The KLE Society Campus Embraces a Thoughtful Expansion

A new addition to a 50-year-old corporate office within a century-old educational campus KLE Society in Belagavi posed a unique design challenge to expand the existing structure without compromising its integrity, disrupting its daily operations, or overshadowing its historical significance.

Editor’s Note: “Where old walls speak of tradition, ‘Hover Space’ emerges lightly, rooted in silence. Lifted gently on eight columns, the new wing breathes purposefully, embracing the breeze and reimagining thresholds. It offers not just a space, but a spirit, where learning continues to rise with the sun.” ~ Anusha Sridhar

The KLE Society Campus Embraces a Thoughtful Expansion | Thirdspace Architecture Studio

Though architecturally unremarkable, the original two-storey building held deep institutional value. It had already been retrofitted and was in constant use, making any intrusive structural intervention unfeasible.

Site Context

The expansion needed to respond sensitively to three distinct contexts — its location on a major city road, its position as a frontage to the historic campus, and its edge along the sports ground.

The solution was a minimalist yet strategic intervention: a new structure that floats above the old, supported by just eight cylindrical RCC columns that avoid existing activities below.

The Volume

This hovering volume, framed by two full-floor-height red trusses, forms an open-plan office of 1,000 sqm, visually light and spatially efficient.

Wrapped in a continuous verandah inspired by colonial architecture, the new office engages with its surroundings while mitigating the climate. The verandah serves as a social space and climatic buffer, shielding the interiors from sun and rain.

Vertical Circulation Core

A vertical circulation core connects the addition to the ground, forming an L-shaped profile that creates a striking triple-height entry portal aligned with a central tree-lined avenue. This not only marks a threshold into the campus but also frames heritage structures within.

Operable aluminium fins and expanded mesh control light and views, while sliding glass doors allow seamless access to the outdoors. Inside, a neutral palette, vibrant accents, and indoor plants create a tranquil, daylit workspace.

Spatial Planning

The plan is zoned into three sections: an entrance lobby with the chairman’s chambers, a central block of private offices and meeting rooms, and a rear section of open workstations overlooking the city and sports field. Exposed roof trusses and a clerestory skylight define a central circulation spine.

Connecting old and new is a glass elevator overlooking the sports field, offering a moment of pause as one transitions between buildings.

Terrace

The terrace of the old office has been reimagined as an interstitial space — partially open, partially sheltered by the new structure — accessible via a sculptural circular staircase.

What appears at first as a simple linear volume is, in fact, a layered response to multiple contextual, functional, and climatic demands.

The new addition presents a calm, screened façade to the city and serves as a welcoming portal to the campus. Moreover, it becomes a subtle yet visible edge to the sports field. Through thoughtful spatial negotiation and quiet clarity, the intervention offers the institution a renewed presence while honouring its legacy.

Fact File

Designed by: Thirdspace Architecture Studio

Project Type: Office Architecture Design

Project Name: Hover Space – Extension to the KLE Society Head Office

Location: Belagavi, Karnataka

Year Built: 2024

Built-up Area: 12916 Sq.ft

Principal Architects: Praveen Bavadekar & Namrata Betigiri

Design Lead: Praveen Bavadekar

Structural Design: D.L. Kulkarni & Associates

Photograph Courtesy: Andre J Fanthome & Suryan and Dang

Source: Archdaily

Firm’s Instagram Link: Thirdspace Architecture Studio