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City Pride School, Ravet

INSTITUTIONAL PROJECT

If naturally ventilated courtyards and vast playgrounds are a given while designing schools, how does one incorporate them in a linear plot with confined width? Through strategic massing and connected volumes!

Material palette: Brick

Photograph Courtesy: Ruhma Ukaye

Year: 2020 

Area: 1,13,000 sq ft 

Type: Institutional Design 

Location: Ravet, Pune

FACT FILE

City Pride School, Ravet is a straightforward solution to seamlessly intersect both–the built and the play areas–for a healthy learning atmosphere. Constructed as per CBSE norms, the institute is a playbox of light punctures, colours, and experimental informal spaces. Cohesively designed, the interiors and exteriors prioritise function, strategically balanced with form. The project story unfolds as a tricky challenge to design a brick breakthrough, standing true to its purpose. 


Massing Strategy


A sincere attempt to build child development through comprehensive campus planning, the studio thoroughly analyses the site and climate conditions to propose a segregated structure. An intentional web of passages and skylights weaves the classrooms together. 


A desirable quality of daylight and ventilation is prioritised to ensure the refreshing mood and energy. Additionally, thoughtful building placement provides glare-free classrooms as well as a well shaded playground for extracurricular activities. 


Volumes and Intersections 


Indulged in a diverse palette of materials, an inviting double-height volume marks the measurable entry point to the building. Anchored here, is an interesting brick-wall that invites the young occupants to touch, play and count its dynamic layers. This marks the entrance as a congregational pause that a school building demands. A delicate combination of glass-and-metal grid design contrasted with black granite flooring further enhances its breezy, double-height volume. 


Small skylight pockets connect to the central spine, illuminating the bright and playfully coloured passages. Dispersed along animated passages, are small seating areas that serve as an easily accessible escape.


Material and Play 


Facade design forms the crux of this institutional project. It bears the responsibility to reflect the creative spirit and interiors of the building. Initially, convincing the School Directors for a brick facade was quite the challenge. Fortunately, a round trip to Vadodara, Gujarat for a quick tour of a renowned architectural project with exceptional brickwork finally convinced them of such an experimental facade. Thus began the exploration with exposed brick and jali patterns. The corner detail of the facade is perhaps the most fascinating addition to the design. The bricks are interwoven into each other in such a format that the edges create rhythmic voids. 


Books, bricks and banter signify the spirit of City Pride School, Ravet. The innovative aesthetics of brick-play and breathable volumes from the foundation of this school. The structure is modelled to reflect and rebuild child behaviour in an educational environment.

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