Politeknik Penang

Location: Seberang Perai, Pulau Pinang

 

Status: Completed

 

Located at about 10 km from Butterworth, the campus is on a 100 acres site which was previously a padi field.

The soft ground allows best for low-rise buildings, as such, the buildings are laid-out sprawling with heights of between 2 to 4 storey.

The layout was carefully planned based onobservations from successful campus planning in the United States and around the world. Inducing local ambience, the campus is also designed in the manner reminiscent to the Colonial Malaysia Institutional Building where the main Administration building faces the 'padang' (green) and the formal entry is created via a palm-tree-line approach road, such as at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar and Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Setar.

The approach spine road branches out feeding the various category of buildings within the campus.  The first road leads to the public domain in the main Administrative building, the Great Hall and the Library. The second branch road feeds the faculty buildings and the third branch road feeds the residential hostels.

Roof forms echos the Penang roof known as 'Bumbung Panjang'. However most, the primary concern is to achieve an architectural theme for these academic buildings that are responsive to the local climate.  The buildings are designed with the longer elevations facing North and South shading away from direct sun.  The roof has deep overhang and staggered façade for maximum climate benefits.  Narrow width-sections of the buildings facilitate cross ventilation.