The design of the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) in Bhopal is inspired by the belief that institutions are self-contained entities whose growth is nurtured by a process of self-renewal through the various stages of their development.

The plan of the Institute depicts a set of space requirements for various activities. The complex should be architecturally interpreted as a homogenous entity rather than as separately identified buildings for specific functions on distinct territories. This perception of continuity mitigates isolationist tendencies and eases progress towards academic and social interactions, both of which are hallmarks of a successful and adaptive institute. To this end, the plan attempts to create a sense of community without contradicting the student’s need for individuality.

The 65-hectare site is open and rises approximately 50 metres from the lower road level on a hill plateau, and is heavily contoured on the western and southern sides while the eastern side has gradual slopes.

The major axis runs north-south, and the main circulation spine is located on this axis. The plan of the academic area focuses on the academic and research offices that form the crucial inner core, located equidistant from administrative offices on one side and teaching spaces on the other. In place of a continuous narrow corridor, individual lobbies serve as ‘stop-off’ meeting spaces, opening towards the courts.

The hillside is crowned by the academic complex and is marked by the presence of a compact, cohesive group of buildings which constitute the working zone. This area flows along the flat contours providing a linear form capable of extensions along the other side of the promenade.

The buildings which form the academic court area contain large and small classrooms, and the library, auditorium and seminar rooms. No building other than the library is expected to be more than two storeys high. The library is a four-storeyed building, a strong focal point and a symbolic anchor of the academic court. The amphitheatre with a capacity of 750, is planned for a multitude of activities: speeches, music performances or film screenings.

The living zone consists of dormitories, food service and dining, and other spaces for meetings and congregation. Student dormitories are located at the southern tip of the academic complex. Each unit consists of one house for ten students. Each house has a living room as a social centre at the terrace level, which captures the view of the distant lakes on the horizon; the bedroom– study areas provide privacy and individual space for each student.

All the dormitories are on the southern slopes, oriented towards the Bhopal lakes, in close proximity to the library within the academic complex. The rows of trees between the student dormitories and the academic complex create a buffer zone, besides providing shaded walkways connecting groups of dormitories.

The main features of the site are two hillocks with outcrops of slate stone. As a counterpoint to the natural features, deep bands of native trees are expected to shade the walkways and certain areas of the court, once fully grown. Water bodies, dispersed all over the site, carry water in narrow channels to the green areas. A water reservoir on top of one of the hillocks gives a strong focus to the landscape.

The entire campus is constructed of brick masonry loadbearing walls for the external enclosure of spaces, and reinforced concrete for the internal frame structure, offering inner flexibility for the arrangement of desired layouts of furniture and equipment, and to relieve the external walls of heavy loads.

The openings that receive operable windows are recessed into shadow pockets and these pockets become the dominant architectural features, controlling and directing the scale and proportion throughout the complex. Reinforced concrete flat and arch lintels are standardized on the basis of how much they span and are left exposed.

The areas around the light openings are clad in thin rough Kotah stone and thin slate, in bluish-green to purple hues. The remaining part of the exterior masonry wall surfaces is plastered with stone-washed aggregate grit. The courts between buildings are paved with stone or landscaped to provide as much shade as possible.

The course-stone masonry retaining walls make either terraces or stairs as transfer points to circulate on various levels of courts. The open end of the courts faces the prevailing southwest wind direction, so as to provide cross-ventilation through the interior spaces of the buildings.

In healing the land post-construction, it was observed that replanting was often not the best course of action; it was found more appropriate to leave it alone. This is the basis of the Bradley method of bio-aesthetic land rehabilitation, where little is done except for the removal of certain exotic weeds and the protection of land from disturbance. This was the basis for the landscaping of the entire site, interspersed on the slopes with earth bunds to capture rainwater run-off.