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Freshly Pressed: The British School

Just finished last week we bring to you The British School, New Delhi. Morphogenesis’ design vision for this school, found inspiration in the school’s tagline- ‘An International education with an Indian soul’. With this project, we set out to provide a strong cultural context to the international format of education this institution provides. The principal challenge was to construct the new building on the existing site without disrupting the existing school that would become redundant eventually.

The unusually diverse student population with over 55 nationalities led Morphogenesis to evolve a socio-culturally inclusive process of detailing the brief. This approach acknowledged diversity and aimed to create an environment that would foster social cohesion.

The British School

As a response to the multicultural personality of the school and its strong social agenda, whereby a number of lateral activities take place in a typical school day. Hence, breakout spaces are liberally scattered around the school which are constantly being transformed in the way they are occupied. These breakout spaces have been consciously placed along transition areas, such that the activities they facilitate become an integral part of the student experience, enhancing their holistic socio-cultural awareness and demonstrating the school’s outreach philosophy at the same time. The multi-functional nature of these spaces helped in optimizing the built up space of this urban school.

The project’s spatial design reflects a deep understanding of the local Indian (urban) identity and the regional climate, and knits passive design mechanisms into the built-environmental fabric, making this a uniquely self-sustaining environment. Fortunately the client vision was in line with our agenda of employing and advocacy of SUSTAINABLITY with this project. Which was furthered by protecting old trees, creating bioswales, rain gardens and a visible rainwater harvesting system, consciously illustrate demonstrative sustainability.

The design of The British School in New Delhi enriches the learning experience of its highly diverse student population by providing a contextual richness to their passage through education in India.