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Image this — a faculty particularly designed to cater to the wants of these with visible disabilities. And bringing this to fruition is a faculty in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, setting the bar excessive for its inclusive architectural design.
With its distinctive building and considerate design, the college empowers youngsters to depend on their different senses to navigate by way of the tutorial area.
Adorned with white partitions and ethereal courtyards, ‘The Faculty for The Blind and Visually Impaired’, designed by SEALabs, is devoted to those specific college students.
“Each visually impaired youngster has totally different wants, and we wished to create an area that was inclusive of all of them,” says Anand Sonecha, the architect of SEALabs, talking to The Higher India.
So, how does this faculty assist its youngsters navigate? I’m glad you requested!
‘Discovered inspiration in lots of place’
Anand began his follow again in 2015 and had by no means labored on growing a faculty earlier than. “When Viren Joshi, the president of the college, approached me to take a look, I used to be very honoured. I used to be excited to get to the college and begin the designing course of,” he shares.
Explaining the thought behind the college, he says, “There was an current constructing however was in a foul situation. It was a faculty for underprivileged youngsters with visible impairment.”
There have been two buildings — one was a hostel facility and the opposite one was the college. “In every room, twelve to fifteen college students have been dwelling in bunk beds. Consequently, a call was made to assemble a brand new educational constructing and convert the present construction totally right into a hostel facility. This is able to enable for redistribution of scholars throughout the bottom and first flooring, whereas offering them with extra comfy and improved dwelling areas.”
Whereas Anand was excited to get on board the venture, he lacked a supply of inspiration. To search out that, he determined to spend time with the children.
“I started observing how college students navigate by way of totally different locations and areas, figuring out their preferences and gathering spots. Moreover, I made associates with college students to higher perceive their every day routines, likes, and dislikes inside the current faculty. Equally, I engaged in discussions with academics to discover methods to boost the training surroundings,” he says.
Moreover, Anand additionally began to go to colleges for kids with visible impairment throughout the nation.
“The Victoria Memorial Faculty for the Blind in Mumbai left a long-lasting impression on me due to its exceptional magnificence, regardless of being an adaptively reused constructing. Nevertheless, I discovered only a few good examples of faculties particularly designed for customers with disabilities. In consequence, I later volunteered on the Perkins Faculty for the Blind in Massachusetts, one of many oldest colleges in the USA. Established in 1829, it boasts a wealthy historical past with stalwarts like Helen Keller, Laura Bridgman, and Anne Sullivan who all studied there,” he says.
He discovered great mentors within the US and was capable of finding the fitting path for the venture.
“After I went out in search of inspiration, I realised the way it was not one place that might assist me however rather a lot. Visiting numerous colleges was an ideal studying arc for me,” he says.
Utilizing 5 senses to navigate
The college is designed to be navigated with the assistance of 4 senses: sight, listening to, contact, and scent.
“Solely 15% of individuals with blindness expertise a whole lack of sight. The vast majority of people who’re blind might understand gentle or color, and people with totally different impairments have various levels of usable imaginative and prescient,” he says.
Maintaining this in thoughts, Anand designed a faculty that makes use of color, scent, and lightweight to tell apart every class.
Contact:
“We employed 5 various kinds of wall plasters and textures for college students to determine areas. Moreover, for ease of navigation, we utilised totally different textures on the ground, incorporating tough and easy Kota stone, which marks the entry factors of the school rooms,” he says.
Every space classroom, hall, and courtyard within the faculty is marked and written in Braille.
Listening to:
For one more navigation method that utilises listening to, Anand varies the volumes and heights of the buildings, creating totally different echoes and sounds to help college students in figuring out locations.
“As an illustration, the doorway of the college contains a large and tall quantity, whereas the other aspect has a shorter quantity and is narrower. This distinction in width and top produces a definite echo in comparison with the doorway. College students, as a part of their coaching, stroll, speak, and even clap to practise utilizing totally different methods for figuring out areas,” he says.
Sight:
To make navigation simple for college students who can understand color in gentle, he used totally different colors.
“Provided that many low imaginative and prescient college students are finding out within the faculty, one other facet we needed to take into account was utilizing contrasting colors and lighting to assist college students determine objects, furnishings, and areas,” he says.
He provides, “As an illustration, every classroom door is brightly painted, the doorway is in a distinct vibrant color, and the bathroom doorways are painted in contrasting but vibrant colors. This method ensures that college students with low imaginative and prescient can readily determine and find vital components, such because the switchboard.”
Odor:
Moreover, to make the school rooms much more distinctive from one another, the architect determined to have interaction the sense of scent.
He says, “We’ve additionally planted fragrant vegetation at entries, which might help college students in marking and figuring out locations. These components function totally different clues included into our design. College students, based mostly on their consolation and understanding, use these clues to navigate the constructing.”
Inclusive, sustainable and a haven for the scholars
There are 5 particular lecture rooms and 7 lecture rooms with particular person courtyards within the faculty.
“The furnishings association was additionally essential, and the form and measurement of the school rooms advanced based mostly on how college students would sit. To make sure equal consideration from the instructor, we designed a ‘C’ formed seating association the place every pupil is in shut proximity to the instructor,” he says.
Anand additionally believed that the kids must also get the possibility to be taught open air, therefore he included the courtyards.
“We additionally recognised that studying doesn’t solely occur inside the classroom however extends past its partitions. Contemplating this, the presence of courtyards turned essential. Along with their instructional significance, there have been sensible causes for incorporating courtyards,” he shares.
“The world experiences a sizzling and dry local weather, which could be difficult for college students with low imaginative and prescient delicate to direct gentle. To deal with this, we ensured that the courtyard supplies filtered gentle to the school rooms,” he provides.
Oblique gentle was a major concern because the architect aimed to supply a snug studying surroundings for low-vision college students with minimal glare.
“To guard the low-vision college students from direct gentle glare, we determined to convey daylight from the roof and never from home windows,” he says.
A haven for its college students, the college is also sustainable in its roots. “We determined to be very frugal with what we have been utilizing. We used solely locally-sourced supplies similar to Kota stone and planted greater than 1,000 vegetation of 37 totally different varieties,” he says.
Anand defined that he planted the shrubs to draw butterflies and birds, and to diversify and enhance the pure surroundings.
A conventional rainwater harvesting method generally known as Khambhati Kuva (Percolation effectively) was carried out. The effectively, with a diameter of 10 toes and a depth of 30 toes, is designed to gather rainwater and recharge the bottom. This effectively can take in 45,000 to 60,000 litres of water in only one hour.
Up and working since 2021, Anand says wanting again at his work, “As an expert, I method all initiatives with the identical depth. Nevertheless, engaged on this venture was distinctive. In our architectural training, we had by no means delved into questions on customers to this extent. It opened my eyes to the realisation that in designing any constructing, be it public constructions or total cities, we should take into account a various set of customers, guaranteeing that none are excluded.”
He provides, “The lesson of inclusivity that I discovered from this expertise has profoundly influenced my method to new initiatives, the place I try to include the precious insights gained from the college venture.”
(Edited by Padmashree Pande)
(All picture credit score: SEAlabs)
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