Maharashtra Education Society’s, Bal Shikshan Bal Shikshan Mandir

Narratives

Architect Narrative

When we were introduced into this project the other architect had even finalised the layout of the total campus in a normal gr. + 3 story structure & even got it approved from the local authority.But by coincidence we came into picture in the year 1995.
On the brief given by the client, we as Architect’s have involved them in the planning process of requirement finalisation & within a period of one month we have given a presentation of total campus with all services. After that we have succeeded in finalising our layout (whole) & then development was started from part to whole.

The main school building is designed around a heirarchy of open spaces as courtyards & conceived them as an extension to the teaching activity. The four wings are self sufficient & are interlocked with these courts bringing in natural light, wind along with meeting spaces for everyone. all the four wings with the courtyards converge into the main center court to form the gathering space for all. These courtyards allow visual communication & continuity to other areas. The building facade depicts the modern elements brought out of traditional elements of exposed brick with arches in proportion to the main framework, breaking the monotony of the striaght lines. hence bringing the congruent facade. The arrangement of internal spaces is worked out such as to get necessary shaded areas by means of pergola giving the required depth the building at various points. primary colours are used to create focal points and give distinguishing characters to different elements inside the building, thus highlighting the features like staircase, doors, railings, colonnade. The main building is connected to the existing ones by means of pergola to dining & a multipurpose hall to the right binds the two building giving space for parking underneath. the main building is set up at the rear side of the campus making way for the play ground & swimming pool. Thus enabling the required ground to appreciate the facade & facilitates various school activites.

Staircase,Common areas & lobby areas are treated as elements in the school. Use of natural light also made possible for the first floor classrooms.Bright colours stimulate the children throughout the day,which makes atmosphere pleasant & cheerful.

Ancillary structures such as road,entrance gate,security cabin,compound wall were complete on site & done as per the master plan development.

R.C.C framed structure , beams restricted to a depth of @ 2’0”.
Composite type brick Masonry is used throught the campus, all 10” thk.
Walls are plastered from inside & from external side are kept exposed with sunk pointing.
Flat arches over small openings in brickwork, Big arches over big openings.

The main central court & surrounding area is kept in paving ,only courts inside each wing are kept green.Entrance pockets are well landscaped. All Existing trees are maintained as it is.
In the main central court arrangement for seating is made which forms the central gathering space for various activities.

Educator Narrative

EDUCATOR NARRATIVE :

Management of the Society who have a background of @ 125 years started English Medium school in year 1986.

Under the guidance of our principal the school started with full swing which includes many
co-curricular activities as handwriting, fancy dress, Elocution, debating, recitation, national festivals, scholarship classes, Hindi Examinations, drawing classes, Skating classes, swimming classes, Craft, interviewing famous personalities, greeting card, invitation card making, cold ceramic, puppet shows, magic shows, slide shows. Field visits also became the part of school activities. Monsoon trekking, factory visits, museums, overnight study tours for Std. IX and Std. X, Participation in many drawing, singing and most of the times our school is the winner in Fundamental Quiz at national level. Many students take part in the inter-school, district, state and national level competitions of chess, skating, judo etc. Apart from over all development of the students the school recognizes the importance of staff development programs, which has helped our teachers to achieve quality teaching in the field of education.

The School has a sizable number of books and students are issued books for home reading and reference work is taught. Computer Education which starts from Std. II.
One theory and one practical period per week for each class is conducted.
The school has a fully equipped laboratory catering to the needs of Std. V to X syllabus. Harmony parent teacher’s Association works for the betterment of the students.

At present school admits around one thousand students in this school. The previous building was quite inadequate for such a number of students to conduct education in an excellent manner, hence we proposed segregation of standards i.e Preprimary, primary & secondary.
The major portion of the area has been allotted for different sport activities of the school children.

The school has excellent academic standards which has been achieved during last 10 years with various innovative activities conducted by the school. The management has decided to maintain this educational standard by restricting the number of students in each class.The Teacher-student ratio is 1:40. This has been endorsed by excellent and dedicated teaching staff of the school and also assessed not only by the students of the school, but by the parents and the people in the vicinity of the school.

A better cross ventilation & light was needed.
As the students write on the walls,oil paint on the walls upto 5’0” was a nice idea for cleanliness.
In preprimary ,the students have a schedule of two hours indoor & two hours outdoor activities we didn’t want any fixed seating arrangement,it needed to be flexible & a controlled access to the outdoor was required.
In day to day working parents should not enter into the teaching area,i.e. the administrative area needed to be secluded from the other part of the school.