Nanyang Polytechnic
Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
Perry Dean Rogers | Partners Architects

Taking advantage of a tropical climate to create a campus where architecture and landscape work together

© Albert lim

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

By Clifford A. Pearson

Nanyang Polytechnic is the latest in a series of large polytechnical schools that Singapore is constructing to develop technicians and middle-level managers for the twenty-first century in order to offer an alternative to a university education, directing students instead to specialized fields of study. At Nanyang, the specialties— engineering, health sciences, information technologies, and business management—function as individual schools sharing a 75-acre campus. With nearly 12,000 students and 2.5 million square feet of space, Nanyang presented the formidable challenge of making a giant institution both easy to navigate and friendly in scale.

Working with DP Architects, Gwathmey Siegel devised a campus plan that connects buildings with covered walkways and cloisters. A central pedestrian spine runs north–south, with buildings for the four schools on either side and cars moving along a loop road around the perimeter of the campus. Although each school has surface parking adjacent to its buildings, most students commute to school by bus or monorail.

At the heart of the plan stands the 550,000-square-foot Campus Center—a great oblong structure housing administrative offices, a library, and other shared facilities. With the main vehicular drop-off and monorail stop in front of the building and the most imposing shared spaces inside it, the Campus Center is Nanyang's literal and symbolic hub.

Because it is at the center of campus, the hub is no more than a five-minute walk from anywhere else. The architects took advantage of the tropical climate to weave gardens and water throughout the campus. The architects also took advantage of a sloping site to create outdoor spaces on three different levels with the parklike main axis running along the middle level.

All of the buildings are poured-concrete structures with precast brise-soleils. Exterior finishes include painted stucco and ceramic tile. The massing, profiles, and sub-elements of the buildings vary, to create individual identities, but all share a common vocabulary.

See the December 2001 issue of Architectural Record for full coverage of this project.

Formal name of Project:
Nanyang Polytechnic www.nyp.edu.sg

Location:
Singapore

Gross square footage:
2.5 million sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$267 Million

Owner:
Nanyang Polytechnic www.nyp.edu.sg

Architect:
Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects
475 Tenth Avenue
New York, NY 10018
www.gwathmey-siegel.com

Robert Siegel, FAIA, Partner

Charles Gwathmey, FAIA, Partner

Joe Ruocco, Associate-in-Charge