ITE College West, which spans an area of 9.54 hectares, is part of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Master Plan to consolidate all 10 existing ITE campuses across the island into 3 mega colleges.

The first, College East, was completed in 2005, while College Central is targeted to be ready in 2013.

At the official opening in April this year, Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had highlighted the government’s plans to invest heavily in ITE infrastructure, as part of its overall vision to develop a top-notch education system in the country.

Already, College West, which holds academic courses in culinary and hospitality services, land transport, security technology and service innovation, looks set to bring that goal one step closer.

Designed by DP Architects, the college’s landscape concept underscores the pedagogical principle of a ’borderless’ campus where learning extends beyond the confines of the classroom.

There are 11 primary thematic landscaped areas within the campus for students to relax, unwind and study; at the North Plaza frontage, curvilinear layers alternating between the soft landscape and the hard landscape also results in an inviting crescent-shaped structural facade to draw the community into the college grounds. Adding to the lush environment are reflecting pools, water features and green walls.

Other noteworthy features include a wine cellar, a sky atrium, a 22-room training hotel, a coffee-barista training centre, and a centre featuring the latest state-of-the-art technologies such as real-time video capturing systems.

The campus also holds an outdoor 2,700 sqm Events Plaza for campus-wide functions, and a theatre-style 700-seater auditorium.

For its efforts, the campus has already received several accolades, among which, it was recently ranked among the world’s top 100 most interesting infrastructure projects by KPMG Global’s Infrastructure Practice/Infrastructure Journal in June 2010.

DP Architects
dpa.com.sg