The programme given to the architects was for a third group of dormitories totaling 500 rooms, situated along the western periphery of the existing Rabat campus development. The architects were asked to propose a solution that was different from that of the previous (second) dormitories on an adjacent site. These consisted of long high-rise blocks with double-loaded corridors.
The new dormitories were designed as five individual blocks, each with 100 rooms to house 1000 male students. The blocks are identical and clustered in an H-shape structure. They are four-storeys high, formed by two groups of 50 rooms each. The centre, or connecting part of the H structure, houses the communal facilities such as water closets and showers. The only entrance to each of the five complexes is located in this central services wing below grade level. The majority of students' rooms, located off double-loaded corridors, receive either direct morning or afternoon sunlight. They are all two-person rooms, and are provided with two beds, a closet, a wash basin and a single built-in worktable.
Source: Aga Khan Trust for Culture
