The Thapar University project in the Indian Punjab completes the campus grid with two ‘bookends’, the student residences and a Learning Podium with library, lecture theatres and a computer centre, two hubs linked by shaded pergola walkways. The main student residences are made up of seven towers; like chessmen, the towers establish a series of geometric relationships with one another in a walled garden, with a web of floating walkways above. They provide an innovative new model of high-density student living with bedrooms and social spaces - a mini-city - in an environmentally controlled environment, with extensive shading, water and green space.