Forms Of Higher Learning

From sleek roofs to scintillating façades, architects continue to expand the design lexicon of malaysian campuses.

- Nizar Musa

The business of tertiary education has, since the turn of the century, been a booming one.

With an annual student diaspora that stretches from Kuala Lumpur to Kenya, Malaysian private institutions continue to receive a plenitude of admissions through best-in-class, overseas-accredited programmes.

And in a sector rife with competition, some are turning to architecture for that winning edge.

UNIVERSITY OF READING MALAYSIA

BEST OF BRITISH

The University of Reading Malaysia is one of two British varsities leaving their mark in the education building scene.

The 27,000 ft2 campus by VERITAS Design Group and Scott Brownrigg is a highlight in Johor’s EduCity development, featuring a majestic trapezoidal roof spanning two blocks connected by criss-crossing bridges.

The diagonals inform a latticed ETFE system integrated into the roof, its breadth and transparency bringing daylight to a semi-external “heartspace” of landscaped plaza that blurs the edges of formal and informal teaching.

Enclosing the scheme is a matrix of striating panels, the patterned and permeable screen overlaid onto the facilities’ glazed façades.

Hijjas Architects and Planners’ HeriotWatt University Malaysia, situated in the administrative capital of Putrajaya, similarly employs the roof device for dramatic effect.

HERIOT-WATT UNIVERSITY MALAYSIA