Centre for Education, Primary Level Learning and Living Cluster

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Project details

• Project Name: Primary Living & Learning cluster, dining, art centre and housing
• Client: Sanjeevan Vidyalaya Trust, Panchgani
• Project Type: Educational
• Principal Designer/s: Shirish Beri
• Design Team: Pramod Kulkarni, Sikandar Nadaph
• Contractor/s: M/s. Jaihind Construction Corporation, Pune (main civil)
• Year of commencement of project: 1995
• Year of completion of project: 1996
• Location of site: Panchgani, Maharashtra, India.
• Site Area: part of approx. 20000 sq. m
• Built-up Area: 4700 sq.m.
• Cost of Construction/Execution: 24 M Rupees (civil)

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

The site for this project is one of the three pieces of land belonging to Sanjeevan Vidyalaya in Panchgani a hill station famous for its many residential schools. It was kind of a neglected portion out of an overall four acre site with uneven slopes, lot of trees and undergrowth and 2 dilapidated old buildings.

The project brief had quite diverse functions, but they were to cohabit and function towards one goal - that of education.

Thus, the design too evolved from the interaction between these two forces - the 'what is' - static force of the site, the topography, the trees, the views and 'the what can happen' - the kind of built environment that can enhance the learning process.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Therefore, a keen study of the site made me select two important trees - one a medium size sprawling ficus & the other a large vertical silver oak - around which the major functions revolved - or these threes became the centers, which generated activity around them. The organic shapes were planned to include as many trees as possible in the design vocabulary without within them. Even the physical building elements like walls extend to form yard - walls, planters, trees etc. and acquire an organic quality.

The plan also respected and adjusted itself to the various contours, thereby creating a playful interplay of spaces at different levels. The drop in contours also accommodated an additional floor below for essential staff, trunk rooms etc.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

What kind of an environment could be conducive to the child's learning? I enquired.

I found that the environment should have a feeling of openness without closed in claustrophobic spaces.

Spaces flowing into each other, visible & invisible from each other satisfy the kid's curiosity and keep his interest alive.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Different levels, spaces narrowing & widening, covered and open spaces, create a lively playful atmosphere.

Inclusion of nature in the form of trees, plants, birds, water and wind enables the children to relate to the space & building better - it helps in creating stable images and reference points in their existential space.

Design should also encourage interaction of various types between the children and the other constituents, thus improving the learning potential.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

The staff note that the children are more joyful, creative, spontaneous, less isolated and violent in this new environment.

The centre for education with guest rooms for resource persons is at one end, with beautiful view of the pool and the hills.

The primary school learning living cluster with its necessary staff quarters comes next - Planned around the ficus tree, with covered interaction spaces for the Panchgani climate.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

The dinning hall radiates from the hub of the silver oak tree. The independently accessible first floor has the transparent art centre activities.

The general staff housing comes after this - and forms an entrance portal for this campus - physically and metamorphically as a kind of guardian function.

The whole organically designed complex is also an expression of a large extended joint family, each carrying out his own work independently, but at the same time joined strongly to the whole. Thus there are no segregated, different buildings. The design also seeks to find an expression for shared coherent meaning of this particular milieu.

Image courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates.

Today the children & staff are very happy to work in this new environment. They say, it has brought BEAUTY and JOY to the learning here. Many of the children related the central ficus tree as their best friend in their essay "My Best Friend"

Architecture thus plays an important role of acting as a catalyst in the learning process.

Credits

• Text and Photographs, courtesy of Shirish Beri & Associates