2023 INDE Award, The Learning Space

Our project, Center for Banking Studies, received an Honourable Mention at this year’s INDE Awards under The Learning Space category. This award serves as a platform to recognize global architectural brilliance and inventive designs. IX Architects expresses their privilege to partake in the international competition alongside numerous other distinguished architectural projects known for their excellence and societal significance.

Distinguished from other programs, the 2023 INDE.Awards uniquely spans the Indo-Pacific region, spotlighting individuals and designs which elevate our region’s prominence on the worldwide stage.

THE PROJECT:

The Center for Banking Studies is a higher learning campus that marks a pioneering achievement in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the prevailing norm for contemporary structures in the challenging tropical climate leans towards enclosed, air-conditioned environments. In contrast, this project takes a different approach – we embraced the climatic hurdles and curated a series of outdoor learning spaces that provide shelter from the elements while maintaining a comfortable and naturally-ventilated ambience.

The outcome is a collection of educational spaces suffused with natural light and ensconced in lush foliage, all while remaining pleasantly cool amid the harsh climate of Cambodia.

This green campus celebrates the local biodiversity. The design goes beyond mere landscaping by meticulously selecting local species, thereby fostering a habitat that attracts local fauna and promotes the thriving of the ecological balance. On top of landscaping, the design also invites the flora and fauna into the infrastructure of the building through imprints of plant species that are subtly woven into feature walls gracing the social zones of the podium, quietly celebrating nature’s bounty in the everyday fabric of life while bestowing a timeless aesthetic.