Our client, Ecole Francaise International de Bombay, required an historical Art Deco bungalow to be transformed into their school building with 9 classrooms, 3 common rooms, computer lab, staff area and bathrooms. This requirement challenged us on various subjects, from retaining and restoring the Art Deco character of the building, to the safety aspects of a school, limited amount of daylight available, a very tight execution time of 3 months and re-use of existing items, such as lights and furniture.
We paid special attention to specific Art Deco details within the existing premise and tried to reveal as much as possible. We restored several windows to the old glory, which had been closed over the years due to changes. In one classroom we required to provide a thermal false ceiling as a roof terrace was located above it. The false ceiling detailed was in line with the Art Deco atmosphere of the space and has a direct light cove which follows the curvature of the walls.
When the client requested us to re-use the light fittings from the old school building, we had to come up with a design solution to integrate them in the best way possible. As the building had no existing false ceiling, for which we had no time in the limited execution phase as well as no budget, we proposed tubular ceiling parts custom made of wood and red laminate to recess the light in as well as to hide the required electrical conduits.
One of the passage was designed with a mirrored ceiling to reflect the limited light. Between the mirror parts, stainless steel cables with clips hang down to provide a place for paintings and drawings made by the children.
As the bungalow had very limited daylight penetration we designed most of the partition walls with transparent parts on the top to give the required light and views through the spaces. Here the tubular ceiling parts extend between the two spaces to give the impression that the classrooms are bigger then they are.
The design further entailed concrete floor tiles, opening and restoration of wooden windows and vision panels at ceiling level between classrooms to let natural daylight penetrate deeper into the building. Since not all items are available in India, such as children toilets, we carefully detailed wall hang toilets for two year old’s embedded in a raised floor to provide the required 11 inch height, as well as to make flushing light and easy accessible.
The main entrance to the school required extensive renovation with a new openable double door to allow larger items to be moved in and out of the school on a later stage as required by the client, was designed with Art Deco features and lighting. The staircase of the bungalow was altered to provide the necessary safety for the children, with higher railing, with handmade Art Deco details similar to the existing railings and anti skid strips on the steps.
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