Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University

Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University was founded to educate students with disabilities alongside everyone else: half of its seats in every programme are reserved for students with disabilities. That brief shaped every decision on its 140-acre campus off Mohan Road in Lucknow. A university like this cannot treat accessibility as a ramp added at the end. It has to be the way the whole campus is planned.

The same path for everyone

A student in a wheelchair and a student on foot leave the hostel on the same path, at the same time, and arrive together. The paths are level and gently graded, with railings where they are needed, and they cross open lawns to the academic cluster. Inside, the blocks are joined on one level, so going from a lecture to the library to a department never means going back out to the road. Around the oval central lawn, the red sandstone and the domed pavilions at the entrances can be read from a long way off, so it is always clear where the doors are.

A campus without steps

The master plan sets the buildings on carefully levelled ground, so that a student in a wheelchair, a student who uses crutches and a student with low vision can move from the gate to the classroom, the library, the hostel and the playing field on the same continuous, gently graded paths. Footpaths run alongside every road, with railings where they are needed, and parking and drop-off points sit close to building entrances. Two subways link parts of the campus, so that it works as one connected whole.

An interconnected academic cluster

The academic buildings are grouped together around an oval central lawn rather than scattered across the site. They are linked to one another, so that a student can move between departments, the library and lecture rooms on one level, without going back out to the road. The shortest route is also the easiest one.

Red sandstone and domed pavilions

The buildings are faced in red sandstone, with domed pavilions marking entrances and the corners of the main front, a language drawn from the architecture of the region. The oval lawn at the centre gives the university its open heart.

A complete residential campus

• Academic blocks around the central lawn, with space reserved for future academic buildings
• Administration block, auditorium, multipurpose hall and canteen
• Separate Hostels for women and men, with room planned for more
• A Stadium and pavilion, swimming pool and club
• Guest House, and Housing for the Vice Chancellor, faculty and staff

ARCH-EN DESIGN was the Master Planning, Architectural and Engineering consultant, from 2009 until the campus was completed in December 2019. In 2014 the university received the National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for its barrier-free campus.