Rural School Campus
Dholpur, Rajasthan
- Dholpur, Rajasthan
- 2019
- Completed
- Primary & Secondary School
- 2.1 ha
- 3,400 sq.m
- Local education trust
The campus serves children from several surrounding villages and sits on open farmland at the edge of Dholpur. The brief was for classrooms that could be used through the hot season without mechanical cooling, a courtyard for assembly, and a building that local masons could maintain long after construction ended.
The classrooms sit along a long linear plan with a deep brick arcade on the south side. The arcade shades the classroom windows and gives children a covered walkway in the rain. Each pair of classrooms opens onto a shaded court, and high clerestories above the corridor draw warm air out of the rooms through the afternoon.
Walls are exposed brick with lime pointing, and the roofs are clay tile over timber rafters. Both were chosen because they can be repaired with materials sold in the district. Dholpur sandstone forms the plinth and steps. The school's tank collects roof run-off for the gardens, which students look after as part of their curriculum.
“A classroom that stays cool is a classroom children stay in.”
Seen in photographs
The ideas that shape the building
- 01
Deep brick arcade
A covered arcade on the south side shades classroom windows and keeps circulation dry in the monsoon.
- 02
Shaded courts between classrooms
Pairs of classrooms share a small court, which keeps daylight and cross-ventilation in every room.
- 03
Clerestory stack vent
High openings above the corridor release hot air from the classrooms through the afternoon.
- 04
Repairable, locally built
Brick, lime and clay tile can all be sourced in the district, so maintenance stays with local masons.
Exposed Brick
Lime Plaster
Dholpur Sandstone
Clay Roof Tile
Timber Rafter
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