The project brief was to design a bank branch that incorporated a new University Alumni administration building and an interactive space for students. The project aimed to continue Guaranty Trust Banks drive towards developing branches on University campus sites and further strengthens their sustained investment in Nigerian education and the youth.
The total building area is 1147.4 sq. m which sits on a 4360 sq m site. The buildings main program of retail banking, Alumi administration and student body cultural space are formed within and around staggered interlocking cubes. The proportional cubes are clad in local Abeokuta stone and Rheinzink (cladding technology imported from Germany. The zinc cladding was then re-crafted individually on site by artisans to allow for the linking diagonal geometry). This direct and limited material palette aimed to express not only the complex juxtaposition between a commercial and institutional narrative, but also between the local and the global.
The internal spaces are large and open plan, formed using a concrete ribbed floor system with large diagonal and circular windows
One of the key design decisions was based on retaining an existing short cut through the site, from the Erastus building to the Science block, which the students themselves had naturally created over the years. Maintaining this allowed for a sense of transparency, openness and allowed the building to be developed along a program of ‘inclusion’ and ‘interaction’. The building serving as a tale about relationships: relationships between GTBank, the University Alumni and the students.
ClientGTBankServicesLead Design & Architectural ConsultancyLocationUniversity of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, NigeriaYear2011
