Private university, Educational institution, University
BRAC University
Founded in 2001 by BRAC's Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, this private research university now occupies a 14-storey green campus in Merul Badda, designed by WOHA Architects with water, fountains and a rooftop jogging track.
The story
The university opened in 2001 with three departments and around 80 students in Mohakhali, modelled on the American liberal arts college. It held its first convocation in 2006 and has since grown to over 20,000 students, nearly half of them women, across 10 schools and several institutes. It is known for its Residential Semester of community living and for the digitised Ayesha Abed Library. The Merul Badda campus, designed by WOHA Architects from 2011 and completed in 2024, is a building of a kind new to the country. Water lakes and fountains run through it to keep the air cool, with colourful fish below, while solar energy and green architecture shape the design. Escalators link the floors, the canteen is vast, and the roof holds a playground and a jogging track.
Good to know
TAGGG AI- ✦The campus sits in a busy part of Dhaka with heavy traffic, so allow extra travel time.
- ✦Head up to the roof of the 14-storey building to see the playground and jogging track.
- ✦The building has three basement levels of parking for those arriving by car.