The arts centre — This includes a studio for graphics, a music studio and a dance and drama

studio. All these activities cluster around a stepped terrace that sits on the edge of the hill,
affording a grand view of the river and the valley below. Each studio is linked to the terrace
via a verandah and glass sliding doors; thus, two rising masonry walls in each studio focus
light inside from the massive glass façades that face north, north-east or north-west.

The science centre — This is designed around a square shape, with a preparation room
servicing two laboratories on each side of a covered internal walkway. A huge circular cut-
out opens to the sky. The entrance porch and the students' nook in the rear corner also have
circular cut-outs, creating a sequence.

The administration building — This structure includes offices for the headmaster and three
directors, a boardroom, a faculty meeting room, a desktop-publishing area and school
archives. It is 'anchored' to a corner position by a glass passage and is turned askew, creating
two small courtyards.

The service centre — Amenities are located here: telephone and fax exchanges, a bank and
travel counters and a waiting room. It is composed of a simple triangle, set intentionally at an
angle between the science centre and the administration building to create directional walls in
the entrance area, integrating the geometry of several diverse forms.

The library — The library is a triangular composition on two levels that look onto a glass
atrium. The lower floor of the reading room uses the natural gradient, thus making it a
generous space. The corners of the triangle form part of the reading room, the computer
centre and the stacks respectively. Circular columns supporting the beams are used visually
to demarcate spaces. Slit windows employ these columns to diffuse light onto the walls.
From the entrance porch, through a picture window in the reading room, one gets a view of
Lake Mulshi.

The catering centre — This complex includes entrance, dining and serving areas, as well as
spaces for clearing and washing crockery. There are also areas for food washing, preparation
and cooking, dry, wet and cold stores, as well as an office, an electrical room and laundry.

The multi-purpose hall — The design of this vast interior space had to serve a number of
varied functions. The annual International Baccalaureate examinations take place here, with
specified table sizes and spaces between each table in addition to standard requirements for
air temperature and light levels. It also functions as an auditorium with a stage, green rooms,
theatre lighting and seating and is used for yoga, dance and music programmes, drama,
lectures and convocations.

The amphitheatre — The college campus is as much an outdoor environment as it is an indoor

one. A wall, with 'cut-outs' to peep through, separates off the amphitheatre space. It opens
onto a wide-open stage, composed of a paved platform with a green carpet of grass beyond,
and serves as a connector between the academic quadrangle and the multi-purpose hall.
Mahindra United World College, Pune, India