Sanjay Puri Architects Designs University Building Inspired by Historic Stepped Wells

Sanjay Puri Architects has unveiled a new university building in Indore, India, featuring a distinctive stepped roof design inspired by traditional Indian stepped wells. The five-story structure, located on the 13-hectare campus of Prestige University in Madhya Pradesh, includes offices, seminar halls, a library, a cafe, and an auditorium. Its most notable feature is a 9,000-square-meter walkable roof composed of 463 stepped platforms, which can function as individual social areas or as a combined open-air auditorium accommodating up to 9,000 people. The design draws from ancient stepped wells, which served as community gathering spaces, aiming to foster social interaction among the campus's anticipated 3,000 students. The building incorporates sustainable elements such as courtyards for natural light and ventilation, a shallow pool for passive cooling, and decorative perforated screens for additional airflow. Constructed with concrete, fly ash bricks, and clay brick cladding, the 30,800-square-meter structure rises to 28 meters and features Indian sandstone flooring with exposed concrete interiors. The project was led by architects Sanjay Puri, Ruchika Gupta, and Madhavi Belsare, with photography by Vinay Panjwani.