METU Campus Dormitorios

Dormitory District of METU Northern Cyprus Campus covering 120000 m2 is situated on southern hillside of campus area. Dormitories will accomodate 6000 students when completed.
This large complex, will become a real “student village” having more population than many local villages around. The project’s scale ranges from urban design to interior design of ind?vidual rooms. The contruction of the first phase representing 14000m2 is completed.

The site is divided into two by a longitudinal axis (inner road) parallel to the slope: “Upper Part” and “Lower Part”. Multistorey dormitory blocks that accomodate majority of population are situated on Upper Part which is also closer to campus’s main facilities. Lower part looks like rather a” mediterranean village” with its small housing units with gardens. Shady pedestrian paths on northern side of houses function as “corridors” in dorm blocks. Their gentle slope is convenient for biking and walking.
Common facilities such as cafeteria, library, study, laundry, etc. are located on “garden floor” of dorm blocks; which favorises outdoor use (of gardens). At “Lower Part”, they are located along the “inner road”. They function as “urban service nodes”, structural elements of spatial structure.

Dormitory rooms (living unit for 3 students) have large sliding windows in order to maximize natural lightening and ventilation. Thick stone walls on façades protect them from direct sun rays and semi-courts behind walls provide shadow. The spatial layout of blocks favorises flow between indoor and outdoor. “Flexibility”, “adaptability” and “evolutive character” const?tute main design criteria at every scale of design work: urban design, architecture of buildings, landscaping, use of outdoor space, interiors of “living units” and “personal cells”.

Photograph by: B. Coleri