National Institute of Design (NID) is a design school in Ahmedebad,Gujarat.

National Institute of Design was established in Ahmedabad in 1961 by the Government of India as an
autonomous national institution for advanced training, research and service in product design, visual
communication, architecture, structure and planning and allied fields. It is a non-profit organisation and has
received generous assistance from the Ford Foundation, Gujarat Government, Ahmedabad Municipal
Corporation and Industry. The expenditure for running the Institution is met from Government of India
grants and professional design fees. NID is internationally acclaimed as one of the finest Education and
Research Institution for industrial, communication, textiles, IT integrated designs.
Aim:
The aim is to provide an environment that
will encourage and foster attitudes and
behaviour consistent with the fulfilment of
the Institute’s educational purpose; and to
have buildings that are “the most
unmonumental, anonymous, pleasant, and
unpretentious.”

Location: Paldi, Ahmedabad

Architects: Giraben Sarabhai & Charles Eames
Extensions: KB Jain
Area of the site: 20 acres approx.

Site:
The site is located along the Sabarmati
River.
The site measures about 20 acres.
In its surrounding is the Tagore hall, the kite
museum and opposite to the site is Diwan
ballabhai high school.
Requirements:
Main complex comprising Studios
Workshops
Laboratories
Seminar and Lecture Rooms
Library and Offices
Residential accommodation for staff and
students
Site development

Feasibility
•The site is
4.4km from Ahmadabad railway station,
4km from Ahmadabad Bus stand and
11.6 kms from Ahmadabad airport.
FEATURES of the site:
The shape of the site has influenced its design of the
institute greatly.
Most of the main buildings are provided with the river view.
The site is on the west bank of the Sabarmati River and is
sloping towards it.
The ground level is 2.51 metres below the high flood level
recorded in 1875.
Hence the entire building is on stilts, the main floor standing
3.24 metres above the ground level. Thus 9570 sq. metres of
floor space becomes available on the ground floor, which is
profitably utilized as public area, common-rooms for staff
members and students, canteens, and for the storage of raw
materials such as logs of wood, iron, steel, etc. not likely to
get damaged by the occasional flood.

Access to site
The site can be approached through two entries: one for the
institute and other for residential area.
No entry has been provided along the main road, as it is a
heavy traffic zone.
From the main gate, the institute is hidden behind thick
foliage and is only visible once we enter the main gate.
• The earlier establishment of the institute within the
premises of the cultural center, Sanskar Kendra, could
have influenced the designing of NID.
• The plan of NID resembled the Sanskar Kendra in certain
aspects like, using structural grid of columns and freeing
the ground for public activities.
• Other similarities between the two built-forms were the
use of precise geometry evolved on the basis of module,
the idiom of exposed materials brick with horizontal
concrete bands, and the expression of the courtyard.
• Also the structural braces used in Sanskar Kendra - a
double set of columns, was also repeated in the NID,
where workshops and studios were structurally separated
to control noise and vibrations.
• But the pristine box created by Corbusier in Sanskar
Kendra has been successfully broken with the roofs of
different levels creating a dynamic composition.
Layout:
The whole campus can be distinctively divided
into two major zones – Institutional &
Residential.
The main block which consists both the
academic and administration departments is
placed on the eastern part facing the river.
Sports facilities are in between the two blocks.

Movement about the site:

Emphasis has been given on the pedestrian
movement of the site, and one is encouraged
to walk around the building and discover it
slowly.

Parking:
Vehicular movement is restricted only till the
entrance for the visitors.
But it is possible from residential areas to
academic block and vice-versa.
Besides, services entries are provided for the
various workshops.
Planning:
The plan of NID signifies varied spatial experiences
with different 'spatial types' such as the pen
courtyard with thorough way, the raised platform
type, the colonnade type facing the green spaces,
the multiple entrances, the formal entrance court
with the brick shell, and lastly the grid which holds
the whole composition together. The plan displays
magnificent interconnections and spatial non-
hierarchy with the openness of the organization.
The complex modulations with partition walls,
created maze with diverse experiences. This
openness of the plan symbolizes the expression -
'free plan'. Another interesting juxtaposition is the
location of an old monument, used as backdrop for
amphitheatre, in close vicinity to the main building.
The simultaneous existence of old and the new,
creates dynamic compositional balance.
The important aspect in the design of NID, has been
the involvement of the whole body, instead of just
the eye for spatial experience. The subtle level
differences created, calls upon the whole body to
respond than perception of the eye.
• The courtyards, functionally conceived as open spaces
to segregate between two diverse functions of
'seminar rooms' or 'classrooms' and 'workshops' or
'laboratories' due to noise and structural reasons;
spatially created light wells for the dark ground spaces.
• The north-south orientation of the studios gives more
light and cuts off the glare.
• The public court in the front covered with large brick
shell forms the entrance to all the public activities as
library, Auditorium, drafting studios and seminar
rooms on the mezzanine floors while on the ground,
the exhibition pavilion, with showroom for the
commercial sale of the designed objects.
• The non-hierarchical organization of the plan provided
the necessary autonomy of the form.
• The large green space overlooking the river forms
subtle transition from the building to the river.
WALKING PATHS
STONES
• A feeling of informal atmosphere has been achieved
with a low ceiling for a large open entrance.
Material in (brick & concrete) exposed form thus
providing under lit surface which gives feeling of
intimacy
• The whole built block has been planned around two
main courtyards.
• An informal setup of reception and waiting space
with informally placed exhibits of informal rural
kinds of images.
• The basic planning has been done around the two
courts, providing light into the studios of first and
second floor.
• Entry of the workshops is through the second court.
• All the workshops and laboratories, administrative
offices and a showroom are located on the first
floor. The auditorium is located on the second floor
.Each technology (such as wood, metal, plastics,
ceramics and glass, printing and photography) is
assigned a separate wing connected to the central
core (which can be used for product assembly) but
separated from each other by courts which are
utilized as outdoor work areas. Open to sky terraces
in between the workshops provide outdoor work
areas. A raised earth-platform on the west side
gives direct access to workshops on the first floor.
Provision has been made for expansion, not only of
each workshop but for three new workshops in the
future. Drafting studios, seminar rooms and the
library are on the mezzanine floor.

Workshops in First floor

Circulation:
Horizontal circulation
• The movement pattern develops on the ground
floor through the court like spaces that developed
under the structural grid. The movement pattern
through the court become symbolic of the institute.
• One is made to experience the receding columns in
perspective on the way to canteen.
• The main circulation on the first & second floors is
through a long and narrow passage at the centre.
• The passage is single height narrow linear space.
Vertical circulation
Triple height staircase marked with
platforms at different levels gives a very
impactful experience. One of its major
functions is to formalize the entry to
auditorium on the second floor.
The second staircase has been placed in the
rear most court, which is used as secondary
preference to the triple height staircase.
Spiral stairs have been provided as a means
of connecting workshop to the studios.
The semi opened space around the
canopied roof of the double staircase is an
excellent activity area where the students
interact, relax and has some major source of
exchange ideas.
Workspaces
(Studios and workshops)
• All workspaces are designed with proper
segregation of work and storage.
• All studios and workspaces are north-south
oriented to allow ample light and ventilation
• The main workshop has double height clearance.
These workshops are separated from each other by
courts and open to sky terraces, which act as
outdoor work areas as well provide light to the
interiors.
Studios:
• Double glazing between the studios and the
workshops enables students to literally see what is
actually happening on the production floor, without
however, being disturbed by the noise from the
machines.
• Spiral staircases from the studios provide direct
access to the workshops. The staggering of the
studios to the east and the west permits open
planning and at the same time ensures privacy.
Library:
• The library has a lounge with open book-stacks for
browsing and a separate area for quiet study.
• Garden terraces attached to the library overlook the
river to the north.
Workshops:
• All workshops and drafting studios have a north-
south orientation in order to avoid direct sun-light
in the work areas.
• They also have direct ventilation.
• The core of the building is structurally separated
from the workshops, so as to eliminate vibration
and material-borne noise being carried from the
workshops to the studios.
• Further, this device enables the various
components of the complex to be constructed in
several stages.
Ventilation
The campus has been designed taking into consideration the
hot and dry climate of Ahmedabad. The activities are so
planned that they spill over into inward looking spaces.
The courtyards are a result of this and remain building in the
shadow for most part of the day.
To allow the inflow of light into the workshops, sliding panels
have been installed. These sliding panels rum from the height
of the skirting to about 10’ from the floor level.
By running these panels, one not only allows sufficient
quantity of light but also merges the inside which is harsh
and very mechanical in nature with the outside courts which
contain lot of trees.
Pockets of vegetation blend with the structure on the
exterior as well as interior which helping to lower the
temperature.
Large trees protect the building from surface glazing and
courtyards from excessive heating.
The external cladding is prefabricated and consist of heat
resisting glass in metal frames in workshops and in rosewood
frame in studios.
Winds from the riverside are captured in the studios and
workshops from the terraces due to adjustable glazing.
Features like water bodies with jallys are used to filter the
cooled air flowing over the water and passed in interiors.
Landscape
• As soon as the built form is placed on site it
generates its own space in and around it. Thus the
outside open spaces areas much important a design
criteria as inner spaces.
• Lawns are used for informal gathering, cultural
program, etc.
• The campus has been completely landscaped. Three
platforms extend from the institute building in the
lawn acting as built-in sit outs.
• There is also an ancient monument and open air
amphitheatre having densely planted trees around
it.
• Amphitheatre is also used for social functions,
fashion shows, etc.
• Lawns are not only a feature of landscape but they
act as interactive spaces.
Structural principles:
• Organisation of spaces is done using a square
grid of 12.3m, which further gets subdivided into
a grid of 6.15m c/c and has been followed
throughout.
• Column spacing on the ground floor is 6.15
metres (centre to centre).
• The workshop floor consists of a grid of waffle
beams 2.05 metres (centre to centre) apart, with
precast RCC shells designed to carry machine
loads of 1000 kg/sq. metre (including impact).
• The use of brick in roof-shells as in floor-slabs
was suggested on account of the prevailing
shortage of cement in the country. Incidentally, it
is also more handsome than concrete. The
external cladding is pre-fabricated and consists
of heat-resisting glass in metal frames in the
workshops and in rose-wood frames in the
studios.
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