African Design Magazine April 2015 | Page 48

This project is the first stand-alone
Montessori school for the Ekya Early Years
brand and the prototype for future locations.
The program includes a full office/reception
suite, 13 learning environments, art room,
AV room, flexible common areas and
outdoor recreation/learning spaces. One
of the major challenges of this project was
stabilizing the existing building, which was
in major disrepair, so that it was suitable for
a school. Due to cost and major structural
constraints the existing building frame and
shell were left intact though exceptions
were made to create additional links
between interior and exterior spaces and
to highlight the main entrances. Within this
predefined framework, playful architectural
interventions occur at the children’s scale,
creating reading nooks between classrooms,
formal/impromptu seating areas and
sculpted terrain. AD

PROJECT:
Ekya Early Years,
Bangalore, India
ARCHITECTS:
Collective Project
DESIGN TEAM:
Cyrus Patell, Eliza Higgins,
Ajantha S, Grégoire
Rossignol
AREA:
Approx. 25 000 sqft
PHOTOGRAPHER:
Tina Nandi Stephen

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