Excerpt: The Out School by Studio Infinity is an architectural project that attempts to explore a new design vocabulary for pre-primary schools. The overall outlook for design thinking was governed by child anthropometry, playfulness, and easy movement. Thus, the furniture was designed, the levels were managed, and the indoor-outdoor connection was established. Immense detailing was done on teaching aids like music walls and sensory paths.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by architect] The Out School is an attempt to explore a new design vocabulary for pre-primary schools. The aesthetics, spatial planning and the architectural detailing is a direct response to the constraints that revolved around this project.
The client, two dynamic ladies who were running a small pre-primary setup, approached Studio Infinity with a site where they wanted to expand their endeavours into a larger space. This new site was an old dilapidated house, set amidst a residential neighbourhood.
First challenge was to fit a school’s requirements into a house with an odd column – beam grid and varying openings which couldn’t be modified. Cost and time were additional constraints that governed every single decision that was made throughout the course of this project.
The space planning which started by first knocking off unwanted walls and toilets, eventually turned into making every square feet of the area available (indoor + outdoors) into a multifunctional space. This gave the teachers and students more opportunities to teach and learn at various levels despite the spatial constraints.
Following the column grid, a central corridor segregates the classrooms and the common activity hall. A series of varying arches and bold colours overwhelm this zone. While the big front outdoor space is left open for school gatherings and play, the narrow side open spaces are designed to promote learning outside the constraints of a typical four walled classroom. The rear open space is another attempt to create a zone that can be used in multiple ways, giving the school a freedom and flexibility to explore the non-conventional ways of teaching and grooming these young minds.
Considering the fact that the end users belonged to the age group of 2-5 years, the overall outlook for design thinking was governed by the child anthropometry, playfulness and easy movement. Thus was the furniture designed, the levels were managed and the indoor-outdoor connection was established. Immense detailing went into creating and customising elements that would act as an aid for teaching/learning like the music wall, sensory path, the alphabets game, etc.
The material palette largely comprises cement floors, ceramic mosaics, wooden furniture and bamboo pergolas define the earthen tone. Bold colours and natural textures add to the spatial attributes. All these elements together define ‘The Out School’ where an attempt is made to design spaces that will trigger teaching, learning and growth outside the confinement of typical classrooms..!!
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