The Riverside School

Narratives

Architect Narrative

the brief was to design a school that would be a natural extention of the home. since the school is built in key stages, each stage had to reflect the philsosophy and the requirement of the age group inhabiting the building. this building was to house grades pre k to 2 ( what the school calls the ‘roots’ programe ) since the student age group was from 2 and a half to 7, and it was their first outing into the ‘big world’, the school had to be inviting and non threatening. it also had to have spaces that flowed into one another, to allow children to move from inside to the outside, to have spaces that allowed the school to congregate as a whole and to retreat into smaller more intimate nooks. the school needed to be secure from all sides and to have a lot of natural light. since the school was on the banks of a river and surrounded by a lot of greenery, the school had to use that as an advantage. the school also had to have toilets in every class to allow children to get the ‘home’ feeling. all in all, a school that children felt at ‘home’ in !!

Educator Narrative

the school is my dream come true. what can i say, it has such a warm, safe and happy feeling about it. the spaces all seem to flow into one another and whereever you look, you see greenery and light. the classrooms are self contained - they provide for multi tasking as well retain the home feel (what with our class bathrooms !) subtle touches such as the mosaic patterns in each class and in the main corridor spaces add a sense of class and fun. the backyards are so useful and practical- small children just need to stretch their legs every 5 minutes (!) the large open areas and the high ceilings allow for the heat to dissipate ( much needed as Ahmedabad has 8 months of summer ! )the sloping roofs in the upper floor allow for natural light- a great energy saver ! the school is so inviting, and the sound of laughter rings through it like a light beam ( what with our double height - allows us to communicate with each other with a mere shout ! ) i love my school !!!