H houses
D student dormitory CS campus services
A administration building CE civil engineering building
Engineering complex forms first phase of new AIT
AT a meeting in January this year, the Board of Trustees of the Asian Insti- tute of Technology (AIT) gave its ap- proval to a design project for phase I of a new campus to be developed at Rangsit, Bangkok.
The project was prepared by the British architectural firm, Robert Mat- thew, Johnson-Marshall and Partners, which is now working on detailed drawings and contract documents with the aim of work starting on the ground in January 1971.
In the meantime the Board has ac- cepted a bid from the Thai firm, Italian-Thai Development Corp. for preparation of the site and this work is now in hand. Completion of the first phase is timed for mid-1972 and the whole development should be ready by 1978, when a student population of 900 is envisaged.
The 160-ha campus site at Rangsit, is 40 km north of Bangkok, adjoining an area intended for extensive develop- ment by Thammasat University. A master plan for the site, prepared by the same architects, was accepted by the board in January 1969.
First purpose of the AIT develop- ment programme is the provision of technological studies at both master and doctorate levels. At present, all studies are gathered within the overall mantle of civil engineering, master degree programmes being offered in environmental, hydraulic, structural, soil, transportation and coastal en- gineering. The first phase of the new development at Rangsit will extend the existing range of civil engineering studies to cover some mechanical en- gineering, but the provisions for this discipline will be completed and elec- trical engineering really got under way in phase II of the project, from 1972 onwards.
Civil engineering buildings
Buildings to be constructed in phase I of the development plan are the civil engineering complex, the ad- ministration building, a campus ser- vices' complex, a dormitory complex and five houses for members of the staff.
The civil engineering complex will consist of two main blocks, set parallel
to each other. The first will contain the types of accommodation which are capable of easy adaption, such as of- fices, classrooms, and bench labora tories; it will consist of a wide, two- storey structure with internal light- wells, thus allowing the maximum of accommodation with direct daylight- ing, double-banked on the sides of two parallel corridors but also allowing the planning of totally internal spaces where artificial lighting is appropriate.
The second building has been de- signed for more specialised purposes, including the main hydraulics, struc- tures, transport and geotechnics la- boratories. It will be the same height as the first building but only part will actually have two storeys, the struc- tures testing laboratory and certain other accommodation rising to the full height of the building. The space be- tween the two buildings which are
-
-
linked by covered ways at two levels will be occupied by two outside hy- draulics basins and an outside area for environmental engineering.
The complex, like most of the other development, is planned on an
Far East BUILDER, April 1970
19
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.