Project Description

The brief for this project was to transform a decades old, relatively standard, primary school into something that would be more upmarket and exclusive. Some of the spaces also had to be redesigned to support modern teaching methods that focus less on bookish learning and more on practice based skill development. While the client’s desire to modernize the school facilities was based on ideas from the West, our design approach was inspired by Indian culture, practices and lifestyle. Graphics had distinctive Indian motifs and bright hues associated with India. For spaces specifically defined for learning through activity such as mock shops and vehicles, we made sure that traditional ‘kirana’ shops and rickshaws were included as well as a more modern supermarket layout and school buses. For such high usage spaces durable and cost-effective materials were used. The tranquil environment was created with extensive use of earthen and muted green tones. Space allowing flexibility of usage, say for the Indian festivities such as Diwali and Uttarayan, were also incorporated.

Remodeling existing structures and developing spaces to support a different teaching environment proved to be a bigger challenge than anticipated. The result was a modern school environment designed to support many interactive learning activities that were much appreciated by the teaching staff and the parents.