I t is customary to view learning spaces as straight-lined boxes, the ambience accented more towards puritanical leanings than cheerful spaces that facilitate differential approach to education. While this view has been propagated and widely adopted in earlier decades, the current altered approach to learning has gone beyond its focus on the pedagogy to address the spaces where education actually transpires.
Not surprisingly, the emerging educational institutions speak this language in their design, the spaces tuned to learn with an element of wonder and fun, roping in segments that go beyond the three ‘R’s. Not only are these evolving spaces no more confined to straight-lined boxes, but the materials as well as the ensuing dimensions have witnessed a sea change, the institutions structured to initiate the altered modes of learning.
Echoing this altered approach is the Atelier School designed by Biome Environmental Solutions, tuned to address the Reggio-Emilia education approach of the school for children in the age group of one to ten. Located in a crowded neighbourhood, on a site that is merely 1,955 sq. m, the structure had to be looked at from a very unique perspective, especially with the site being leased.
Recycle and reuse
In short, the structural system and materials used for construction had to be sensitively chosen keeping in view their reuse post the life of the building and its life cycle cost. Given the age group of the learners, creating an organic chowk (piazza), designed as a central space, was considered as imperative to initiate interactive learning with co-learners.
“The created space was to physically serve as an experiential learning environment through interaction of the five senses”, says Architect Chitra Vishwanath of Biome Environmental Solutions. “While the design and spaces had to be interactive, prompting the curious young learner to explore, experiment and experience, the materials used too had to be sensitive to address the concept of recovery, recycling and return back to earth instead of ending up in landfills”, she elaborates.
Keeping with this objective, the metal frame structure was designed to symbolise learning amidst a forest of trees. The ensuing structure had the walls and roof remain disconnected, where the walls were designed not to bear load. “The partition walls were created with waste paper tubes, offering flexibility to the organic spaces while the metal structure, featuring as eight trees, holds up the roof where the bolted steel supports can be easily dismantled and transported if required”, adds Chitra.
Even the plinth is designed for recovery, made as it is of Chappadi (local granite) slabs. The GI sheets covering the roof have bamboo plywood underlying the ceiling. This provides thermal and sound insulation, ushering a sense of warmth into the interiors.
The external fabricated façade is made of tack-welded mild steel frame panels of perforated metal sheet, with recycled pinewood, reflective glass, operable louvres and sliding windows completing the rest of the structure.
Since the accent is on recovery and recycle, the flooring too is ensured to reflect this. Precast concrete paver blocks are complemented by the varying patterns of the compressed stabilised earth blocks (CSEBs), the soil for which was sourced from different sites in the locality.
With the learning focus being exploratory, initiating a conversation, the instructor too is viewed as a co-learner and the design is tuned to address this, creating spaces where children would meet coincidentally, eliciting spontaneous interaction and learning. Specific filter spaces prevail, enabling different classes to meet inadvertently as the day progresses.
Spaces permitting round table discussions prevail in the individual classrooms along with breakout areas as well as formal spaces of learning where required. Interestingly, the spaces are curvilinear, offering different volumes as against the regular squares and rectangles. The walls too come in varying heights, the common spaces featuring under the sky-lit roof, the resulting ambience having an intangible impact on the young learner.
Art and experience
Besides the different textures and materials used, an art studio prevails in every classroom along with one in the central piazza, initiating focus on the artistic element. Light durable furniture made from honeycomb boards and paper tubes further encourage the students to experiment and also try their hand in making some themselves.
The play areas house no special equipment, encouraging the students to pick up anything from the ground and come up with their own unique concept. An interesting element is a hand pump that the children take turns to use and see water pumped from it feeding a 10-feet-long, 3-feet-wide stream. Children are also shown the harvesting of rainwater run-off from the roof, the same put to daily use and the excess diverted into recharge wells. Wastewater is likewise addressed using leach pits, enabling the children to learn about water conservation.
