The campus site of the International Islamic University Malaysia (UIAM) Centre for Foundation Studies located in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, has been operating since the university’s early establishment in the 1980s. Due to the expansion of its foundation programmes and rising population every intake, this compact-site campus can no longer sustain the campus growth each year.
The idea for a new and larger campus with more conducive surroundings was first mooted in 2001, with Janda Baik town in Pahang was chosen as the site location and later changed to the education hub of Gambang, near Kuantan. The campus site is bordered with other tertiary institutions and feasibly linked to the East Coast Expressway via a main trunk road.
Designed for an approximately 5,000 student population, the campus encompasses administrative block, academic blocks, laboratory block and central student facilities where library and student centre are located. As a full-boarding university, the campus also provides five residential colleges along with sports and recreational facilities.
The campus design is imbued with intrinsic Islamic design principles of symmetry and the interplay of geometry. Courtyards and formal gardens have been conceived throughout the development, while calligraphy and geometrical shapes were used as motifs on the screens, grilles and reliefs. Guided by the energy efficiency design strategy, most buildings were oriented north-south to minimise the heat gain while maximising the daylight through the use of generous openings and light shelves in the classrooms. A rainwater harvesting system has also been installed to collect rainwater for secondary usage.