Project Title & Location
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES, Los Baños STUDENT DORMITORIES
Los Baños, Laguna

Client
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
Los Baños, Laguna

Project Completion
2000

Associated Firms
ECT Consulting Engineers
Mendoza Egineering
Engr. Cesar Tadeo

Services Provided
- Architectural Design Services
- Engineering Design Services

The construction of the dormitories has its beginnings when the former President Fidel V. Ramos, during his visit to the Los Baños Campus of U.P. asked what the students wanted from the government. A year later, in 1999 one building block begins to be built. The project site is in the former student cooperative housing area. The site can accommodate a gross floor area of 2,765 square meters. Each building houses 300 student occupants grouped into six to a room. There are 11 to 18 rooms per floor.

The dormitories feature a cluster of rooms which define the territory of the users of the common toilet and baths as well as the study areas that are situated along the corridors There are also designated living area, dining area and kitchen for each building, as well as office space for the dormitory manager. All are located at the ground floor.

In the design of the dormitories, the use of the new concept in structural construction called "tunnel form" is applied. The system uses shear walls thus eliminating the use of columns and beams. This simplifies and economizes in construction costs and permits the efficient use of spaces without obstructing posts and lintels. Each building is likewise designed to permit the efficient circulation of air for passive cooling, thus the use of large windows and open ended hallways.