Extension to Newman Hall
Society of Jesus. 1045 sqm
Ahmedabad. 2023–

This project extends Newman Hall, a Jesuit seminary situated in Ahmedabad’s university district, across the road from St Xavier’s College, with which it maintains a close relationship. The existing seminary, designed by Hasmukh Patel in 1965, is organised along a strong central axis, with rooms flanking a courtyard and a chapel at its heart. Sixty years on, the extension adds a range of functions, including accommodation for the principals of the community, guest rooms, and archives. The new structure continues one arm of the existing ambulatory, maintaining the central axis while increasing the depth of the plan to meet contemporary needs. The original building is defined by an array of dominant 12-metre-tall brick piers. This element is carried forward in the new work, which repeats and updates much of the earlier construction, including exceptionally thin floor slabs and concrete solar shades. A stairwell and chapel block in exposed concrete, distinct from the rest of the structure, is positioned to mediate the connection between old and new.

Shaan Patel, Kahan Vyas, Ayushi Shah, Ketan Thakor, Sourabh Banerjee, Hetvi Jadav, Nirav Vaniya, Parth Modi, Tark Patel