Georgian Technical University is the largest higher education institution in Georgia. Since its foundation back in 1922 the university grew and spread its facilities all over the city of Tbilisi, with branches in some Georgian regions and even abroad. In the Georgian capital, it has more than a dozen major edifices ranging from the older, pre-WWII buildings to the newer developments of the 1970's and 1980's, mainly in the central Saburtalo district. It is in this area, near the famous Tbilisi Sport Palace with its history of over 60 years, and a large Holiday Inn hotel, where the 1980's GTU Building N8, with the IDS occupying its premises, is located. IDS students and staff can enjoy immediate access to the GTU Administration building next to it, as well as to GTU Buildings N3 and N4, and Building N9 behind the Administration, with the University Museum in it.
The area is a vibrant, mixed-use, cosmopolitan district where residential buildings feature ground floor shops and entertainment, restaurants, cafes and fast food facilities (where all of the world's main chains such as McDonald's, Subway, Wendy's, and KFC front the Sport Palace tightly spaced on a tiny land plot, while the local shawarma kiosks and pizzerias run along Kostava Street, just a couple of hundred meters from the IDS), as well as street vendors, currency exchanges and estate agents. The nearby University of Georgia contributes to the spirited atmosphere of the area by a growing number of international students, adding to the many young foreign nationals now living, studying or working in Saburtalo.